# Question about vacuum pump and "Big Mouth Bubbler"



## cronos1013 (Jan 27, 2014)

Has anyone tried to use one of THESE with their all in one wine pump? 

I am hesitant to buy one before I know whether or not it will crush itself (expensive and messy mistake) when put under vacuum. 

I make a lot of melomels so I typically use a TON of fruit in my secondary fermentations, and clean up often leaves something to be desired...this seems like it would be a good compromise. 

Chris


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## DirtyDawg10 (Jan 27, 2014)

Seems like it is recommended for beer. I could see it used for a fermentation carboy but I wouldn't want to bulk age in it. The small opening of a regular carboy is to keep the exposed surface area at the top of the carboy to a minimum. This wide mouth at the top would create a much larger surface area.


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## richmke (Jan 27, 2014)

The Big Mouth is designed for Primary fermentation, where you have lots of stuff to clean. How long from adding the fruit in the secondary to the next racking?

The lid of the Big Mouth seems sturdy enough against the vacuum, so I wouldn't worry about that. The head space would be an issue if you are keeping it in there for more than a few weeks (if the fruit actively ferments, then the CO2 will give some protection).


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## jamesngalveston (Jan 27, 2014)

I just bought two last week, have not received them yet. I plan on using a vacuum pump on mine...I dont think the plastic top will cave in..we shall see.


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## kryptonitewine (Jan 27, 2014)

I wouldn't worry about the top caving in but what about the sides???


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## vacuumpumpman (Jan 27, 2014)

I looked at some of the reviews and these are some of there exact replies 

I'm afraid it might make it a little more fragile then my other glass carboys. 

Also the bottle has many fairly large air bubbles in the glass. They're very noticeable, but none have a profile or appear to more than cosmetic flaws. I hope they don't cause any structural weakness, and honestly I don't expect them to, but they're worth noting.

The only flaw is in the glass manufacturing,there are many air bubbles in the glass,I do not think they will weaken the unit but they do look funny.

The glass is pretty thin compared to a normal carboy but it works well. I'm afraid it might make it a little more fragile then my other glass carboys.

I personally not heard of this product till now - please if anyone has tried it under vacuum please do tell !!


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## kryptonitewine (Jan 27, 2014)

Glass? I thought this was peet. Disregard my earlier post.


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## cronos1013 (Jan 29, 2014)

Hey, thanks for the replies.

@dirtydawg
I have other carboys to age in, I was just wondering about if it will crush if I put a vacuum on it when I pull from my primary fermentation container (normal carboy) to the secondary where I am adding a TON of fruit to the must, making it a bigger PITA to clean once finished. 

@jamesngalveston
Can you let us know? I am quite interested to hear if this thing implodes. 

@kryptonitewine
I don't know, your first post might be accurate still, I have read complaints about air bubbles in the glass which could indicate poor workmanship or they could make it more fragile, also the glass is supposedly thinner than normal carboys. 


@richmke 
I normally let my melomels sit at least a month on the fruit, sometimes 2, I typically use 3 pounds of fruit per gallon of mead. 

-Chris


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## jamesngalveston (Jan 29, 2014)

steve soon as i get mine, i will test with vacuum from a safe distance away.....should get by next monday are tuesday.


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## cronos1013 (Mar 3, 2014)

jamesngalveston said:


> steve soon as i get mine, i will test with vacuum from a safe distance away.....should get by next monday are tuesday.



Did you have a chance to test this? If so how did it work out?


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## jamesngalveston (Mar 3, 2014)

both that i received had cracks, and send them back...the new ones should be here any day...


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## cronos1013 (Mar 4, 2014)

Man that stinks, that's worrying, do they look like they got damaged in shipping or due to mediocre construction?


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## jamesngalveston (Mar 4, 2014)

they were damaged in shipping by fed ex just tossing them around...big holes in the boxes, etc...shipper didnt read fragile.......
are may be like ralphies dad, the saw it as french....fra gil e..lol


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## Brew and Wine Supply (Mar 4, 2014)

An FYI on the big mouth carboys, they are made in China. Lots of air bubbles in the glass and poss lead in them. remember the other thread on Chinese carboys? One of my suppliers got one thinking of selling them, they decided not to. I will leave it at that.


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## RickD (Mar 15, 2021)

jamesngalveston said:


> steve soon as i get mine, i will test with vacuum from a safe distance away.....should get by next monday are tuesday.



James just curious if you had a chance to test these? Doh!! Banned !?!


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## RickD (Mar 15, 2021)

I have a little big mouth bubbler arriving in a few days and I want to test it with my AIO pump. Any tips or suggestions for conducting the test? Following a thorough visual inspection, my current plan is to simply wrap it with a large bath towel (to contain the glass in the event of what Elon Musk would call "rapid unscheduled disassembly"), and then simply attempting to pull water into it using my typical hosing setup.


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## reeflections (Mar 15, 2021)

Another issue with using these with the vacuum pump is that you will need a 2 hole bung that that will fit into a slightly less than 1" hole.

Personally, I have 2 of these and love them for primaries for 1 gal experiments, but I think the lid would collapse before the glass. The lids are pretty thin plastic.

The OP link didn't work but I assume this is what we are talking about:

Little Big Mouth Bubbler® Glass Fermenter


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## reeflections (Mar 15, 2021)

Just realized this is a 2014 thread.


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## RickD (Mar 15, 2021)

reeflections said:


> Just realized this is a 2014 thread.


