Mr P's Doc inspired drum fermenter airlock.

[Prairiepiss]

Doc posted a little about his ping pong ball airlock. For those of that don't know. Doc is from another forum. But I thought I should share this info with this forum too. And it inspired me to make one for my drum fermenters. And it turned out to be a lot easier then I thought. My drum lids have 2" NPT bungs in them. As most do. So I wanted something easy to slap on them. So I went and picked up a package of 6 ping pong balls. $3 at K Mart. Then headed to Lowes armed with a ping pong ball. Was rummaging through the PVC fitting isle. Grabbed a male 2" NPT adapter. And looked for something to fit the ping pong ball. And I found it. A 2" X 1 1/4" reducer bushing. The ping pong ball fits in the 1 1/4" female section with air space on the sides. And a lip to hold it up and seal against it. I think both fittings were $3. So $3.50 for each airlock.

Parts list. Ping pong ball. 2" male NPT adapter PVC. 2" X 1 1/4" reducer bushing PVC.

Glue the two together. Or press fit would work. Screw it into the drum bung. And drop the ping pong ball into place. And you got a cheapo Doc's ping pong ball airlock.

I'm going to find some sort of protector screen to go over it. But they will work for now.

Thanks for the inspiration Doc.

And here is a pic of my new rum fermenter setup. I placed a spigot at about the 8 gallon mark. This should leave enough room to take off clear wash. While leaving back the yeast bed. I will be reusing the yeast bed and what little wash is left to start the next batches. Just adding in new wash to ferment. I have the first batch going. And its going strong. The airlock is doing a great job. And can handle the amount of CO2 being produced by the 35 gal wash.

[Theo]

Great idea!

So if I have a 55 gal fermenter, a racquetball should work? Just kidding.

[bellybuster]

for a 55 gal fermenter you need a basketball.

great idea with the PP ball

[Prairiepiss]

That's a 53 gallon drum. Doc uses his on hundreds of gallons sized fermenters. So they can handle some volume. Yes he is a legal setup. Winery, brewery, and distillery.

[HolyBear]

So is there not a water trap? What's gonna keep the fruit flys out?

[Richard7]

So is there not a water trap? What's gonna keep the fruit flys out?

I bet they would love to hang out there but I don't see them getting around the ball.

[Prairiepiss]

So is there not a water trap? What's gonna keep the fruit flys out?

No water. The ping pong ball acts like a check valve. Lifts up to let co2 escape. While blocking anything from getting in. Basically a ball checkvalve.

[kentuckyboy]

I was thinking of just mounting 4 traditional airlocks on a 30 gallon drum. I don''t know if it would be sufficent enough. This looks like it would be great. Thanks so much for posting this. Every little thing I learn as a newbie makes me want to start building stills and sell them and inform others, some things make me want to distill. Some things just make me happy to tinker with this stuff. Just making my own airlock was fun. They aren't expensive but it was fun to build my own anyways.

[NineInchNails]

That is very cool! I like that design a lot. Makes perfect sense.

With the right combination of fittings I think you can make a completely encapsulated design that can be taken apart if needed. For instance the right adapter, short length of PVC pipe and a cap with a hole drilled in it to let co2 escape. I haven't given it much thought, but it should be possible.

[on1wheel01]

Pretty cool idea. I will be switching from my 5 gallon buckets to a 20 gallon barrel. I just use the standard air locks. Was figuring using 2-3 instead of one. But may try this.

[rad14701]

Very ingenious...

I've been pondering something very similar... Even a small rubber ball would also work even though the added weight would increase the fermenter pressure marginally... I was thinking about using a marble over a flared piece of copper line, kinda like a breather for a reflux columns reflux condenser section...

[Dnderhead]

a 1 oz ball on a 1 1/8 in tube will be 1 /16 (.0625)psi....

[Stainless]

Hi
Dunder does it again well done ,, so 1/16psi=nearly 0.7 bar? 1 bar = about 14.5 psi
thanks man
Stainless

[Dnderhead]

i just threw that in to show that there would be little presser build up.

[Prairiepiss]

Where do you come up with this stuff Dnderhead?

