Leaking spigot on fermenter. Help!

[WayFrae]

I put my first batch in the fermenter last night. Its a 7.5 gallon bucket with a spigot. I thought I had the spigot on tight enough but I woke up this morning and there is a slow leak on the seal of the spigot. It leaked just enough to make a ring around the bucket in about 10 hours. Would it be too risky to clean and sanitize my wrench and arm to tighten the spigot? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Descender]

I don't think you can effectively sanitize a wrench without an acid bath. Even new they're coated in oily crap. Got another vessel you could transfer to for the repair?

 

[WayFrae]

Yes, I have a 6 gallon carboy. Should I be careful about aerating it at this point or is it early enough that I can just pour it in?

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[Braufessor]

I put my first batch in the fermenter last night. Its a 7.5 gallon bucket with a spigot. I thought I had the spigot on tight enough but I woke up this morning and there is a slow leak on the seal of the spigot. It leaked just enough to make a ring around the bucket in about 10 hours. Would it be too risky to clean and sanitize my wrench and arm to tighten the spigot? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

That happens from time to time - I ferment most of my beer in bottling buckets and I would say it happens about 1/4-1/3 of the time. I just leave it alone. It quits leaking. I have a wheat beer right now that did the same thing - leaked out a tablespoon maybe. Ring around the bottom of the bucket. Been sitting there fora about a week or so now - nothing further.

Tightening the spigot might make it leak more - sometimes too tight twists or pinches the rubber washer and makes it really leak.

Going into your beer will almost certainly cause you problems. Leaving it alone will likely cause you no problems.

Play the odds and leave it alone.

 

[IslandLizard]

It's still early enough, just pour it in.

ADDED: I'm more concerned about the sanitation inside and around the spigot. Those things are bug traps, including the rubber gasket. I would not touch that spigot at all or drain from it right now. Let it be as is, and pour out from the top.

Those spigots come apart (after a hot water soak) to clean the space between the 2 rotating barrels.

 

[IvanTheTerribrew]

For one thing, I don't recommend FERMENTING in a BOTTLING bucket, it is just another thing that can go wrong and also pose a place for nasties to be. But if we are talking about the same spigot, you should be able to turn the whole spigot clockwise (righty righty lefty loosy) and it would seal better. Now, if you're planning to rack via the spigot, then you may only be able to turn it like a 1/4 turn so it doesn't get too angled.

One thing i learned was when you tighten the nut inside, have the spigot be sideways with the output facing right. This way it's not close to the ground. Then, when ready to use it, give it a good 1/4 turn to position it upright. Good luck!


- ISM NRP

 

[Beernik]

I'd siphon from one bucket to the other.

 

[WayFrae]

Well I ended up just siphoning to my carboy. Should my 5 gallon batch be fine in a 6 gallon carboy?

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[bad67z]

You beer should be just fine.

 

[WayFrae]

Ok cool. Thanks for your help everyone!

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[NTXBrauer]

Well I ended up just siphoning to my carboy. Should my 5 gallon batch be fine in a 6 gallon carboy?

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Everything should work out fine. The CO2 produced from the active phase of fermentation will force out any O2 from the headspace. Cheers!

 

[fearwig]

For one thing, I don't recommend FERMENTING in a BOTTLING bucket

How often do some of these people get infections that they worry this much about crap like this? Sanitize your bottling bucket... and it's sanitary. You sanitize it to bottle, too. Sanitation in bottling is even more important than sanitation in primary.

If I lost one batch to infection, it'd be a shame, and I'd brew again, because hell I have too much beer anyway, and I'm going to brew again anyway... so what gives? Just because someone has invented ten different types of buckets so they can sell ten different types of buckets doesn't mean there is a legitimate, practical reason you need ten different types of buckets.

I ferment in anything I can. My first choice has become the $4 5-gal foodsafe buckets at lowes, because I have about twenty of them and I can do AG partial boil and make 8-12 gallons of smallish beer in a brew day with a 7 gallon kettle, which is awesome.

If you're this worried about bugs, do a bleach soak and rinse before you sanitize with a no-rinse (or realize that potable rinse water will not usually infect your beer in the first place, folks).

 

[Beernik]

I have never done it.

But I'd be less concerned about infection being harbored in a spigot on a fermentation bucket than I would with the spigot getting accidently bumped and opened.

That's my paranoia.

