Degassing Idea..........

[kristofour]

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]

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

 

[robie]

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]

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[btom2004]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

 

[kristofour]

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]

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]

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]

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.

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]

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

 

[ejiang]

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]

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 ?

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]

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]

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]

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]

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