I've actually been thinking about weighting the ping pong balls down a little. Was thinking about drilling a small hole and using a syringe to inject some epoxy or something like it. To give it a little more weight. I also had the thought of using an O-ring placed down against the lip. Don't know that it would give much more of a seal. It was just a thought I had. I haven't had a chance to dig the O-ring kits out to find a good size to fit it. And try it out. Maybe later.

[Richard7]

I know this is not what this thread is about, but the math was bothering me. Sorry just my nature.
This is what I came up with....

1.25" reducer has a surface area of 1.227 Square " (radius of .625 x .625 x PI or 3.141)

Ball weight of 1oz = .0625 of a pound.

.0625 over 1.227 = 0.0509 PSI = .0035 bar I haven't done the math but I would bet that is less than a water air lock!

[Dnderhead]

head of water is .434 psi per foot. so 1 in of water is .434<12= .036 psi

[Richard7]

Looks like I lost that bet! Thanks Dnder.

Edited again to say I still like the air lock and to fix a typo, my calculations were with a 1oz ball. Anyone know how much a ping pong ball weighs (without google!)? Very good solution to sealing a fermenter!

[Prairiepiss]

Anyone know how much a ping pong ball weighs (without google!)? Very good solution to sealing a fermenter!

1/8 oz or 3 gr.

Out of three different O-ring kits. Not one fits good. I have one more kit out in my van. I will try it tomorrow. Not really needed. But thought I would try it.

[Bayou-Ruler]

Little off topic but, how good does that stick on thermometer work on the barrel?

[Prairiepiss]

Little off topic but, how good does that stick on thermometer work on the barrel?

Not sure. Never really tested it. I have always treated them as an indicator not really a true temp reading. Just a Guesstaments.

I built another fermenter and updated my UJSSM fermenter. To the new spigot setup I will ne using. It's a 3/4 NPT tank bulkhead they sell at Lowes. And a simple 3/4" NPT spigot. Actually they are drum spigots. The seal surface on these bulkheads are nice and wide. They are actually sold for rain barrels. And I like them.

[Dnderhead]

a mouses balls mite be good???? HA HA ,,I mean the ball from a computer mouse..

[Prairiepiss]

a mouses balls mite be good???? HA HA ,,I mean the ball from a computer mouse..

They are nice and heavy with a rubbery coating. A computer mouse ball that is.

[F6Hawk]

Wow, this thread is getting out of control! We went from fermenting to having to shave a poor mouse's balls to prevent nasties getting in... Ewwwwww

PP, how about a hypodermic needle, about 22-28 ga, fill the ping pong ball partially with cooking oil, put a drop of superglue over the hole, and now it weighs significantly more.

[Prairiepiss]

Thought about it. But they work as is. And I'm lazy.

[Theo]

I used a 2" NPT to 2" slip joint PVC connector. A racquet ball sits nicely on the shoulder. Considering the weight of the ball & the area of the shoulder, it takes .04 PSI for burps to happen. I had the ball on hand & the connector was $1.05.

[varocketry]

Reading this I thought of a Squash Ball as it's roughly the same size as a ping-pong ball. Heavier but not too heavy. Smaller and lighter than a Racquet ball.

[Bushman]

And when we were talking mouse balls I was wo during about rockie mountain oysters

[RonH3154]

Little off topic but, how good does that stick on thermometer work on the barrel?

Not sure. Never really tested it. I have always treated them as an indicator not really a true temp reading. Just a Guesstaments.

I built another fermenter and updated my UJSSM fermenter. To the new spigot setup I will ne using. It's a 3/4 NPT tank bulkhead they sell at Lowes. And a simple 3/4" NPT spigot. Actually they are drum spigots. The seal surface on these bulkheads are nice and wide. They are actually sold for rain barrels. And I like them.

IMAG1862-picsay.jpg

IMAG1861-picsay.jpg

Mr P I found some food grade barrels locally and want to build a similar fermenter. I was looking on the Lowe's website and couldn't find the bulkhead or spigot. Do you have a part number or a link for them?

[Moose_755]

Thanks for this, it will definitely help out once my 60g fermenter is done airing out.
How high gallon wise are you (PP) mounting your spigot to get it above sweet feed or wash materials?