# Auto Siphon Getting Clogged, any solution?



## coreyman (Oct 9, 2016)

So I did a persimmon wine and it was done at FG 0.997. I went to siphon the juices off the fruit to a secondary today and my auto siphon kept getting clogged with pieces of fruit and not siphoning. What can I do to aid my siphon to keep siphoning?


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## Jericurl (Oct 9, 2016)

Did it not have a little cap on the end of it?

Is it getting clogged with that?
I've heard of people slipping a piece of knee high pantyhose over the siphon end, but I'm not sure if that would help or make it worse. You may need to pour with a funnel into multiple carboys, wait till it settles out somewhat, then siphon the liquid into one large carboy.


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## Mismost (Oct 9, 2016)

I cut a small piece of a tight mesh...actually an old paint strainer bag I had used several times in wine makin...just rubber banded to the bottom of the autosiphon and it works...sometimes slowly, but it works.

You can buy a two pack of the five gallon paint straining bags for about five bucks....very handy to have on hand. In your case you could put a bag in a bucket and pour in the whole mess and strain it all out.


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## Scooter68 (Oct 9, 2016)

Agree with Mismost. 
1) You can start with your siphon closer to the top and use a clip to hold it in place. Then when it gets down to where you can see the solid are in much heavier concentration stop the siphon.
2) At that point use the paint straining bags to get rid of the gross lees that are clogging the siphon. 
3) You appear to have gone past the 'normal' transition point for Primary to Secondary fermentation. That's normally the first point where gross lees are removed. None-the-less you can move on from there now. Using the straining bags to get the larger pieces of fruit out. If you leave the larger pieces of fruit and dead yeast material in the carboy now you run risk of those remains tainting your wine with some off flavor. 
You can do another racking in 10-14 days to get rid of more of the lees. Leaving the a lot of lees in there well past fermentation completion is not a recommended method though is may not ruin the wine you do run the risk of off flavor being imparted from the lees. 

Assuming that there are no seeds or stem pieces in there at the begining you just need to get the coarser lees out of there sooner rather than later.


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## coreyman (Oct 10, 2016)

Thanks all. I tried starting the siphon only about 1" below the surface but some stuff was floating and it got sucked in stopping it up. I have a cap on the end of my auto siphon yes, but it didn't help much.

What is the normal transition point for Primary to Secondary fermentation when removing gross less? This was only fermenting for 6 days started at 1.074

I went ahead and cut up a piece of old underwear and taped it to the top of a gallon pitcher after sanitizing and strained through that instead of using the siphon. I did something I probably shouldn't have which made this a lot harder. I blended half the fruit instead of mashing.

Thank you all for your responses!


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## hounddawg (Oct 10, 2016)

i unlike most on here ferment my fruits an berries floating freely in my ferment barrel, and it is a pain and messy i get one of them big metal strainers that has a handle , i use it to dip out as much trash(fruits an berries) as i can then i put the metal strainer with then handle in to a pail mine on the ring opposite the handle has a couple rabbit ears so i can sit it on the lip of a pail and pour my must thru it, it may stop up several times i just dump it into a stainless steel bowl with the crud i have dipped outta the must when i have my must kind of clean i pour it into a carboy i then take all the sludge put into a paint strainer bag i put that bag into my fruit press then i put the bowl after washing it out and then place it under the fruit press drain and press the paint strainer bag you'll get a surprisingly lot of juice. after that i let it sit for a couple 3 months before racking it into a clean carboy, to let sit for another couple 3 more months, the left over cake i give to my cattle. i then repeat the racking's till your wine can sit in a carboy and still remain clear an lee free,
Dawg 







coreyman said:


> Thanks all. I tried starting the siphon only about 1" below the surface but some stuff was floating and it got sucked in stopping it up. I have a cap on the end of my auto siphon yes, but it didn't help much.
> 
> What is the normal transition point for Primary to Secondary fermentation when removing gross less? This was only fermenting for 6 days started at 1.074
> 
> ...