Yes, but given it's incomplete ending I thought I'd try to resurrect it. I believe a 6.5 stopper will fit the standard lid. Won't know if I don't try. I may try this one also: Big Mouth Bubbler® Universal Lid - Dual Port (northernbrewer.com)


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## reeflections (Mar 15, 2021)

I bought mine (1.4gal) about 1 year ago and a #6 stopper will not fit my lids. 

That dual lid looks like a winner. It even looks stronger than the original, but it's hard to tell from the picture.

I'm looking forward to your experiment results. There have been times when I have wanted to use my Bubblers as receivers. Especially when I am racking to a smaller carboy and have more than 1 gallon left over. I have just been afraid of breaking the lid. Plus the bung issue. The glass in my Bubblers are thinner than a regular carboy but it seems as substantial as the one gallon carboys (used Carlo Rossi wine bottles) I routinely use with the AIO, and no serious looking defects. I trust the glass with the AIO. 

Let us know how it goes and, if you end up getting one of those universal lids, I am curious about them as well.


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## reeflections (Mar 15, 2021)

I was just reading the comments on that universal lid and it seems like the biggest complaint was the friction lid. That shouldn't be an issue when using it with the AIO or anything except using it as a primary fermenter. Then you could use the original lid.


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## vacuumpumpman (Mar 23, 2021)

I do recall some of my customers using this Big Mouth Bubbler . I do not recall which bung was needed - as most of the time I just ask for measurements


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## RickD (Mar 24, 2021)

reeflections said:


> I'm looking forward to your experiment results. There have been times when I have wanted to use my Bubblers as receivers. Especially when I am racking to a smaller carboy and have more than 1 gallon left over. I have just been afraid of breaking the lid. Plus the bung issue. The glass in my Bubblers are thinner than a regular carboy but it seems as substantial as the one gallon carboys (used Carlo Rossi wine bottles) I routinely use with the AIO, and no serious looking defects. I trust the glass with the AIO.
> 
> Let us know how it goes and, if you end up getting one of those universal lids, I am curious about them as well.




I tried pulling into the stock lid/little big mouth combo with my AIO this morning and for my application (static head guesstimate under about one foot), there is no problem. This includes the fact that although the lid normally uses a #5 stopper, the #3 stopper that is standard with the AIO bottling setup will work. This may be a good time for me to learn how to drill stoppers, but in the meantime I can get along with this arrangement. I did not order one of the universal lids.


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## sour_grapes (Mar 24, 2021)

RickD said:


> I tried pulling into the stock lid/little big mouth combo with my AIO this morning and for my application (static head guesstimate under about one foot), there is no problem. This includes the fact that although the lid normally uses a #5 stopper, the #3 stopper that is standard with the AIO bottling setup will work. This may be a good time for me to learn how to drill stoppers, but in the meantime I can get along with this arrangement. I did not order one of the universal lids.



If you move on to option #2, I understand that freezing the stopper before drilling helps a lot.


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## Old Corker (Mar 24, 2021)

I have a glass Big Mouth that I use for secondary when I EM. I use the AIO to transfer into it. I'm not sure which size, I have three sized of the drilled bungs with tubing I bought from Steve. I have not had a concern about the lid or the vessel collapsing although the large lid will sometime lose its seal. Once the fermentation is done and the skins bag has dropped but EM is not complete, I use a headspace saver to pull a vacuum just to reset the lid's seal. To be clear, at this point I also top up the big mouth and dose the wine with Kmeta before resealing it. I have not had a big problem with oxidation but want to sate safe.


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## vacuumpumpman (Mar 25, 2021)

RickD said:


> I tried pulling into the stock lid/little big mouth combo with my AIO this morning and for my application (static head guesstimate under about one foot), there is no problem. This includes the fact that although the lid normally uses a #5 stopper, the #3 stopper that is standard with the AIO bottling setup will work. This may be a good time for me to learn how to drill stoppers, but in the meantime I can get along with this arrangement. I did not order one of the universal lids.



I do have some #5.0 - 2 hole bungs which are not on shown on the website - Please contact me directly if interested.


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## mikewatkins727 (Mar 25, 2021)

RickD said:


> I tried pulling into the stock lid/little big mouth combo with my AIO this morning and for my application (static head guesstimate under about one foot), there is no problem. This includes the fact that although the lid normally uses a #5 stopper, the #3 stopper that is standard with the AIO bottling setup will work. _This may be a good time for me to learn how to drill stoppers_, but in the meantime I can get along with this arrangement. I did not order one of the universal lids.


Cork borers are available for different size holes. You will need glycerin for a lubricant. I have two, a 3/8 and a 1/4. You can also get a set, I think of 5. If memory serves me, I may have bought corers at piwine.com.


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## KCCam (Mar 25, 2021)

mikewatkins727 said:


> You will need glycerin for a lubricant.


Ahhhh, never thought of that. Without a lubricant the rubber still gets chewed up a bit.


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## Laserwine (Apr 3, 2022)

Hi, I am planning on fermenting in a 6.5 glass gallon big mouth bubbler then rack to the 5 gallon glass big mouth for aging about 4 months. I was wondering can I use the all in one pump system to rack and use the the Aio headspace eliminator. I want to use the 6.5 glass because it has two bung openings on the lid and I can place the mast er vintners Excalibur infuser with wood chips. I really want the use the Aio head space eliminator on the 5 gallon glass big mouth. Any info or advice will be great. I still need to purchase the Aio. Thank you!!!


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