# Degassing Idea..........



## kristofour (Sep 13, 2012)

Hi All, I have been trying to come up with a cheap way to degas my wine. I think I am going to try a Boston valve (basic air mattress tech), glued or affixed somehow to a stopper.

Im thinking I dont need to pull a huge vacuum + can use an air mattress pump.

I have all the stuff I need except for the Boston valve which can be had for $5 or less.

Anyone done anything similar? I've seen the food saver successfully used.

Thanks all!


----------



## Boatboy24 (Sep 13, 2012)

I just bought a cheap brake bleeder kit from Harbor Freight for a little over $20. It seems to work very well.


----------



## robie (Sep 13, 2012)

The brake bleeder works well.
The air mattress thingy likely won't pull enough of a vacuum; you need 18 to 22 inches and that's a pretty good amount. Less than 18 just won't do much of anything.


----------



## kristofour (Sep 13, 2012)

Thanks for the feedback!


----------



## btom2004 (Sep 13, 2012)

Boatboy24 said:


> I just bought a cheap brake bleeder kit from Harbor Freight for a little over $20. It seems to work very well.


Hello could you please explain how this is done? Thanks


----------



## andy123 (Sep 13, 2012)

I took a compressor from a small fridge went by home depot for a couple fittings and connected the vacuum side to an orange multi purpose carboy cap and it worked extremely well. If I had tee'd in a condensate cup it would have been invincible. After several uses I sloppily allowed foam to suck thru the line and into the compressor and that was the last time it worked........ The brake bleeder is a simple hand held squeeze tool that you connect to that same orange cap. Then squeeze away and watch the CO2 bubble out of your carboy like percolating coffee................................................................................................................................I think Wade markets a real nice turnkey power vacuum unit that is a perfect tool.


----------



## vacuumpumpman (Sep 13, 2012)

That is exactly how I originally started Andy 
I have taken apart many compressors and alot problems along the way - oil fumes - not starting up - noisy - and bulky, until I came up with the allinone.

The only problem with the hand held vacuum pumps - you get extremely very powerfull hands (LOL)


----------



## Boatboy24 (Sep 13, 2012)

btom2004 said:


> Hello could you please explain how this is done? Thanks



Btom:

It finally made sense to me after seeing Josh's pic here:

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f83/degassing-budget-33197/

Simply plug the hose into the Carboy stopper and start pumping. Leave some head space for foam just in case. I took mine to about 20 and left it there for about a half hour. Then kept it at about 18 for another half hour. Im letting the wine clear for about a month and will give it one more try when I rack next, just to be sure I got all the gas out.


----------



## wineutopia (Sep 13, 2012)

I have been using a Mity Vac on my wines through a Carboy stopper for awhile and it really works.


----------



## kristofour (Sep 14, 2012)

I pick this up from Harbor Freight last night and it worked perfectly - with the exception of the quality. I had to modify the pin that held the handle as it broke on my first few pumps. After that I followed Josh's directions and it was a cake walk. The wine tastes great. I will give it a few more but am happy I found out about this method. 

Note: I also degassed with a whip prior. (Probably made the process much easier based on other's posts)


----------



## Geronimo (Sep 14, 2012)

I use the Mighty Vac hand pump and it works excellent. Easy to operate and gentle on the wine. 

The added bonus for using a vacuum of any sort is the effect it has on oak cubes. Since you're pulling a vacuum, it literally sucks the gas out of the oak and pulls the wine in. The sooner the oak sinks, the more contact you get. Sweeeeet!


----------



## andy123 (Sep 15, 2012)

vacuumpumpman said:


> That is exactly how I originally started Andy
> I have taken apart many compressors and alot problems along the way - oil fumes - not starting up - noisy - and bulky, until I came up with the allinone.
> 
> The only problem with the hand held vacuum pumps - you get extremely very powerfull hands (LOL)


I watched the video on that. What an excellent tool for a winemaker. Especially one with a bad back. On bad weeks I wait for my kid to come by hoist carboys and primarys for me.


