[Mark G]

I just broke another auto-siphon last week. It's a nice gadget, but this is the third one I've broken in the last year and a half. Next time I hit the LHBS, I plan on picking up a stainless racking cane.

[brians]

Man, this is informative. I'm using the plastic canes but usually they get kinda funky on my after about half a brewing season. I get paranoid and replace them, only costs me about 3.50 but it will add up eventually. Perhaps I should switch to SS. Thanks for the pointers.

[Norm!]

Stainless.....That way you cant see the stuff inside!!   Just sayin....

[tubercle]

I point the racking cane and hose ends up and hold in one hand and fill the hose/cane up with beer with a turkey baster. I put my thumb (AKA Tubercle Valve) over the hose then put the cane in the carboy or bucket and release the "valve" on the hose in the other container.

[Will's Swill]

I used the same plastic racking cane for years until breaking it in half during a move.  I wonder about the staining though, do you guys not clean your cane immediately after use?  Mine remained clear until the end.  Anyway, after breaking my cane I decided to try the autosiphon.  And while I'm on my second autosiphon after breaking the first, I gotta say, I love it.  It's easily my favorite brewing tool.  You can take my refractometer and thermopen (ok, I don't have a thermopen), but don't take my autosiphon.

[tygo]

You can take my refractometer and thermopen (ok, I don't have a thermopen), but don't take my autosiphon.

I can live without my refractometer but if you come anywhere near my thermopen you'll pull back a bloody stump 

I'm an autosiphon disciple but I've recently got everything together I need to push the transfers with CO 2 ala Drew.  I just haven't gotten around to putting it all together yet.

[Simon]

Like others here, I've long moved from plastic to stainless for my racking cane. It only took me braking one auto-siphon (on it's second use) and two plastic racking canes after roughly five or six uses.

I'm too chicken s*** to go anywhere near pumping CO2 into the fermenter so it's carboy cap/sanitary filter combo for me

To be perfectly honest, this setup is ideal except for the need to lift the carboy up above the target. One of these days I'll look into a pulley system!!        Either that or go CO2

[tschmidlin]

CO2 should be harmless.  I'm pretty sure it's going to force the carboy cap off of the carboy before the carboy will break.  I might have to test that with one of my bad carboys.

[morticaixavier]

CO2 should be harmless.  I'm pretty sure it's going to force the carboy cap off of the carboy before the carboy will break.  I might have to test that with one of my bad carboys.

carefully!

I wonder how many PSI are you creating with by blowing into the sterile filter method of starting the syphon? granted it's not constant but...

[tschmidlin]

I used to know how to do this calculation . . . figure you're raising it a foot or so since you only have to get it to the top of the racking cane.  And the surface area being raised is less than a square inch.  I can't remember the equation but I would guess it is 1/2 psi or less.

[dbeechum]

I would guess ...

And you call yourself a scientist!

[hopfenundmalz]

I used to know how to do this calculation . . . figure you're raising it a foot or so since you only have to get it to the top of the racking cane.  And the surface area being raised is less than a square inch.  I can't remember the equation but I would guess it is 1/2 psi or less.

One PSI will raise a column of water 27 inches and a fraction.  Diameter as not come into the equation,  as the prfessue works on the surface of the fluid. 

[tschmidlin]

I would guess ...

And you call yourself a scientist!

Do I?   It's an engineering question anyway. 

One PSI will raise a column of water 27 inches and a fraction.  Diameter as not come into the equation,  as the prfessue works on the surface of the fluid. 

Fair enough - but about a half psi for a foot, like I guessed. I'll take it. 

[thomasbarnes]

I just broke another auto-siphon last week. It's a nice gadget, but this is the third one I've broken in the last year and a half. Next time I hit the LHBS, I plan on picking up a stainless racking cane.

FWIW, I've discovered that the largest size Fermtch autosiphons usually fail when the inflow valve breaks or gets dislodged. After wasting way too much time trying to reseat the little plastic widget, I discovered that a cleaned and sanitized penny makes an excellent replacement. Just make sure to remove the penny after you're done and rinse and dry it carefully until you need it again.

[Tristan]

Rule of thumb for replacement is every 6 months for tubing (earlier if it clouds or shows scratches) and every 12 months for auto-siphons.  I'm really excited to learn about the stainless steel/carboy cap solution.  I'm sick of lifting full carboys and less than reliable auto-siphons!