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## coreyman (Oct 10, 2016)

hounddawg said:


> i unlike most on here ferment my fruits an berries floating freely in my ferment barrel, and it is a pain and messy i get one of them big metal strainers that has a handle , i use it to dip out as much trash(fruits an berries) as i can then i put the metal strainer with then handle in to a pail mine on the ring opposite the handle has a couple rabbit ears so i can sit it on the lip of a pail and pour my must thru it, it may stop up several times i just dump it into a stainless steel bowl with the crud i have dipped outta the must when i have my must kind of clean i pour it into a carboy i then take all the sludge put into a paint strainer bag i put that bag into my fruit press then i put the bowl after washing it out and then place it under the fruit press drain and press the paint strainer bag you'll get a surprisingly lot of juice. after that i let it sit for a couple 3 months before racking it into a clean carboy, to let sit for another couple 3 more months, the left over cake i give to my cattle. i then repeat the racking's till your wine can sit in a carboy and still remain clear an lee free,
> Dawg



Thanks hounddawg, can you give me a link to an image of what your strainer looks like?


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## hounddawg (Oct 10, 2016)

*strainer*

well i get my in Walmart or dollar store they have a handle with a metal ring in different sizes, like you use to strain your can goods with the metal screen that looks like a dome made from screen wire, the bigger ones has a handle then on the other side they have two pieces, like when you sit in a pot the 2 pieces plus the handle will hold them up on the pot or pan, i'll look on walmrt get a number an send you so it will show you what i mean,
DAWG 





coreyman said:


> Thanks hounddawg, can you give me a link to an image of what your strainer looks like?


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## coreyman (Oct 10, 2016)

hounddawg said:


> well i get my in Walmart or dollar store they have a handle with a metal ring in different sizes, like you use to strain your can goods with the metal screen that looks like a dome made from screen wire, the bigger ones has a handle then on the other side they have two pieces, like when you sit in a pot the 2 pieces plus the handle will hold them up on the pot or pan, i'll look on walmrt get a number an send you so it will show you what i mean,
> DAWG



Ahh like this one - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Huji-Stainl...056233?hash=item33bcee26e9:g:tTYAAOSwZVlXqIZb

Thank you very much!


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## Scooter68 (Oct 10, 2016)

Make sure it's stainless steel !!


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## drainsurgeon (Oct 10, 2016)

hounddawg said:


> i unlike most on here ferment my fruits an berries floating freely in my ferment barrel, and it is a pain and messy i get one of them big metal strainers that has a handle , i use it to dip out as much trash(fruits an berries) as i can then i put the metal strainer with then handle in to a pail mine on the ring opposite the handle has a couple rabbit ears so i can sit it on the lip of a pail and pour my must thru it, it may stop up several times i just dump it into a stainless steel bowl with the crud i have dipped outta the must when i have my must kind of clean i pour it into a carboy i then take all the sludge put into a paint strainer bag i put that bag into my fruit press then i put the bowl after washing it out and then place it under the fruit press drain and press the paint strainer bag you'll get a surprisingly lot of juice. after that i let it sit for a couple 3 months before racking it into a clean carboy, to let sit for another couple 3 more months, the left over cake i give to my cattle. i then repeat the racking's till your wine can sit in a carboy and still remain clear an lee free,
> Dawg



You give the left over cake to your cattle?? That must make cow tipping a breeze!


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## Whitehrs (Oct 11, 2016)

Wagu Beef? Do you message them as well.


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## Stressbaby (Oct 11, 2016)

Next time put your fruit in a strainer bag. Persimmon wine has an absolutely brutal amount of sediment.


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## coreyman (Oct 11, 2016)

Stressbaby said:


> Next time put your fruit in a strainer bag. Persimmon wine has an absolutely brutal amount of sediment.



Yes it did, I was just thinking the flavor wouldn't be the same if I put the fruit in a bag.


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## Spikedlemon (Oct 11, 2016)

Jericurl said:


> I've heard of people slipping a piece of knee high pantyhose over the siphon end, but I'm not sure if that would help or make it worse. You may need to pour with a funnel into multiple carboys, wait till it settles out somewhat, then siphon the liquid into one large carboy.



