Degassing with vacuum

[boudreaux]

I see post about using vacuum pump to degas, what kind of pump do you use? Would an A/C vac pump work?

 

[Wade E]

It would but make3 sure there is a gauge and a limiter as you dont want to exceed around 22" of vacuum on a carboy.

 

[boudreaux]

At what stage is best time to degas

 

[Wade E]

I like to do it right when ferm,entation is done myuself so that it will start clearing faster as C02 stuck in suspension wont let a wine clear properly. Degassing is best done at 75*, If this is a wine made from grapes and was pressed thjis is not needed as the pressing and openess during this process does all the degassing needed hence why people who do not make kits see these posts and dont understand this process and think it doesnt need to be done.

 

[Maestro]

Wade, is it possible to reach that level of vacuum in a carboy using the Vac U Vin wine pump?? We attached it to our carboy last night and gave the wine a last degassing before bottling. It took several pumps to get the bubbles coming up, which there weren't many so I think we degassed with the drill better this time. I just want to make sure that I don't over pump the carboy with this little handheld deal.

 

[Torch404]

Lots of people use the hand pumps to degass. I doubt you could make a vacuum strong enough with one to break glass. You might be able to suck in a plastic better bottle and spill wine everywhere. Most peoples electric pumps are medical grade aspirator pumps and can pull quite a strong vacuum.

 

[Maestro]

That's what I was thinking. I have to BB's and a glass carboy. I tried the hand pump carefully on the BB and sure enough it was enough in just a couple pumps to start sucking the sides inward. The glass worked nicely, but still didn't seem to degass as vigorously as when I put the hand pump on individual bottles after bottling. Guessing I can give the glass carboy a few more pumps.

 

[pmf2000]

Plans or Pictures?

Does anyone have an equipment or materials list for doing this? I have a vacuum pump and a regulator. I'm not sure what else I need.

 

[Lurker]

If you have the pump I'm sure that you have everything that you need except two corks with 2 holes each. You run your tubing from the pump to an overflow (I use an iced tea bottle) bottle through one of the holes in a double cork. Another line from the overflow through the other hole in the cork to another double cork in the receiving carboy. You now have an unused hole in the receiving carboy cork. Run a line from the bottom of the full carboy and through the hole into the receiving carboy. No cork needed in the supply carboy. Setup like that and all you have to do is throw the switch and lo & behold, the wine will move from one bottle to another. I cut a racking cane into some pieces that I put through the cork holes for an easy connection to tubing. The racking cane piece going into the receiving carboy should be longer than the vacuum tube. I did some test runs with water before I did it with wine. I found that 5” of vacuum was enough. I do not try to break speed records with it. It also will automatically degas for you. There is disagreement, but if any air is getting in, it is very little through the partial vacuum. Have fun.

I just went back and saw that you have a BB. I'm not sure that the BB will handle the vacuum. Be careful. Use the least amount of vacuum. Let us know how you make out.

 

[Wade E]

1 of those carboy caps a few hoses and racking canes, hers a pic of my setup.

 

[Lurker]

Yep, that'll work. See, its just what I said with too many words.

 

[prickles]

Hello,

I'm about three months into this adventure and my first batch was very gassy. I have bought an aspirator pump to try this setup that Wade and Lurker are talking about. A bunch of questions...

The racking cane in the receiving carboy is to minimize splashing? I thought I read somewhere else that splashing might help with degassing?

The outgoing carboy is NOT sealed? If using the orange caps, one hole is left open?

The receiving carboy must be GLASS? The outgoing one can be PLASTIC?

Where do you recommend I purchase these orange caps? What are your favorite online vendors?

thanks so much in advance for your help!

 

[xanxer82]

Finevinewines.com is great for materials.

 

[Lurker]

The racking cane in the receiving carboy is to minimize splashing? I thought I read somewhere else that splashing might help with degassing? Your choice, a short cane will splash and a long cane does not splash.
The outgoing carboy is NOT sealed? If using the orange caps, one hole is left open? There is no cap on my supply carboy, Wade uses a cap with one hole open. Again, your choice.
The receiving carboy must be GLASS? The outgoing one can be PLASTIC? All of the vacuum is in the receiving carboy which should be glass, the supply carboy has no vacuum, therefore, no pressure and can be plastic.

 

[prickles]

thanks!

By the way, I also heard once is sufficient for degassing? Do you run it through several times or just the one time?

 

[Lurker]

Each time I rack it gets degassed. Usually about 3 times.

 

[Wade E]

I degas mine once and that is when its done fermenting and right after adding both sulfite and sorbate. I dont splash rack my wine as to me its unpredictable as too if Im over exposing my wine to 02. With the vacuum unit and a gauge I know exactly when its degassed enough for me and stop at that point. I like using the carboy caps to hold my racking cane right where I want it especially wheen racking off of sediement as I can slowly lower it down near the end and not disturb the lees at the bottom this keeping my clear wine clear.

 

[prickles]

I'm really confused now. I thought the purpose of this vacuum racking was to degas your wine, but in another thread, I saw that it doesn't degas? If it doesn't degas, how do you degas with an aspirator pump?

 

[Wade E]

I just answered this in your other post for you.

 

[kerbos5]

Quick question just bought and pump, and was degassing a we vr chard, I have the pressure up to 19-20 hg, and I still have lots of gas do you just let it keep going till there is no more gas or stop once you hit a certain reading? Thanks for all your help.