# Getting siphon started with bottling wand attached



## TemperanceOwl (Nov 17, 2014)

Hi, everybody.
I have a really basic question…
I understand how to start a siphon by sucking on one end of a tube, but how do you get it started if you have the bottling wand attached to the business end? Do you push in the valve with your tongue and try to suck on it at the same time? Do you fill the tube with water or sanitizing solution to start the flow (into a bucket, not a bottle) and then switch it over to a bottle when you see the wine approaching the end? Wouldn't you contaminate the first bottle that way?
Sorry, I know this is really basic, but all the searches I've done seem to start with the assumption that you've started the flow.
Thanks!!
- Owl -


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## havlikn (Nov 17, 2014)

I push in the valve with my tongue and suck in. It works perfectly


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## cmason1957 (Nov 17, 2014)

I use an auto siphon and start it with that. They are well worth the $12 or so cost.


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## TemperanceOwl (Nov 17, 2014)

Thanks, y'all. Cmason, what kind of auto siphon do you use?


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## cpfan (Nov 17, 2014)

I also use the auto-siphon. The ones I use are from Fermtech. The large size for racking, the regular size for bottling, and the small size with gallon jugs.

http://www.fermtech.ca/siphon%20starter/siphon.html

Steve


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## Tenbears (Nov 17, 2014)

somehow, I never saw sucking on the syphon tube as a viable option for wine, 
Even before I had an auto syphon I would fill the tube and cane with wine, then fill the wand and put it on the tube. ya, you loose a few drops but the syphon pulls none the less. 

This Post has made me think. And I would like to Take this opportunity to make a declaration.

If I ever post a wine trade, and you use the suction method as above. PLEASE
DO NOT RESPOND TO MY OFFER!


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## cmason1957 (Nov 17, 2014)

TemperanceOwl said:


> Thanks, y'all. Cmason, what kind of auto siphon do you use?



I use the same ones as Steve Fermtech. And sucking on the end is never a good idea.


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## Thig (Nov 17, 2014)

I don't use the bottling wand much but when I do I have a clamp on the hose without the bottling wand, start the flow then clamp it off and attach the wand, the open the clamp back up.


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## havlikn (Nov 17, 2014)

I realize that sucking in the valve may sound different for some, but after doing so you can spray sanitizer solution to kill off any bacteria, etc. that may be present.


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## sour_grapes (Nov 17, 2014)

I use a bottling bucket, with a spigot on the bottom. I never thought about this problem before! Think I will keep using the bucket!


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## TemperanceOwl (Nov 17, 2014)

Thanks for the tips, everyone! I like the idea of filling the whole contraption with wine and starting with that, although I can see myself making a big mess that way. Someone else said he fills everything with water and starts siphoning into a separate bucket and as soon as the water-wine interface reaches the bucket, stops the flow and starts into bottles. 
I'll also check out the auto-siphon, maybe for my second batch! I feel like I've suddenly reached my expense budget for just my first batch of wine, and need to limit any more spending for now - and I already have the tube and canes. If anyone finds out how much this batch of wine has cost me per bottle when figuring in all the capital invested so far, I'll be afraid to let anyone taste it. And I've still got to get a corker. :-/


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## TemperanceOwl (Nov 17, 2014)

That auto-siphon looks pretty nifty! 
I'll have to see if my LHBS carries it!


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## cpfan (Nov 17, 2014)

TemperanceOwl said:


> That auto-siphon looks pretty nifty!
> I'll have to see if my LHBS carries it!


 IMO, if your LHBS doesn't carry that auto-siphon or something equivalent, it's time to find a new LHBS.. (PS I used to run an LHBS.)

Steve


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## kevinlfifer (Nov 18, 2014)

I insert the racking cane in the center/shorter stem. Place the cap on the carboy, set up your bottle with the filling wand in the first bottle to be filled. Then blow into the longer stem. The positive pressure starts the siphon.


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## Just-a-Guy (Nov 18, 2014)

kevinlfifer said:


> I insert the racking cane in the center/shorter stem. Place the cap on the carboy, set up your bottle with the filling wand in the first bottle to be filled. Then blow into the longer stem. The positive pressure starts the siphon.



Damn. Through years of brewing, I never thought of that. It seems so obvious now that you mention it. That said... I always used a bottling bucket or autosiphon, and now I have an allinone... so it doesn't much matter to me. But that sure is a nice, easy low-tech way to work a siphon.


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## BernardSmith (Nov 18, 2014)

Just-a-Guy said:


> Damn. Through years of brewing, I never thought of that. It seems so obvious now that you mention it. That said... I always used a bottling bucket or autosiphon, and now I have an allinone... so it doesn't much matter to me. But that sure is a nice, easy low-tech way to work a siphon.



But why is this method any more sanitary than sucking?


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## Just-a-Guy (Nov 18, 2014)

BernardSmith said:


> But why is this method any more sanitary than sucking?



I guess because your mouth doesn't actually go on the bottling wand? Granted, your breath goes into the carboy, but to me that's a little less... unsettling. 

I wouldn't do this, myself -- like I said, I have siphons, etc. (and bottling buckets). Still, it's a good idea to have in one's head (assuming my poor old brain can hold onto anything any more).


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## roger80465 (Nov 18, 2014)

Just-a-Guy said:


> I Granted, your breath goes into the carboy, but to me that's a little less... unsettling.



Besides, your breath is nothing more than wine laden CO2, the same as the wine has been used to all along!


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## TemperanceOwl (Nov 18, 2014)

BernardSmith said:


> But why is this method any more sanitary than sucking?



That's kinda what I was thinking. If you suck on it you only contaminate the first bottle, but by blowing on it you contaminate multiple bottles, even down to the last one (the surface is probably bottled close to last if there's little turbulence).


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## Rodnboro (Nov 18, 2014)

I installed a spigot on my fermenting bucket. I attach a 2" piece of tubing to my bottling wand and the spigot. I then just slide the bottles up the wand to fill. The only disadvantage is the oxygen exposure during the process, but so far I've had no problems.


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


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## Just-a-Guy (Nov 18, 2014)

Rodnboro said:


> I installed a spigot on my fermenting bucket. I attach a 2" piece of tubing to my bottling wand and the spigot. I then just slide the bottles up the wand to fill. The only disadvantage is the oxygen exposure during the process, but so far I've had no problems.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making



I did this with beer for many hundreds of bottles and never had a problem.


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## BernardSmith (Nov 18, 2014)

roger80465 said:


> Besides, your breath is nothing more than wine laden CO2, the same as the wine has been used to all along!



er... except that the CO2 you are huffing into the carboy has been inside your lungs and your saliva covered lips have shaped themselves around the tube... so there is a lot more to the CO2 that you blow into the carboy than is expelled from the carboy ...No?


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## kevinlfifer (Dec 1, 2014)

Well I've bottled some 1450 bottles that way with 0 problems. You're only displacing about 50 ml of air, if that with bad breath. Just enough to fill fill the top half of your tubing. Gravity takes over from there.


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## heatherd (Dec 2, 2014)

I have the Ferrari auto siphon and like it. I am sure there are better ones but it works great for me and is cost effective.
Heather


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