Building a blow-off tube for your carboys

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Mon Mar 04, 2013 10:21 am

looks like i'll need one for two very active brews.
trying to understand what sized bung one needs (and where to find them).

any suggestions how to DIY?

J343MY · Post by **J343MY** » Mon Mar 04, 2013 12:56 pm

I take the main part of a 3 piece airlock, cut the very tip off, and put a 5/8" (I think this is the size) tube on the plastic piece that sticks up on the inside.

groulxsome · Post by **groulxsome** » Mon Mar 04, 2013 1:05 pm

I've always made due by pushing the tubing hose I use for racking directly into the bung that usually houses the airlock and immersing the other end in a bucket of starsan. It fits tight and I've never had trouble with it becoming loose with pressure. As soon as it's not needed anymore I replace it with an airlock.

Oh, and it's just the normal 6 1/2 bung I have in my carboy for the airlock and a standard 5/16" x 7/16" hose.

markaberrant · Post by **markaberrant** » Mon Mar 04, 2013 1:43 pm

I made mine with wide plastic tubing from Home Depot. No need for a bung, the tubing perfectly fits the opening of the carboy. Plus the extra width ensures it never gets clogged.

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Mon Mar 04, 2013 2:26 pm

markaberrant wrote:I made mine with wide plastic tubing from Home Depot. No need for a bung, the tubing perfectly fits the opening of the carboy. Plus the extra width ensures it never gets clogged.

yeah, this is kind of what i was thinking.
worried about clogs.
do you need to clamp it or does it snuggly fit over the opening?

grub · Post by **grub** » Mon Mar 04, 2013 2:33 pm

J343MY wrote:I take the main part of a 3 piece airlock, cut the very tip off, and put a 5/8" (I think this is the size) tube on the plastic piece that sticks up on the inside.

this is what I do. generally busting out the X in the tip gives you enough of a passage that it won't clog. the only times I've had one plug is when I forgot to remove the X.

markaberrant · Post by **markaberrant** » Mon Mar 04, 2013 4:44 pm

atomeyes wrote: yeah, this is kind of what i was thinking.
worried about clogs.
do you need to clamp it or does it snuggly fit over the opening?

No clamping. The tubing fits inside, not outside.

codfishh · Post by **codfishh** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 3:07 pm

I just use a carboy cap, attach some silicone hose to it and put the other into a 2l pop bottle full of sanitizer. Pretty simple it's worked great for me.