Leaking Fermenter Bung/tap

[white.grant]

Greetings brewers,

I bought a new Brigalow home brewery on the weekend and happily restarted my home brewing after a good ten years absence. I was a bit alarmed however when earlier this evening the fermenter had leaked through the tap joint and I lost about half of the wort. Mess aside I prefer to drink my mistakes....

Anyway, it was a new kit straight out of the box. I had torqued the tap until it was wrist tight and it felt firm, but found after I had drained the fermenter that the tap really wasn't making an effective seal and would twist on through if I torqued the tap a bit more. The plastic doesn't show any visible signs of stripping, though the thread on the fermenter is what I would call shallow. The failure occured a few hours after I had switched on a heater belt which sat just above the tap.

Is this a common issue with these kits? My old fermenter used to have a very positive tap seal but this one certainly doesn't and I don't want to waste more time on a defective fermenter if I should replace/return it. Could the heater belt have had something to do with it?

Thanks

Grant
(In wollongong)

 

[Franko]

Id try returning it


Franko

 

[Tim F]

I have 4 fermenters here at the moment, and 3 of them leak, 1 (from a coopers kit) so much that it isn't useable with the tap in. I replaced that with a bung but I'm pretty disappointed with the quality of these so far. I'm going to look into the hardware store 'water buckets' to replace them and see if they perform any better. Glad to hear it isn't just me!

 

[Prawned]

I have the same problem with 2 of my fermenters. I opened the fridge the other day to find atleast 3ltrs of my first lager all over the bottom of the fridge! It did smell quite good so it kinda pissed me off! Just had to tighten the tap like all buggery, now it seems to seal without any leaks

 

[petesbrew]

I have the same problem with 2 of my fermenters. I opened the fridge the other day to find atleast 3ltrs of my first lager all over the bottom of the fridge! It did smell quite good so it kinda pissed me off! Just had to tighten the tap like all buggery, now it seems to seal without any leaks

Yeah my coopers taps leak a bit. I recently made a brew, came back into the garage an hour later to find a damn cockroach at the tap having a great time. :angry:
A quick clean up and a spray of iodophor and it was all good. Now I rubberband a small plastic bag around the tap (which catches a fair few drips too).

 

[rich_lamb]

Shouldn't have that much to do with the thread if you have a nice clean rubber washer between the tap and the seat in the fermenter. Though the thread has to be "deep" enough to give you some purchase.

You might try replacing or doubling up on the washer. Generally I get rid of the taps as I always rack from my fermenters and the taps are just a cleaning issue. I use a screw bung instead, though it could potentially have the same issue I guess.

 

[bolwell]

The thing I don't get is why you would use a heater at this time of the year.

 

[white.grant]

The thing I don't get is why you would use a heater at this time of the year.

No special reason, its a new bit of gear and I was just trying it out to see what difference it would make.

cheers
Grant

 

[boingk]

Ditto the heater - throw it out and use standard ale yeasts between 16 - 22'C and lager yeasts at 15'C and below. You'll love the results, especially with this recent cold snap east-side.

One of my fermenters leaks a tiiiiiiiiiiiiny bit, not much to worry about at all. I generally ignore it but am thinking of buying a replacement washer - or even just another one to slip on in front of the old one. Been told by the guy at the LHBS that this is very common as few people release their taps from the fermenter for any extended period, thus the washers compress more or less permenantly, compromising the seal.

Cheers all - boingk

 

[white.grant]

Shouldn't have that much to do with the thread if you have a nice clean rubber washer between the tap and the seat in the fermenter. Though the thread has to be "deep" enough to give you some purchase.

You might try replacing or doubling up on the washer.


Thanks for that,

I think the depth of the thread in the fermenter itself is the problem - just not enough to bite on.

grant

 

[sinkas]

Nothing worse than a leaking bung-hole!

 

[Tucker]

HI, Try using either plumbers white tape or plumbers gas tape(Orange colour more expensive)(easy to use thou) wrapped around the thread of your tap before you screw it in. It will give it more purchase and a good seal. (Have a morgans kit that leaks and this stops it.) Make sure that you wind the tape on the opposite way the tap threads into the barrel. This stops the tape unwrapping as you screw the tap in. You will see what I mean when you do it. Don't try to over tighten it. If the tap stops at an incorrect position you can either undo and rewrap with more of less tape till you find the exact amount of tape you need to do the job. ( This probably won't happen with plastic fittings as they seem to be very forgiving).

 

[Rabbitz]

HI, Try using either plumbers white tape or plumbers gas tape(Orange colour more expensive)(easy to use thou) wrapped around the thread of your tap before you screw it in. ....

Given that most brewers are paranoid about cleanliness and infections, wouldn't the layers of tape provide a nice home for all the bad critters?

I haven't tried thread tape in this role, so I am not knocking it, but if you are a paranoid type then...

Rabz

 

[warra48]

I have to use the plumbers tape on all of my fermenters and CC containers.
Never had an infection problem to date, and fingers crossed, won't in future.
I strip it off after use, and apply a fresh piece for each batch.

 

[white.grant]

Thanks for the responses they've been really helpful.

I've tried the plumbers tape and a new tap and neither fix the problem. the ferementer still won't seal and leaks like a barstard. So I've returned the kit and acquired another fermenter from my LHBS. Testing the tap seal tonight and everything appears to seal OK.

I will be laying down a Coopers Pilsener with a dextrose hop mix tomorrow. fingers crossed it stays in.

cheers

Grant