Degassing with All-In-One

[jpsmithny]

How long does it take to degas a 5 gallon carboy?

Do you leave the pump on for a long time?

Can you generate a vacuum and then turn it off?

How long would you leave it hooked up if so?

Can I install a valve and close it off after developing the vacuum and then remove the all-in one?

 

[Elmer]

I usually put a racking tube in a stopper. Pull the stopper to the bottom of the racking tube.
Stopper goes in the the carboy.
And run the AIO until no more bubbles rise to the top.
Just last week I think I degassed for a total of about 30 minutes. I was about to add some chitason and the directions indicate to degass first. I simply did not want to stir for that long.

I usually only run the AIO for 5 to 10 minutes and then let it rest for a few. I figure that while the AIO may not be specifically used for this purpose, short bursts of degassing could not tantamount to Armageddon

 

[sour_grapes]

It depends a lot on the temperature of the wine. I try to degas at about 70-75 deg., and pull a continuous vacuum for about 1/2 hour. At this point, bubbles are still coming out, but the remaining dissolved gases seem to be about the right level. That is, the wine is not fizzy at all.

 

[tonyt]

I degas for about 30 minutes with vacuum. Every five minutes or so I give the carboy a good shake to stir up more gas.

 

[dralarms]

The all in one degasses while racking, no need to put your equipment under undue stress by using it to degass. I would not recommend doing this.

 

[tonyt]

I guess I should have kept my nose out of this thread. I don't have the AIO, I have one of the vacuums that wade sold a few eyars back and it must be much more heavy duty than the AIO. The vacuum I have is no doubt designed for heavier use (medical aspiration). I will say that simply racking under vacuum is normally not enough to fully degas wine, at least not to my limits.

 

[SouthernChemist]

I think I read once of someone putting a bottling brush into the carboy they were vacuum racking into. The presence of the brush accelerated the formation of gas bubbles.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Although Steve will better answer this question, I cannot imagine degassing for 30 mins for one carboy? The wine in the carboy isn't supposed to come to a rolling boil.
Kit wines seem to be the most challenging to degass, personally, I've never had to rack more than once with Juice buckets and the wine made with fresh grapes is fine after one racking.
Dralarms - I couldn't agree more.
TonyT, I'm not familiar with what you have or how you are degassing with it, but I can attest that racking my wine once degassed it, with the exception of wine kits that I had to rack twice.
Sour_grapes - You are correct, the optimum temp to degass is between 70°-75°.
SouthernChemist - I'm fairly certain that TimV wrote the article that you read about putting a bottling brush in the carboy to accelerate the degassing process many years ago, but I for one would not want a bottling brush immersed into my wine for any length of time, even if it were uber cleaned and sanitized, it just seems like the perfect vessel to carry spoilage organisms, we go through so much to keep everything sanitary, that seems like taking a few steps backwards, but that is just my opinion.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

How long does it take to degas a 5 gallon carboy?
did you get a chance to watch the video and look over the FAQ's on my website ? It takes approx 4 minutes to transfer a 6 gallon carboy - as you are transferring you are releasing CO2 at the same time - typically 3-4 transfers and there is no more CO2 issues. The 3-4 racking are typically done in the 1st month - primary to secondary , then approx 4 days latter, then approx 7 days latter - that is following the typical procedure. The flex racking cane also does a wonderful job in removal of CO2 even faster with the AIO.

Do you leave the pump on for a long time?
See note above ^
This is taken from my FAQ"S
Can the unit be used for the removal of CO2?
Yes. Using the pump for racking from one carboy to another automatically removes the CO2. Splashing the wine in the carboy which is being filled can assist in removing the CO2. NOTE – Using the vacuum pump to pull a steady vacuum directly from a carboy is an exceptionally inefficient method of removing CO2. This is not recommended as it unduly loads the vacuum pump reducing its life span.

Can you generate a vacuum and then turn it off?
I guess you could - why though ?

How long would you leave it hooked up if so?

Can I install a valve and close it off after developing the vacuum and then remove the all-in one?

If you have any questions or concerns - please PM me and I will contact you if not call you directly so I can answer all your questions and concerns - so please leave a contact phone # as well

 

[jpsmithny]

If you have any questions or concerns - please PM me and I will contact you if not call you directly so I can answer all your questions and concerns - so please leave a contact phone # as well

I'm still getting co2 after three rackings so my thought was to establish the vacuum and then close off the hose with a valve to keep the carboy under vacuum. I was wondering if anyone had tried this.

