Need some help

[robodog2008]

Hi All


I want to try my new vacuum pump for the first time this morning but ran into a problem. When I turned on the pump I had a volcano. The wine was going everywhere. I step the pump up the one I saw in the How To Tutorials. What did I do wrong?


Thanks for your help.

 

[smokegrub]

I assume you were using the pump to degas. If that were the case, you need to begin the degassing process with a very low vacuum and gradually increase the vacuum as the quantity of gas released decreases. It is also helpful to leave a reasonable amount of headspace in the carboy for some foaming to occur.

 

[Runningwolf]

Did you stir your wine first. I remove 1/3-1/2 gallon of wine from the carboy first. Then I stir it pretty good to drive off the bulk of the gas. Then I use the vacuum starting off very low and then slowly increase the vacuum as Smoke grub states. I remove that amount of wine to prevent the several volcanoes I have experienced. I slowly add the rest of the wine back in as I finish degassing.

 

[robodog2008]

I forgot to say that I using it for racking the wine.


Thanks for you help.

 

[admiral]

Did you get the carboy too full, too quickly? That would be my guess.

 

[Wade E]

When Im racking a wine I only use around 5-8" of vacuum. Using more then that especially towards the end will result in what you have just discovered.

 

[grapeman]

Like Wade said, use less vacuum. If you use too much, you get too much foaming- not really the volcano, just too much foam that can get sucke through into the trap. Slow it down a bit and you will finish quicker because there won't be any cleanup.