Carboy Wine Level Indicator

I've never seen anything that applies to a carboy for measuring volume. I don't think it would give consistent results from jug to jug even if a product does exists.

None of my carboys have the same capacity. Just variation in manfacturing, I guess.

What might work for you is using a know container, say a 2L pop bottle. Use it to fill the carboy and marking with a Shapie it as you fill. If you use the same container to fill your carboys then at least each would have the same relative markings even if not absolutely accurate.

Another possibility is to mark off some masking tape and making your own 'measuring tapes'.

Take Care, Steve noobie Oregon

None of mine are the same, good point Steve. What I did was start noting on mine how many 750 ml bottles I got from each when I bottle. That way I can use that to advantage when racking. Most of my 5 gallon (US) are about 25.3 bottles, I have a few 26 and more too.

You could reverse your idea and just apply tape to full carboys and as bottled mark them off. I would use medical cloth tape, it will never come off or dry out if you pick the right one.

Charles, I can't think of any chemical addition that has to be that precise anyway. When you add acid, it's always just close to right. The additions are ballpark, the quantity required is not necessarily standardized since your wine is a combination of several acids.

Fining trials are usually set up in half strength increments so there is no need to get precise there either.

Just my two cents. If you have newer carboys my rule of thumb is the quantity to the first blister ring is 1/2 gallon, each ring after that

1 is a gallon and the top ring to the neck holds about 1/2 gallon.

Joe

I seem to remember that there was something in the catalogs that could do that for a bottle of liquified natural gas, and you had to wet it to see the reading. Maybe thats what you're thinking of? I figure it works by measuring the temperature difference aboive the surface caused by evaporating gas, which doesn't really apply to wine. Maybe you can rediscover the old coopers trick -- rapping on the carboy with your knuckle and learning to hear the difference in sound between full and empty.

That's what we did. We filled one gallon jugs with water, added them one at a time, marking the carboy as we went with a black permanent marker. Worked like a charm.

Charles, I have lots of 2.8, 3, 5 and 6.5 gallon carboys. Each size varies in the volume of liquid they hold but it's not a big difference. Long ago I calibrated each size by adding water in increments and measuring the height of the water with a yard stick. These measurements have served me well and allow for selection of a receiving carboy when racking or blending. Send me an email address and I'll send you my chart.

Bill Frazier Olathe, Kansas USA

Sedgewick Halbritton wrote " I always end up guessing when blending

Joe:

I know what tape your referring too. Use it to patch the kids scrapes and booboo's. Waterproof and won't come off! Great tip!

Thanks Steve noobie Oregon

"Joe Sallustio" wrote:

You can try weighing your empty carboy, mark its weight on it or a tag. Figure that a gallon weighs roughly 8 lbs. If you wanna be more specific, weigh out a volume of yer must/vino/whatever & do a little math... you can get a reasonable conversion factor & a reasonable idea of wt/volume. a little math along with a digital bathroom scale gives us a reasonable working number. Hope this helps.

That's how you calibrate volume containers, a gallon of water weights

8.33 pounds at roughly room temperature. You use distilled water and are more precise if necessary, but it's the same principal.

Joe

I actually tried this season adding 1 gallon quantities of water and marking the divisions with masking tape and then using the masking tape as a line guide for tick marks. I tried marking the ticks with permanent markers and special acrylic pens (designed for use on glass). Both washed off after a few carboy cleanings. I believe they make special vitreous paints that can be applied and then baked on in an over but I doubt my oven is big enough for a 6 gallon carboy. That's a good idea on the medical tape. I think they also make a special tape that is weather proof that uses 3M VHB (very high bond) adhesive that can be purchased at auto body shops. I figured I'd ask the question to see if there was an elegant off-the-shelf solution before I try the semi-permanent tape.

Joe, you're right on the mark about precision. Unfortunately I'm a mechanical engineer which makes me anal by nature ;-) I sleep easier at night knowing my chemical additions (final SO2 adjustments in particular) are is close as I can get. I know, it's a character flaw...

Thanks, Charles

Thanks Bill. I would love to get a copy of your measurements. Please email to the group or my personal email at snipped-for-privacy@charter.net. Just remove the "nospam" text buried in the email address.

When I worked with equipment that we had to know what a tanks volume was we would do what was called finger print the tank. To do this place the tank (carboy) on a level surface. Take a known amount of liquid and pour into the tank mark the tank. take your next known amount of liquid and do the same, repeat until the tank is full.

Depending on how big your tank is as to how much liquid you use at a time. Two cups may be fine for a gallon but you may want to use a half gallon of known liquid for a 5 gallon tank.

I have never tried this but it should work:

for any given carboy use a separate measuring stick or device and do the following.

Fill the carboy with water in increments of your choice - say 1 qt. After putting in this volume, put in the stick or any other measuring device, remove the stick and mark it with a permanent marker.

Put in another volume of water and put in your measuring device and mark and label this level on your measuring device.

Of course, you will need separate sticks or measuring devices for each carboy if they are indeed slightly different.

I believe this is how they measure existing volumes in storage tanks at gas stations when the refueling truck delivers more gas.

It is also how you check the oil in your car.

Ed - I tried to send the Excel files as directed but they were rejected. Not sure why. I don't believe I can attach Excel files to a post on r.c.w. If you know different let me know.

Bill Frazier Olathe, Kansas USA

Ed wrote "I would love to get a copy of your measurements. Please email

make your tick marks and then cover them with clear nail polish, super glue, airplane glue or acrylic laquer of some sort.

Of you could cover them with packing tape. Eventually they will wear off, but by then you can redraw them and treat the news ones in the same way as the old ones.

Believe it or not, even the big boys often us a tape measure tool to determine gallons of juice in a tank. Has a flat metal plate on the end of the tape so you can tell when it's hit the surface of the juice. They, too, use a table of height to volume to get gallons.

Gene

Ed wrote:

I use an engraving tool. Scratches a line and doesn't come off. Works on plastic and glass carboys. and primaries. I would not recommend this for the kids scrapes and booboo's, though.

DAve

And you d>

Charles, I'm the same way so I know what you mean. I used to do a lot of calibration work and it's surprising how many variables there are in a simple volume measurement. Different types of glass grow at different rates for example, not that it would matter to most people.

I have some athletic tape that is pretty close to permanent, it's been on a few carboys for several years and must have been made by the same people who worked on the Energizer bunny...

Joe

It's good to know I'm not the only one ;-) I like the engraving tool idea. I may try that one...