 

[Braufessor]

Spigots can be a concern for infection - so can auto siphons/process of siphoning. The nice thing about a bottling buckets is that you can just use gravity, no siphoning.

A few tricks if you do use bottling buckets.

1.) COMPLETELY disassemble the spigot for cleaning and sanitizing. I reassemble and put it in bucket while it is all submerged in star san.

2.) leave spigot sideways so that it does not hit floor.

3.) As soon as I take bucket out of star san I put a sandwich baggie on it with rubberband so to keep dust, debris out over the couple weeks of fermenting.

4.) I use a rubber washer on the inside and outside of the bucket. Too tight seems to be as likely to cause leaks as not tight enough.

5.) I spray out spigot well with starsan before transferring though tubing to keg.

6.) Clean bucket, spigot immediately after use to prevent stuff from getting caked on.

I have fermented a couple hundred batches in bottling buckets. I have had a couple infections. No more than I have had in any other style of fermenter. Takes some care and a couple tricks - but I really like them. I have 2 Stainless Steel buckets now that I use in addition to regular bottling buckets.......pretty much just bottling buckets but made of stainless.

 

[fearwig]

That all seems sensible to me. I disassemble and clean my spigot maybe once every five or six brews (every other month, maybe), but I run bleachy water through the whole apparatus every time, and let it sit in the works for a bit--and then rinse, of course, at which point you can starsan the works however you want. As long as the sanitized surfaces are the same surfaces the beer is contacting, and you are using reasonably concentrated sanitizers, I think you are good, any deep-down sediment in the gaskets that wasn't sanitized shouldn't get up in your beer (never has for me, anyway).

I sanitize my hose and bottling wand in the same process, which means I keep them attached, which means I only need to worry about keeping the tip of the bottling wand out of harm's way (so I can escape the bagging you do above).

The "hitting the floor" bit is serious business though, that's a good way to make a horrible mess, haha.

 

[derekp83]

Two gaskets seem to solve the problem sometimes. This is at least true with a bucket made for fermentation. I can't say it always works with my bottling bucket, but when I bought a fermentation bucket from MoreBeer and it only came with one gasket, it leaked. I ran down the stairs and grabbed a gasket from my bottling bucket, attached it to the ferm bucket, and problem solved.

 

[GPP33]

Two gaskets seem to solve the problem sometimes. This is at least true with a bucket made for fermentation. I can't say it always works with my bottling bucket, but when I bought a fermentation bucket from MoreBeer and it only came with one gasket, it leaked. I ran down the stairs and grabbed a gasket from my bottling bucket, attached it to the ferm bucket, and problem solved.

This thread is over four years old so the OP probably has this resolved by now but since it's back at the top of the page, in case someone else stops in looking for advice, please do not ever try to sanitize your hand and stick it in you beer. You can't sanitize your hand, arm, under your fingernails..... Yuck!

Oh, and you don't need a wrench to tighten a spigot, it probably won't seal if you tighten it that much.

 

[derekp83]

This thread is over four years old so the OP probably has this resolved by now but since it's back at the top of the page, in case someone else stops in looking for advice, please do not ever try to sanitize your hand and stick it in you beer. You can't sanitize your hand, arm, under your fingernails..... Yuck!

Oh, and you don't need a wrench to tighten a spigot, it probably won't seal if you tighten it that much.

LOL I should have clarified. I check for leaks before the beer goes in by using sanitized water. The leak fix occurred before the beer was transferred from the kettle. You had me perplexed for a second, haha.

 

[GPP33]

LOL I should have clarified. I check for leaks before the beer goes in by using sanitized water. The leak fix occurred before the beer was transferred from the kettle. You had me perplexed for a second, haha.

OP asked about sanitizing his arm and wrench. Others have stated things like “I stuck my arm in my beer but I sanitized it first”. Just the thought of all the things living on our skin is enough to make me cringe. There is no sanitizing your arm enough to stick it in your beer. No way, no how. Hopefully the OP just let it ride and fixed it on the next batch.

 

[InkedkevUK]

I would just put sponge under leak that will soak loads up. Then fix after fermented. When I sanitize I always do a check on mine.

 

[Saunassa]

Gasket on inside and outside of mine and still leaked no matter tight or snug. I marked where I was seeing the weeping occurring. Looked at the spigot and had slight flashing line down the length of it in the threads and also on the spigot face that touches the gasket.
used a scalpel to remove as much of the flashing as I could and now no weeping spigot.