Racking Flow

[Krusty]

Following another tip from the "Simple things that make HB better" thread, I bought a couple of wide mouth 25L camping "water drums" from Bunnings that look amazingly like fermenters, got them home, drilled 13mm holes in the lids, fitted airlocks and cleaned up any daggy bits of plastic from the forming process. Bloody bargains at $16 each, better than paying $40 odd from the HBS.
Anyway, after setting them up and making a racking tube out of some food grade hose and 11mm polyethylene tube, I put one end in the primary fermenter tap and the other end coiled up in the bottom of the second fermenter and turned the tap on.
The flow of beer from one to the other started off pretty dismal and only got worse, I reckon it took about 10 minutes to transfer 18L from one to the other. I thought I might have had a bit of sediment stuck in the tap, but when I finally finished that one and racked the second brew, it was much the same.
Has anyone got any ideas on how to improve flow through the racking tube? Am I doing something wrong, or is it just a slow process?

[BierMeister]

Make sure the tubing isn't bent or kinked in anyway. I know this sounds obvious but just the slightest bend will reduce the internal flow(a curve won't matter) Also check where the tubing connects to the tap. If its pushed in and not completly round then this will do the same. If all is correct then maybe the tap hole is too small. Test it with some water(this goes for the tubing also) to check the flow as not to waste any beer.

Otherwise live with it. A slow flow is not such a bad thing as it will help prevent oxidisation of the beer by splashing and gurgling during the transfer.

[Shagger]

If you have a sediment reducer on your tap remove it.
This will help.

[da_damage_done]

I'm using 12.5mm hose and it fits over the tap. The 11mm hose may be acting as a reducer.

To get around the slow flow try pinching or folding the hose about 30-40cm from the tap and wait until this section is full then let go. This will clear out any air in the tube and give you a quicker flow.

I've got the sediment reducer on and I don't think it should make a difference.

I had this same issue with my first go at racking.

[HopsAlot]

Hey Kusty, I had heaps of trouble getting a seal on the lids of the containers you describe. They come with a massive rubber 0-ring but I had to return one to the store bacause the molded plastic was too warped, and the second one I had to "re-surface" the rim to get the o-ring to seal - used an orbital sander worked great. But then others report they simply throw away the lid and use plastic wrap over the top. But at 16 dollars it still seems worth it....either way...

[Chris]

Sounds ok to me. I wouldn't want it flowing too fast. That would increase the chances of splashing- hence oxidation.

[scblack]

To get around the slow flow try pinching or folding the hose about 30-40cm from the tap and wait until this section is full then let go. This will clear out any air in the tube and give you a quicker flow.

I do the same as above - always works well.

Also, because the tube is full, there is less aeration.

[chris.]

Throw away the sediment reducer & lift the primary fermentor higher.

[Tipsy]

Throw away the sediment reducer & lift the primary fermentor higher.

I used to have heaps of problems with a sediment reducer on one of my fermenters, the slot had closed up a bit and the flow was next to nothing. I've thrown them all away and haven't noticed any more sediment in my bottles.

[Krusty]

Thanks guys for your input, I will post on here how it turns out.
I'm going to be transferring both these brews into another container in the next few days as I will be having my first go at bulk priming.
I have got a few ideas on what I can do to try to improve this flow issue.
Firstly, on my first attempt, the hose was pretty much as it came off the roll at the shop, so it was fairly flat, so cross sectional area was probably reduced. I've since put it in some hot water and straightened it out to fix that.
Secondly, the hose was probably longer than it needed to be due to the above issue, I will be cutting it down to be just long enough to reach the bottom of the fermenter, I would like it to flow fully in order to avoid bubbles going up the hose.
Thirdly, I'll give that pinching trick a go to see if I can get it to work.
Fourthly, I'm going to persist with sediment reducers for the time being, the beer came out quick enough prior to putting the hose on.

Hopsalot, I hear a lot of people say they have issues with sealing fermenters and stuff, but I have always checked any new equipment for daggy bits or snags prior to putting it into service and haven't had a sealing issue I couldn't fix yet, as you say a bit of sanding can go a long way.
- Krusty

[Shaun]

Kursty have you removed the lid from the primary fermenter before starting the transfer?

[ashy]

I agree with alot of the above. Loosen the lid on the fermented beer. Have the wort raised above the second container and the tubing just long enough so it reaches the bottom of the second container. Gravity should do the work without splashing and oxiditation.

[Chris]

You use the lids Krusty?

I threw those irritating bastards away a long time ago. I love that gladwrap. I'm never going back!

[Krusty]

Yes, I still use lids, yes I had the primary above the second fermenter, and yes I had their lids backed off to allow air in.
I racked these two brews today into bulk priming fermentor and bottled them with my new double headed little bottler. I cut the hose back and it flows a lot better.
- Krusty

[Chris]

Double headed bottler?

Does anyone have a link to a photo?

[Krusty]

I haven't got a photo at the moment, I could probably organise one if you were desperate, but to make one you need:
a short piece of food grade tubing
a 13mm tee piece from bunnings (used for home lawn irrigation)
two lengths of food grade tube long enough to get to all your bottles from the tee
and two bottling valves as available at any HBS.

The short piece of tube goes from the fermenter tap to the stem of the tee piece, then each arm of the tee has a length of tube on it, each length of tube has a bottling valve on the end of it.

Pretty simple, means I don't have to lift each bottle up to the bottling valve to fill, and because I have two on the go, bottling takes about half as long as it used to.

[Krusty]

Actually, have a look at the last photo on this page:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~watermc/Ab ... mebrew.htm
that's where I got the idea from.