I've done that with raspberries to keep the seeds from getting stuck.

On my grape must, however, there were too many solids in the liquid itself to flow through the pantyhose to get flow and I had to abandon that approach and use @hounddawg 's method - except I used a clean nylon straining bag instead (which, in retrospect, clogged quickly as well but I could, eventually, get the juice out)


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## Johnd (Oct 11, 2016)

Spikedlemon said:


> I've done that with raspberries to keep the seeds from getting stuck.
> 
> On my grape must, however, there were too many solids in the liquid itself to flow through the pantyhose to get flow and I had to abandon that approach and use @hounddawg 's method - except I used a clean nylon straining bag instead (which, in retrospect, clogged quickly as well but I could, eventually, get the juice out)



Some of use perforated pipe type strainers to keep the large particles from clogging the racking cane. Push it down into the must and rack out of the inside of the tube.


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## hounddawg (Oct 11, 2016)

why yes i do. i massage the pepper and salt in just before they hit the hot grill. now and then I'll even give them a sauna bath in salt beer over night in the fridge, as a matter of fact aint been two days since i gave his son my full attention, that you have my word on, i fixed two steaks but my nephew said he wanted some store back crap, so i selfishly ate both my self dad came in just as i finished and ask if I'd fixed him one i nearly got sick laughing, he was not amused either,,, call me stupid but i just could not see any problem after all i was ready for a very rare nap.... 
Dawg





Whitehrs said:


> Wagu Beef? Do you message them as well.


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## Jericurl (Oct 15, 2016)

Johnd said:


> Some of use perforated pipe type strainers to keep the large particles from clogging the racking cane. Push it down into the must and rack out of the inside of the tube.



Simply brilliant.


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## Johnd (Oct 15, 2016)

Jericurl said:


> Simply brilliant.



I cannot take credit for it, but here's what it looks like along side my big racking cane, I just finished this one a few days ago, the old one was perforated vinyl siding. Mine is a 4" pipe, the holes are 7/64", and as @boatboy24 estimated, there are a gajillion holes to be drilled. The skins will cover and block the holes, but a slight spin of the tube while you're racking keeps it pretty clear. It keeps up fine with the autosiphon, but a vacuum racking setup is a little harder to keep up with.


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## WineChump (Oct 19, 2016)

*Use Produce Mesh Bag*

I make a lot of wine kits that incorporate oak and grape skins; and I ran into the same problem early on.

My solution was simple. I buy reusable vegetable mesh bags. I put my auto siphon into the bag, tie the bag shut and secure it with a rubber band at the top of the siphon.

You can find them on Amazon (look for Reusable Mesh Produce Bags) or just pick some up at a local kitchen shop.

Wash the bag well. I use MBS then rinse it in cold water before putting it on my auto siphon.


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## GretchenR (Jun 28, 2022)

Johnd said:


> I cannot take credit for it, but here's what it looks like along side my big racking cane, I just finished this one a few days ago, the old one was perforated vinyl siding. Mine is a 4" pipe, the holes are 7/64", and as @boatboy24 estimated, there are a gajillion holes to be drilled. The skins will cover and block the holes, but a slight spin of the tube while you're racking keeps it pretty clear. It keeps up fine with the autosiphon, but a vacuum racking setup is a little harder to keep up with.
> 
> View attachment 31999


I need to make one just like that. What kind of pipe is it? Does it have a cap on the end? What size holes did you drill? Thanks for posting a picture -- worth a thousand words.


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## Johnd (Jun 28, 2022)

GretchenR said:


> I need to make one just like that. What kind of pipe is it? Does it have a cap on the end? What size holes did you drill? Thanks for posting a picture -- worth a thousand words.


It’s schedule 40, 4” diameter pipe, cap on the bottom end. The holes are 7/64” diameter, I’m sure 1/8” would work just fine.


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## winemaker81 (Jun 29, 2022)

I made a similar one, using a 1/4" bit, and I wrap the tube in a fine mesh nylon bag.


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