Auto Siphon - Flow problems solved

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Inconceivable

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The Problem
After many frustrations bottling from primary FV I bought a large auto siphon from LHBS for $20.
autosiphonmini.jpg

Problem was after I attached a standard length of hose from the LHBS the device didn't Siphon, more like pump.

Every time I pumped the racking cane down (as I'd read in the instructions, and watched on videos) wort would pump up through the angle of the cane but not continue to flow as a siphon should and I didn't know why.... worse heaps of bubbles were being produced and I was very worried I'd oxygenated my beer.

Reading many forum posts led me to believe the most likely cause was an air gap somewhere in the siphon or hose which I suppose meant a lack of pressure. The posts I read suggested getting a tighter fitting hose onto the cane; one that would be a PITA to put on and off but fit really tight.

Part of the fix
I headed to my LHBS and requested a tighter hose; the guy said to me "No need for that, get yourself a hose clamp, I don't sell them but they're easy to find in a hardware store."
The LHBS was right, I managed to talk my wife through finding a suitable sized hose clamp on the phone and she had it home for me after work.
images.jpg
Tightening the clamp around the hose where it met the cane dramatically improved the flow and I had a working siphon, still with the odd bubble or weak flow though.

The next time I was bottling after giving every part of the auto siphon, including the clamp and hoses a thorough clean and sanitise I was disgusted to find my siphon once again only holding a bubbling, diminishing, weak flow. Again my beer seemed at risk of oxygenation but I had the clamp as tight as humanly possible so what else was there to do?

The final piece of the puzzle
I noticed that immediately upon existing the cane into the hose the solid stream of wort immediately dropped to a half stream at the bottom half of the tube only (not filling the whole diameter of the hose) I figured this must be the "loose" part and then I noticed something else.
If you look at a hose clamp closely the 'weak link' of the clamp is the part of the ring closest to the screw; it's the only part of the clamp not to get direct contact on the hose and grip it tight..... It occurred to me if I moved the clamp around so the tightest part of the band was at the top of the hose where I had my drop off in pressure and the weak link was at the bottom of the hose where gravity kept a steady stream of wort anyway it might do the trick.
Boy was I right, a quick spin of the clamp, re-tighten and the next pump of the siphon I had a full stream of wort with no drop in pressure, not air gaps, nothing but 100% steady flow just perfect.
clamp right.jpg

I hope this mini-article can help out someone else if you encounter this problem

Happy Siphoning
 

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