Just purchased a vacuum pump. What say ye?

[Wade E]

8 and 10 each with dial, go for it then! Ive never ever seen one of these below like $40!

 

[vacuumpumpman]

That is a nice pump, but I would be afraid that it is too powerfull - that it may pull a vacuum too fast and possibily crack the carboy as well.

 

[Wade E]

Guys, you may look at the All in One and think its more money then you want top spend but its effortless and ready to bottle your wine and degas as is!!! Add a filter and you are all set!!! Its what I would do and I have a vacuum pump system.

 

[Chiumanfu]

Is the hydrophobic filter just to protect the pump from moisture?

Yes, more specifically humidity. I'm not too sure that they are needed for our application. They are always included with medical aspirators because the application demands it. A medical aspirator is used to pull mucus and phlegm. The air is extremely high humidity and it operates constantly.

In the case of transferring wine, the air is relatively low humidity and the usage is brief.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Wow that carboy adapter from Valley Vitner is 9.95 plus shipping of 8.80 for a grand total of 18.75 dollars !
I sell them complete including shipping for 8.00 dollars only.
As far as the Wine bottle vacuum reservoir convertion kit $10.00 + $3.00 shipping
- custom drilled tapered stopper that will aid in preventing liquid from entering the pump, 3/16’’ or 1/4’’ inlet – 1/4’’ outlet )
You can purchase a small piece of 3’’ pvc pipe and a floor mount and you are ready to go - it is really hard and you will need special tools to try to drill these rubber bungs.
http://allinonewinepump.com/accessories.html

As far as the filter housing - here is a complete list (thanks Wade)

I also sell the complete bottling set-up as well Vacuum Wine bottling set-up $35.00 + $7.00 shipping , see website for more details

For those of us that are less handy - the allinone includes everyting except the filter system, which is the link above and works extremely well with the allinone as well.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Those custom drilled stoppers are not easy to come by. Typically I only know of 2 places that sells them because they are labor intense to make it out of the pure gum tappered stopper (food grade)

I went to http://www.widgetco.com/ and they only seem to carry EPDM Rubber (black in color) which did not mention whether it is food grade or not. I also noticed that they do not carry the 6.5 bungs as well. If they are the standard black rubber stoppers, they tend to have a permament smell of rubber associated with them . You still have to try and drill them to the proper size as well.


I also have purshased filters from McMaster Carr
http://www.mcmaster.com/#45235k94/=eys0fr
which also carries .35 micron filter for around 12 dollars if you wanted to be sterile.I have never needed myself less than a 1 micron and time for any white wine,I believe that it does take out some taste along the way. but if you have a bacteria problem or such then defintley go with .35 micron

 

[BobF]

After a couple of attempts trying to make my 2-hole stoppers, I ordered a couple of these. Spendy, but VERY handy - and the hole sizes make sense. I wouldn't just order these as the shipping makes them darned expensive, but if you're ordering other stuff along with them it's not too bad.
http://morewinemaking.com/view_product/16654//Stopper_-_#65_Drilled_1_3_8"_hole_and_1_1_4"_hole

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Yes ; Bob they can be a pain trying to drill without the proper tools. Those are the only 2 places that I know that sells ( besides me ) the custom 2 hole stoppers.I contacted morewine when I wanted to upgrade from the universal carboy adapter to the 6.5 tappered bunge - but they were sold out and they mentioned it was going to be awhile before they were able to make any.

So that is when I decided to buy the proper tools and start making my own
Tapered Stopper #6.5 - 2 HOLE - Pure White $5.00 + $3.00 shipping
http://allinonewinepump.com/accessories.html

I do also make all other sizes bungs as well - just contact me and tell me what you are looking for

 

[BobF]

Steve - I misunderstood. I thought you were recommending the black ones with two small holes. You're making/selling the *useful* ones! That's great news.

I already had all of my vacuum equip together before you made yours available. I'll be checking you out if/when I need replacements.

BTW, is your bottling doohikkey self-stopping when the bottle is full?

 

[vacuumpumpman]

No it is not self stopping - considering it only takes 15 seconds to fill a bottle and it is only 42 dollars with US shipping - and no moving parts to service - means it is good for long term.