And yes, hydrometer readings have been steady at .093

I'm not getting foam per se but still getting lots of bubbles.

This is a kit wine BTW.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I'm still getting co2 after three rackings so my thought was to establish the vacuum and then close off the hose with a valve to keep the carboy under vacuum. I was wondering if anyone had tried this.

And yes, hydrometer readings have been steady at .093

I'm not getting foam per se but still getting lots of bubbles.

This is a kit wine BTW.

I just PM'd you asking for your phone # so I can call you

I found out that by talking over the phone we can cover alot of ground - compared to emailing back and forth - where information can be lost

Questions like how do you know it is CO2
could be MLF ?
how long since you initially started and what type of wine and there
are soo many other questions we can address in such a short period of time and get to your solution or problem

 

[sour_grapes]

I'm still getting co2 after three rackings so my thought was to establish the vacuum and then close off the hose with a valve to keep the carboy under vacuum. I was wondering if anyone had tried this.

Let's say you do pull a vacuum and then shut the valve. One of two things can happen. One thing is that gas does come out of solution, and then this will eliminate your vacuum pretty quickly. The other possibility is that your vacuum holds at close to the initial level; the problem is that this means that the gas did not come out of solution.

I guess I am trying to say that there is nothing wrong with closing the valve to put the carboy under vacuum when you get sick of sitting there pumping on the carboy, but I think you need to be actively pumping (and gas needs to be coming out) in order to do any good.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Paul -
We should have more details on Thursday as he left me his phone # and I will call him and we will walk thru all the proper channels in order to help him the best I can

 

[olusteebus]

I agree that I would not leave the pump on for an extended time. Vacuum racking will remove a lot of gas, especially in you "splash rack" on the side of the carboy, up high.

After that, I would use a automobile brake bleeder with a stopper (with a 1/4 inch barb fitting) to create a vacuum until you see the wine not producing a lot of fiz (usually in about 5 to 10 minutes). I would pump it up, let it fiz down and pump it again. After that, I would pump vacuum to over 20, leave the bleeder hooked up and leave it alone for a while.IT really does not take a lot of work.

 

[richmke]

I was watching the wine transfer, and figured out why splashing against the wall of the carboy helps to degass. When the wine hits the wall of the carboy, it spreads out into a wide thin film as it drips down the wall. That exposes a huge amount of surface area for the vacuum to work on the dissolved gas.

If you put a full carboy under vacuum, it is really hard to pull out the gas that is below the surface (let's say anything more than 1 inch down does not really feel the vacuum). Splash racking puts all the gas with a fraction of the inch of the surface where it can feel the vacuum and be drawn out almost instantly.

 

[x_diver]

I'm new to wine making - been doing it less than a year. However, I've been fermenting a gallon of everything that I can get my hands on and leaving it to bulk age.

When it came time to degas, I figured that I would first try the cheap route and bought a brake bleeder. I spent all day degasing one gallon while working from home one day and my hand hurt like h*ll. Learned my lesson.

So I bought an AIO - an early Xmas present for myself. Steve was incredibly helpful with a few questions that I had prior to making my purchase - and a few more that I had after I bought it. But the real proof was today.

I racked a gallon of cherry back and forth from its original carboy to a clean carboy 4 times in about 4 minutes total. I thought that there was no way that my wine was fully degased. So I got out my brake bleeder and pumped it. Some foam appeared, I released the vacuum, pumped it again, and then waited. A few tiny bubbles came up, but the vacuum held at 25 psi.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Congrats on the great purchase!!!

 

[Stressbaby]

^ what x_diver says.
I really don't degas anything any more. I just rack with the AIO and by the time I bottle there is no gas left.
The other ways are way too much work for me.

 

[bkisel]

I was watching the wine transfer, and figured out why splashing against the wall of the carboy helps to degass. When the wine hits the wall of the carboy, it spreads out into a wide thin film as it drips down the wall. That exposes a huge amount of surface area for the vacuum to work on the dissolved gas.

If you put a full carboy under vacuum, it is really hard to pull out the gas that is below the surface (let's say anything more than 1 inch down does not really feel the vacuum). Splash racking puts all the gas with a fraction of the inch of the surface where it can feel the vacuum and be drawn out almost instantly.

Rich, I don't know the physics involved but I've hand pump degassed several white wines and watched bubbles form and come up right from the bottom of my 23L Italian carboy. With reds I don't really notice until the bubbles hit the shoulder. I concur with you on all the other points.

 

[dralarms]

Brake bleeders work, you get popeye arms and it will degass your wine. The all in one just does it so much easier and faster.