Diy Co2

[Faramir]

If any of you out there are also winemakers, this might interest you.

I've tried doing DIY CO2 with the old 2 litre coke bottle, siliconed in the tube etc., but always found that within a short period of time the tube loses its seal with the silicone. Just call me Mr Can't Glue A Tube In Properly.

So I came up with a new idea.

I use a half-gallon (UK) demijohn, which is near enough 2 litres. Instead of the cap, tube and silicone arrangement, I use a standard bored Demijohn cork and the bottom half of a two-part air-lock. The tube is selected to fit snugly in or over the inner part of the air-lock (where the gas comes out).

Low and behold it works. Mrs Faramir also thinks it looks less unpleasant than the coke bottle, so this is a plus. It has the added advantage that should the tube ever get blocked (the reactor is an airstone, and it does happen!) the bung will be expelled long before the demijohn explodes.

Hope this is possibly useful to someone somewhere.

(Next stage - providing CO2 from a live fermenting wine and combining the two hobbies.....)

 

[Aderynglas]

Way to go Faramir
Trust good old british ingenuity to sort out the problem .

If you do decide to take advantage of co2 generation as a by product of wine making filter the fruit from the must before putting it in the demijohn. I failed to do this once and it exploded all over my kitchen (yes I used rubber bungs and the same air lock) It seeped everywhere and we had to take the kitchen apart to clean it

 

[Faramir]

My only worry about the combination is that towards the end of the period there could be quite a concentration of gaseous ethanol in the space above the must.

I'm not sure that's a good thing to pump into the tank. Who wants to take an Acara to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting?

 

[Matak]

I'm not sure that's a good thing to pump into the tank. Who wants to take an Acara to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting?

This idea of combining fermenting beverages and DIY CO² was posted as an idea here a couple of months back. It was hashed out for a bit and the general conclusion was that there would be too much fermentation for too short a period of time.

If you want to get a longer, steadier DIY mix, use a gelatine/sugar mixture instead of just water/sugar, move up to a four litre demijohn, use champagne yeast, and use the same amount recommended for two litres in your four litre mix. When you add your yeast, use a funnel and spread it slowly and evenly over the entire surface of your gelatine/sugar mix.

I am getting more than two full months out of such a mix at better than 1 bubble/second (with daytime temps at 21°C and night temps at 16°C).

BTW, congrats on your 1000th post

 

[dillct]

Use some "Shoe Goo". It actually bonds to the plastic cap and hose unlike silicone.

Chaz

 

[Matak]

You can also silicone both the inside and outside of the cap where the airline passes through. BTW, are you using rigid airline tubing? It might make all the difference.