 

[SpoiledRotten]

Don't get rid of that pump yet. A homebuilt stand and a enolmatic nozzle,lever, spring setup from St Pats and you have an Enolmatic for about 100.00 dollars.

Add a filter cartridge housing for about 20 bucks

http://www.uswatersystems.com/shop/products/Aquapurion-2.5%22-x-10%22-Clear-Commercial-Filter-Housing.html

And some throw away filter cartridges for 6- 8 bucks (down to .35 micron)

http://www.uswatersystems.com/shop/categories/Replacement-Filters/Pleated-Sediment-Filters/Flow%252dMax-Premium-Pleated-Filters/2.75%22-x-9.75%22-Flow%252dMax-Pleated-Filters/

Get a carboy adaptor and or drill out 2 hole various size bungs for carboys, demijohns and barrels and you have a wine transfer system that is more gentle than the best diaphragm pump in an oxygen free environment. OR get the special bungs here
http://valleyvintner.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TVV&Product_Code=WE-10-2250&Category_Code=PF

Use a gallon jug for an over flow vessel just make sure your overflow hose is lower in the jug then the vacuum suction opening so you don't suck wine in the pump.

These guys have the best prices on double hole bungs and shipping
www.widgetco.com

Not getting rid of this pump! It works wonderful. I went to Lowes and picked up various poly(plastic) fittings to go from 1/4" IPS to vinyl tubing, I didn't have to look very far for a suction gauge, since I figured out that the hand pump (brake bleeder) that I bought for 30.00 had one on it. I only had to unscrew it from there and put it on my regulator. I also mounted my pump inside the "supplies" closet and attached enough tubing to reach anywhere in the "lab" I needed it. I also cut various lengths of vinyl tubing to use between the suction canister and the carboys.

I got a chance to use it to de-gas and man, what a difference it makes. I also used it once to rack from one carboy to another. When it first started transferring the wine, I cut it off real fast and went to YouTube and watched a vid of someone else transferring to see if the vigorous bubbling action was normal. It was in the video anyway, so I cranked the pump back up and let her go! So far, it was a really good investment. Now, I have to get a whole house filter to add to the set-up.

I do need to get a couple of the double hole bungs now and add a length to my racking cane so it will reach "almost" to the sediment in the taller carboys.

 

[Chiumanfu]

Enjoy your new vacuum setup! Show us pics of your final configuration.

 

[SpoiledRotten]

Will do, Chiumanfu!

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I went to the website http://www.uswatersystems.com/shop/...ers/2.75"-x-9.75"-Flow%2dMax-Pleated-Filters/
and it appears that they changed brands and the prices also went up as well and they do not sell the .35 micron filter as well, unless I missed a link somewhere ?

 

[SpoiledRotten]

http://www.freshwatersystems.com/p-1345-9-34-x-2-34-flow-max-pleated-poly-035-mic.aspx

$7.76/each!

 

[ibglowin]

Whats that old saying "if something sounds too good to be true it usually is".

Great price but not quite sure I believe this will filter to 0.35u.......

So who is going to be the first one to buy some of these, filter, backsweeten without adding any sorbate and be the guinea pig to see if fermentation takes back off in the bottle making bottle bombs?

 

[ibglowin]

Here is some information about "nominal vs absolute" filter ratings. This .35u filter is .35 "nominal" not "absolute"

Nominal vs Absolute Filter Ratings

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I must agree with Marty ^

 

[ibglowin]

Many winemakers will be interested in the .35u filters because they will want to try and use it for for sterile filtering.

I just wanted to point out that this filter while good/great for polishing may have inconsistent or mixed results at best if you were attempting to use it for sterile filtering. Thats all!

 

[SpoiledRotten]

Whats that old saying "if something sounds too good to be true it usually is".

Great price but not quite sure I believe this will filter to 0.35u.......

So who is going to be the first one to buy some of these, filter, backsweeten without adding any sorbate and be the guinea pig to see if fermentation takes back off in the bottle making bottle bombs?

Mike, why would someone bottle without sorbate anyway? Is that what filtering is supposed to do, keep you from adding chemicals? I thought it was simply to remove particles that were come back as sediment in the bottles. Hey, I'm still learning this stuff!