----------



## btom2004 (Sep 19, 2012)

Boatboy24 said:


> Btom:
> 
> It finally made sense to me after seeing Josh's pic here:
> 
> ...


 I just ordered the kit. You are only using the bleeder to add pressure to rise bubbles. Is there any way to use the whole kit, to transfer the wine after you degass it? Or at the same time? Can I Just let the wine run through the tubes/jar and into a carboy? Or even a bottling wand?


----------



## robie (Sep 19, 2012)

It wouldn't be practical for racking or bottling. It has no real capacity for this.


----------



## ejiang (Sep 21, 2012)

Geronimo said:


> I use the Mighty Vac hand pump and it works excellent. Easy to operate and gentle on the wine.
> 
> The added bonus for using a vacuum of any sort is the effect it has on oak cubes. Since you're pulling a vacuum, it literally sucks the gas out of the oak and pulls the wine in. The sooner the oak sinks, the more contact you get. Sweeeeet!



Yes!

After reading many degassing threads, I am confused why people need to go so far to use food saver or vacuum pumps. The hand held vacuum seems way more straight forward for me, given the fact that it exists in almost every house hold. 

I then thought it might because the vacuum is dirty inside and once you stop it, the vacuum in the carboy will suck some dust backwards. I actually had planned to take part of my vacuum and clean it thoroughly 

So, why don't people use the hand held thing ?


----------



## Geronimo (Sep 21, 2012)

ejiang said:


> Yes!
> 
> After reading many degassing threads, I am confused why people need to go so far to use food saver or vacuum pumps. The hand held vacuum seems way more straight forward for me, given the fact that it exists in almost every house hold.
> 
> ...



This is the hand pump I use

http://www.harborfreight.com/mityvac-vacuum-pump-39522.html

Vacuum cleaners aren't made to pull a continuous load like that


----------



## btom2004 (Nov 16, 2012)

robie said:


> It wouldn't be practical for racking or bottling. It has no real capacity for this.


I kept thinking about what you stated and I don't like to take no for an answer. Where there's a will there's a way. 

I was able to hook this up to vacuum rack and degas my wine. I used it to transfer rack from one carboy to the other under vacuum pressure and then I went ahead and used it to degas after the tranfer. 

I'm still thinking of how I might get it to also bottle wine as well.


----------



## robie (Nov 16, 2012)

btom2004 said:


> I kept thinking about what you stated and I don't like to take no for an answer. Where there's a will there's a way.
> 
> I was able to hook this up to vacuum rack and degas my wine. I used it to transfer rack from one carboy to the other under vacuum pressure and then I went ahead and used it to degas after the tranfer.
> 
> I'm still thinking of how I might get it to also bottle wine as well.



You must have had to do a lot of hand pumping to rack a full, 6 gallon carboy! I didn't say it wouldn't work, I just tried to imply it isn't very practical for such a big job. 

Using it to fill a bottle is no different than using it to rack a carboy, just takes a different sized, double-hole bung.


----------



## btom2004 (Nov 16, 2012)

robie said:


> You must have had to do a lot of hand pumping to rack a full, 6 gallon carboy! I didn't say it wouldn't work, I just tried to imply it isn't very practical for such a big job.
> 
> Using it to fill a bottle is no different than using it to rack a carboy, just takes a different sized, double-hole bung.


Yes a carboy double hole cover. Well it didn't really take much pumping at all. Once you get it going it's like a continues vacuumed trickle. If it starts to slow down, all that's needed is a few more pumps and back to full force again.

@I see if I can find that bung for bottling


----------



## rockinmarty (Nov 17, 2012)

@btom2004 do you have a pic of your setup? maybe because it's late, I am not completely grasping your concept.


----------



## btom2004 (Nov 18, 2012)

rockinmarty said:


> @btom2004 do you have a pic of your setup? maybe because it's late, I am not completely grasping your concept.








This is the hook up to rack and degas wine under vacuum pressure. You can see how I used tubbing and carboy cover. The wine never touches the overflow side of the hook up or the vacuum pump. Once the air is sucked out the over flow 1 gal carboy, it then sucks the air out of carboy #2. This in turn draws the wine out of carboy #1 and drops it into carboy #2. This is done with out any air touching the wine. Make sure when you use racking cane, to keep it below the surface of the wine being tranfered. 



