# Degassing pump?



## JoshDivino (Aug 23, 2012)

What is a good, affordable vacuum pump for degassing my wine? I don't have a whole ton of money nor do I make wine on a very big scale, but I'm sick of using a stirring rod with my drill!


----------



## roadpupp (Aug 23, 2012)

I have seen some using brake bleeder kits. Search this site and you should find some threads on it.


----------



## saramc (Aug 23, 2012)

I like the All In One Wine Pump....vacuum racking, degassing, bottling. Can be adapted to you can incorporate a filter. Affordable. Easy.


----------



## JoshDivino (Aug 23, 2012)

I would love to buy one Sara, but affordable is a different student when your a college student living on a 75 dollar meal budget a month, just so you can stay out of debt for school, give me 5 years and I'll have one, I promise!


----------



## BernardSmith (Aug 23, 2012)

Josh, Hi!. "Affordable" is a word that covers a great deal of territory but eBay frequently lists aspirator vacuum pumps for about $50.00. They can pull a vacuum that is similar to a brake bleeder pump (about 25 inches mercury) but they are electric and don't require you to pump by hand, but that said, many folk on this forum suggest that allowing wine to age appropriately will result in all the CO2 dissipating by itself, so "affordable" might mean at no $$ cost.


----------



## JoshDivino (Aug 23, 2012)

hmm I'll definitely have to look for a small aspirator pump then, but for now the workout (seriously I scoop ice cream at baskin robbins and that thing tired the hell out of my wrist) machine will do!


----------



## captainl (Aug 24, 2012)

The vacu-vin works better than stirring...$15. But you still have to pump it a lot. Good for you for staying out of debt. Dave Ramsey fan?


----------



## JoshDivino (Aug 24, 2012)

Yes very big Dave Ramsey fan, watched his whole college thing back in high school, worked from the time I was a freshman to my senior year summer 40-80 hours a week just to pay for my school!


----------



## keena (Aug 24, 2012)

Hey josh, I'm also a college student and I chose to get one of these 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005BT90DI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Works like a charm but still requires alot of pumping sometimes. All depends on the wine.


----------



## JoshDivino (Aug 24, 2012)

Thanks keena! That's actually the pump I bought yesterday and have been using it, it does work great, but makes your wrist real tired!


----------



## keena (Aug 24, 2012)

Yea, I've had some wines Degas in literally like 5 sec, then some take as long as an hour!


----------



## captainl (Aug 24, 2012)

Awesome . We have been DR fanatics for 5 years now and debt free for 3 (except the 15 yr mortgage) It's worth it even though all my friends think I'm weird. I actually started brewing beer and wine to make it affordable when the budget was tite. Now I spend more on this stuff than I ever did but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ok...I'm still cheap.


----------



## JoshDivino (Aug 24, 2012)

Yeah staying debt free has been a huge obstacle for me, and Ive seen so many friends take their student loans and be on their way. I prefer to pay it all myself with cash, definitely makes me work hard in class. It's really great because after this year everything I make will be mine, my hope is to move to a bit larger city (thinking Chicago) and work for the bureau as a forensic accountant, buy some land and build a house (mortgage-free) then 10-20 years down the road open up a winery. But we will see what life throws at me (thank god for the emergency fund right?)

I also started making mine to make it affordable. After the initial investment it's been pretty cheap, and I think within a few years I'll be able to make my own high quality wines for 3-4 dollars a bottle, rather paying 40-50 of my favorite Cabernet


----------



## keena (Aug 24, 2012)

JoshDivino said:


> Yeah staying debt free has been a huge obstacle for me, and Ive seen so many friends take their student loans and be on their way. I prefer to pay it all myself with cash, definitely makes me work hard in class. It's really great because after this year everything I make will be mine, my hope is to move to a bit larger city (thinking Chicago) and work for the bureau as a forensic accountant, buy some land and build a house (mortgage-free) then 10-20 years down the road open up a winery. But we will see what life throws at me (thank god for the emergency fund right?)
> 
> I also started making mine to make it affordable. After the initial investment it's been pretty cheap, and I think within a few years I'll be able to make my own high quality wines for 3-4 dollars a bottle, rather paying 40-50 of my favorite Cabernet



Sounds like a good plan! I'm in milwaukee at the uw. I also pay my bills up front, makes me try harder when I work all summer for school. You near Rockford by chance? You could join our wine club in southern Wisconsin


----------



## JoshDivino (Aug 24, 2012)

I live in washington not Wisconsin  thank you for the offer though! If I was near there I would be more than happy to join!


----------



## JoshDivino (Aug 24, 2012)

Unless Skype presence is acceptable?


