Vacuum Racking/De-gassing/Bottling Advice

[robwrx]

Hi

I'm in the process of putting together a Vacuum Racking/De-gassing/Bottling setup and wondered if anyone else had made their own and could offer any advice. I have a couple of small vacuum pumps and I am sorting a variety of sizes of bungs with two holes in to fit demijohns and carboys.

Does anyone know what the minimum vacuum level is required to draw wine from one 23 litre carboy to another? What is the maximum an empty glass carboy can take before imploding? I've read on the Winepress forum that 1 bar or 28 inches is not a problem but wondered if anyone on here has got any experience of that sort of figure.

Regards
Rob

[Cellar_Rat]

To answer your question. 5 psi will be fine to move it, 1 bar (14.8 psi) will be faster and should IMO be a maximum. Have you considered a whale pumps rather than using vaccuum?

[fatbloke]

Is this actually an issue ? Because the carboy being emptied wouldn't be a problem, so It's only something too check on the receiving end isn't it ? Only because I have an enolmatic for this. Though I don't know how much vacuum is actually generated.....

Maybe I'm thinking A about T though. Like would a pump de-gas like a vacuum can ?

regards

jtfb

[lockwood1956]

The enolmatic pulls around 28 -29 inches of mercury (thats how vacuum is measured)

you would only need around 10 inches of mercury (maybe even less) for racking

[robwrx]

To answer your question. 5 psi will be fine to move it, 1 bar (14.8 psi) will be faster and should IMO be a maximum. Have you considered a whale pumps rather than using vaccuum?

Hi Cellar Rat

I read the thread that Mcblades started that you posted in with a lot of info about whale pumps but after weighing up the pros and cons I discounted it on the grounds that
1. I would have to buy a pump (I've already got two vacuum pumps)
2. A whale pump would need a 12v battery or similar (more money)
3. It wouldn't de-gas and could possibly add oxygen
4. Northern Winer raised concerns over the pump "beating up" the wine

If for whatever reason the vacuum pump doesn't work for me then I will reconsider the whale pump.

Regards
Rob

[robwrx]

Is this actually an issue ? Because the carboy being emptied wouldn't be a problem, so It's only something too check on the receiving end isn't it ?

regards

jtfb

It is the receiving carboy I'm worried about. Sucking all the air out of a relatively expensive glass container does worry me slightly but I'm a lazy blighter and the thought of being able to rack uphill and de-gas at the same is very appealing.

Rob

[Cellar_Rat]

1. I would have to buy a pump (I've already got two vacuum pumps)
2. A whale pump would need a 12v battery or similar (more money)
3. It wouldn't de-gas and could possibly add oxygen
4. Northern Winer raised concerns over the pump "beating up" the wine

1. Agree with you absolutely. 1m%
2. ditto
3. It 'may' de-gas (jury is out) and could possibly add oxygen - not when it's under the wine it can't
4. Steve will also agree that the vineyards across the world use pumps. I have no evidence of being beaten up (no bruising no black eyes) - but i guess there is still time.

For me 1 and 2 carry it!

Cheers
Brian

[fatbloke]

Well, I doubt that any of the commercial type devices is likely to be a problem. I didn't know the figures for an enolmatic, so TVM to Bob for that, though I don't use it and the matching filter often as It's a lot of effort for 1 gallon batches, but my minijet seems to remove most of the gas and it also can be used as just a pump bypassing the filter section.......and its a hell of a lot cheaper than the enolmatic/filter and housing option......

regards

jtfb

[robwrx]

Thanks for all the feed back guys and thanks for the Enolmatic figures Bob.

I did a dummy run for the first time with my setup last night on a demijohn and was amazed at the speed at which it sucked 1 gallon of water up about 3ft. The vacuum peaked at 25 inches Hg, slightly lower than an Enolmatic so I'm reasonably confident that it is safe.

Rob

[Cellar_Rat]

Nice one. The main thing is that you can now syphon uphill! I gave up trying to lift big DJ's years ago.