I then Placed the same hand held vacuum pump onto the carboy cover and capped it with my wine saver release valve. This way I can release pressure while degassing further. Place this on top of your 5-6gal carboy and pump gas out of wine.
*Note: The above photo was just a test to see if hook up would work. Only use glass carboys when racking and degassing with the above set up #1 and #2.*


----------



## vacuumpumpman (Nov 18, 2012)

btom2004

I give you alot of credit in order to try and make this work, If I may give you some suggestions? And please don’t take it the wrong way – because I had to learn the hard way. 

How many inches of vacuum are you pulling while doing a transfer?

How long does a 6 gallon transfer take?

Typically a plastic better bottle will start to implode between 2-4 inches if vacuum , with that said - it would be nearly impossible to have enough negative pressure in order not to have contact with air. Typically when using a vacuum unit , you have a lot more vacuum (usually around 17-22 in hg ) which is pulling the CO2 and filling any of the empty headspace with CO2 to protect the wine from oxygen.

Second – the inline vacuum T at your reservoir is not protecting your pump from getting liquid in it as well, what you need is a double hole bung in order to do that. I noticed that your universal carboy cap should also have a racking cane going down the middle in order to stop the liquid being transferred going directly over to the vacuum side, which could ruin your pump.

I do sell all the 2 hole tapered bungs to make your life easier – see my webpage

*http://allinonewinepump.com/accessories.html*


----------



## BernardSmith (Nov 18, 2012)

Steve, Is there no effective way to degas using a vacuum if you use plastic carboys?


----------



## Wiz (Nov 18, 2012)

Then again, why be in such a hurry. Fruit wines degass themselves over a few weeks and I find that my grape concentrates are completely degassed after 3 stirrings of 100 within a week. After that I stabilize and add bentonite.


----------



## vacuumpumpman (Nov 18, 2012)

BernardSmith said:


> Steve, Is there no effective way to degas using a vacuum if you use plastic carboys?


 
The only way I know is to transfer into a glass carboy using a vacuum pump, (Typically above the plastic carboy) then you are able to gravity siphon back into the the plastic carboy - without ever having to lift any full carboys.
I hope this helps


----------



## btom2004 (Dec 2, 2012)

vacuumpumpman said:


> btom2004
> 
> I give you alot of credit in order to try and make this work, If I may give you some suggestions? And please don’t take it the wrong way – because I had to learn the hard way.
> 
> ...


 This was just a quick hook up and it worked fine. Although I can see the minus vacuum effect on that second plastic carboy now that you mentioned it. I didn't even attempt to use the degassing rig on them. Thanks for your imput on how to make it better.


----------



## vacuumpumpman (Dec 2, 2012)

btom2004

Thanks for clearing up the plastic carboys, 

You mentioned you were looking for the 2 hole tappered bungs - 
I do sell them on my website - please email me what you want and I will give you a money paypal request. 

*Tapered Stopper #6.5 - 2 HOLE - Pure White* - $8.00 includes shipping
It features one 3/8" hole and one 1/4" hole. A racking tube can be inserted into the 3/8" hole, and a ¼’’ hole for an airlock or to hook up to a vacuum source and use as your receiving carboy. These are all custom made. -No# 6.5 fits 1, 3, 5, 6, 6.5, 7 gallon carboys (most common).

*Wine bottle vacuum reservoir conversion kit* - $13.00 includes shipping
- custom drilled tapered stopper that will aid in preventing liquid from entering the pump, 3/16’’ or 1/4’’ inlet – 1/4’’ outlet


----------



## btom2004 (Dec 2, 2012)

vacuumpumpman said:


> btom2004
> 
> Thanks for clearing up the plastic carboys,
> 
> ...


Will do. Thanks 
@Hey here's a youtube video showing just how fast it works.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuJUfbPNYjM[/ame]

I'll have to make a better one one day. That was my first attempt.


----------