----------



## spaniel (Aug 24, 2012)

JoshDivino said:


> Yeah staying debt free has been a huge obstacle for me, and Ive seen so many friends take their student loans and be on their way. I prefer to pay it all myself with cash, definitely makes me work hard in class. It's really great because after this year everything I make will be mine, my hope is to move to a bit larger city (thinking Chicago) and work for the bureau as a forensic accountant, buy some land and build a house (mortgage-free) then 10-20 years down the road open up a winery. But we will see what life throws at me (thank god for the emergency fund right?)
> 
> I also started making mine to make it affordable. After the initial investment it's been pretty cheap, and I think within a few years I'll be able to make my own high quality wines for 3-4 dollars a bottle, rather paying 40-50 of my favorite Cabernet



When I was a poor student, I scoured the university labs and scored two old vacuum pumps that were being thrown out, along with some oil. Between them they lasted ~4 years; we were making about 180gal/yr each of those years! They got a lot of use, as we did all racking by vacuum transfer (talk about FAST).

Land in Chicago, huh? You better have A LOT of money or not mind LONG commutes....I had offers there but picked Indianapolis as I could get right into some land and get my vines in, with a very reasonable commute downtown.


----------



## keena (Aug 25, 2012)

JoshDivino said:


> I live in washington not Wisconsin  thank you for the offer though! If I was near there I would be more than happy to join!



Oh, just seen you mentioned Chicago so I was thinking you lived close to it, lol

Luckily I have 15 acres and a house being given to me, I know... I'm lucky


----------



## JoshDivino (Aug 25, 2012)

Yeah my plan is to get some land a ways out from Chicago, and I'll be based in Chicago not be stuck, most forensic accountants do a lot of traveling and moving around.

Wow keena! That sounds nice, I don't think I could actually take a house and that much land though, I like doing things on my own


----------



## keena (Aug 27, 2012)

JoshDivino said:


> Wow keena! That sounds nice, I don't think I could actually take a house and that much land though, I like doing things on my own



I'm generally that way to, I don't let my parents even pay my school bills when they offer. But the house was built by my great grandfather and handed down since. It's a smaller house that my dad currently uses as a getaway and I'm hoping to do the same once I find my career after college


----------



## JoshDivino (Aug 27, 2012)

keena said:


> I'm generally that way to, I don't let my parents even pay my school bills when they offer. But the house was built by my great grandfather and handed down since. It's a smaller house that my dad currently uses as a getaway and I'm hoping to do the same once I find my career after college



Ah very nice, what are you studying in school?


----------



## keena (Aug 27, 2012)

Supply chain and operations management. I changed major from computer programming to psychology to supply chain and ops management. lol


----------



## JoshDivino (Aug 28, 2012)

keena said:


> Supply chain and operations management. I changed major from computer programming to psychology to supply chain and ops management. lol



What is supply chain and ops management exactly?


----------



## keena (Aug 28, 2012)

Managing businesses in the supply chains. Like I currently work at Fritolay and our managers have that major.


----------



## JoshDivino (Aug 28, 2012)

Oh gotcha! Are you planning to stay at Fritolay when you do graduate?


----------



## keena (Aug 28, 2012)

If I'm able to land a job here I would love to. It's close to home, I'm familiar with the work and enjoy it, and they pay well. I started here as college summer help making $21/hour. That's what is getting me through school!


----------



## JoshDivino (Aug 28, 2012)

Nice! I make about the same at the pool I manage, its pretty great work too. I get to lifeguard, coach a swim team, teach tennis lessons, and take care of the pool pumps, water etc.


----------



## nosliwrelyt (Feb 11, 2013)

*Am I degassing correctly?*

I was hoping someone could help me with newbie degassing issues I'm having. I started degassing my 6 Gallon 2012 Riesling Kit with a drill mounted stirrer.... and boy did it foam up...all over my kitchen. I stirred for a total of about 30 minutes, reversing directions until the foam was at a minimum. I then filled my test jar about 1/3 of the way up, put a stopper in the end with my thumb over it and shook it. There was enough pressure to make the "puff" of air expected when the wine wasn't degassed properly. I made sure the wine was as close to 75deg (it was 71deg) as I could get it. My drill battery died, so I called it quits for the night and put the air lock back on. Thinking there has to be a better way to degas, I did some searching on the forums and found vacuum degassing was a popular topic. I went out and picked up a MityVac Brake Bleeder from the auto parts store. The kit came with a number of different fittings and I was able to use the cone shaped fitting in the top of my stopper. I pulled a vacuum to about 20inHg and the bubbles kept coming, but not the foam I saw when stirring. I've been maintaining about 20inHg if I see it drops below 15inHg, I'll pump it back down to 20inHg. How do I know when my wine is fully degassed?! No matter how much I pump, there always seems to be bubbles. Please Help!


----------



## btom2004 (Feb 11, 2013)

Just keep at it until there are no more bubbles raising.


----------



## RickC (Feb 11, 2013)

The bubbles will eventually slow considerably but your hands may be worn out and you may have blisters. It may take several hours. After using a brake bleeder for 2-3 kits I broke down and bought a vac pump. Well worth the $.


----------



## btom2004 (Feb 11, 2013)

I always say if you get hurt doing something, then youre doing it wrong. Just pump it firmly don't go crazy and you shouldn't get any blisters. Ose two hands at the same time for extra strength. I also say why join a gym, making wine give you more of a workout.


----------



## millwright01 (Feb 11, 2013)

Once the very small bubbles have stopped it is degassed. I pump mine up to 20 and if it still has 10+ in 15 minutes, it is done. I read that somewhere here but I couldn't find the thread to link to it.


----------



## olusteebus (Feb 12, 2013)

Get a carboy stopper with a quarter inch hole or make one. Insert a quarter inch double ended barb (plastic from a big box hardware store - plumbing and attach your hose to that . You can then run it up to 20 and rest until it goes down.

Also, The bubbles will continue but they become much bigger which are not gas bubbles.

here is instructions on converting a 12 volt tire inflator into a vacuum pump. I have done this to Harbor Freight pumps (around 9 bucks) and it works fine. You will have to buy a ac to dc converter. Walmart carries them. 

I still prefer my harbor freight brake bleeder though which is like a mityvac but not as sturdy.


----------



## nosliwrelyt (Feb 13, 2013)

Thanks for all of the help everyone! I'm more confident now after hearing some responses that my wine is fully degassed. I ended up pumping it down to 20" for a couple days and it only dropped to to 15" overnight. Thanks again!


----------



## Boatboy24 (Feb 14, 2013)

nosliwrelyt said:


> I ended up pumping it down to 20" for a couple days and it only dropped to to 15" overnight. Thanks again!



Yep, that puppy is done.


----------



## TahunaJR (Feb 14, 2013)

So, if I read all of this correctly... Get a 1 hole carboy stopper, hook that up by a tube to a HF hand brake bleeder and pump it down to 20. Leave it under pressure over night until it gets back to 15. Continue this until no more tiny bubbles. Sound close????


----------



## Boatboy24 (Feb 14, 2013)

Overnight isn't necessary. If I get it to 20 or more and can come back an hour later, seeing that it's still above 15, I'm done. I'll sometimes repeat for another 30-60 minutes, just to be sure.


----------



## TahunaJR (Feb 14, 2013)

I went to my local hardware big store bringing along a carboy bung with a hole and a piece of th HF brake feeder tubing. 

With little ti choose from, I ended up purchasing a brass 1/2" to 3/8" barbed connector for $1.93. The 1/2" end fit perfectly in the carboy bung. The 3/8" end had to be convinced (with some hot water soaking) to fit on the 1/4" tubing. But all is snug as a bug in a rug. 

The other end of the tube is connected to the HF hand brake bleeder. I am all set for degassing at some point this weekend (once my hydrometer tells me to). 

As usual, great info from all!


----------



## TahunaJR (Feb 25, 2013)

So, I put my WE White Zin into the last stage a week or so ago. SG was good, put the f-pack and other ingredients in after degassing with my HF hand brake bleeder. Checked the wine today and it is clearing very well. 

Well, I have been questioning the degassing since I could only get the gauge up to 10. Big bubbles but didn't seem that it took long enough. 

So, I hooked up the vacu vin to it and sure enough there sure seemed like a lot of degassing needed to still be done. Got big bubbles for 30+ minutes. Once activity slowed down, i kept using the vacu vin until no more big bubbles. 

So, I will check again tomorrow. Bad news is this also caused the sediment to float and the wine is cloudy again. 

Will I need to add more clarifier or will everything settle again? (Back in the day we didn't degas, we just waited it out! I'm still learning...)

Joe


----------



## 1tonmama (Feb 25, 2013)

My guess is you can let it settle on its own (without disturbing the lees anymore of course). Once it clears in a month or so, rack it off of the lees and let it age.

At least that's my plan. I have a WE cab sauv kit that's been clearing for. About 2 weeks now. I suspect that it hasn't been degassed enough. Regardless I'm planning to let it sit till probably around Easter weekend for the first rack.


----------



## 3274mike (Feb 25, 2013)

*Cheap degassing pump*

This might be an idea I use an old nebulizer machine (probably didt spell that right) which is used for giving breathing treatments. I took the case appart switching the air fittings and removing the filter insert. this placing the fitting with line fitting on the intake side. The machine uses a 1/4 line which can be placed over the hole in your stopper and sucks the gas out. If the vaccuum gets to strong just break it a little and continue. You can probably make some type of regulater for this but it works. Lots of young children have to use nebulizers these days then grow out of it so people have them just sitting in the closet and would give them away(most the time insurance pays for them). My two kids both had to have these treatments so I had two of them. its much less work than stirring the wine. Sorry for the long post but hard to explain in few words.


----------



## saramc (Feb 26, 2013)

3274mike said:


> This might be an idea I use an old nebulizer machine .



Have you ever connected a gauge to see what size vacuum it will pull? I thought about using the nebulizer as an aerator, connecting an air stone--not mechanically inclined enough to do what you did.


----------

