cleaning airlocks

Soak them in a dilute solution of bleach and water. 10% bleach to 90% water will remove anything that grows.

Put one of your stoppers on, turn the water on slow on your faucet and squeeze the stopper up against the bottom of the faucet if something inside needs dislodged. You can pretty much blow anything in them out with the jet it creates.

Joe

I salute your economical nature. I threw them away and switched to three-part models

They have advantages and disadvantages. They dry out faster than either 'bubble' airlock. The 3 bubble seems to keep water for 1/2 year, the single bubble about 1/2 that.

The 3 part ones are shorter and have a better finish going into the stopper too so I use them too.

I always scrape off the excess sprue on the bubble airlocks; you get a pretty pronounced mold line that can let air in if you don't scrape it off.

Details...

Joe

Details are the big difference, Joe! We learners rely on guys and gals like yourself to coach us!

Jim and I were discussing that without exception all currently available winemaking books lack these details.

Sean

I know a lot of people use sulfite solution for airlock. I am assuming that when the posters are saying water, they mean sulfite. Grain alcohol works well too and you do have to worry so much about the sufite needing to be "freshened up".

Not necessarily. I use only water and haven't had any problems. What's the point of sulfite in the airlock - wouldn't it all just react pretty quickly with the air oxygen?

Pp

"quickly" is a relative term and also depends on the strength of your metabisulfite solution. enough 375g/gal to fill an S lock is going to last a week or two (your nose will certainly tell you it is) easily. More importantly, it'll kill bacteria in fairly short order. a quick spritz of even 28g/gal solution into the top of the trap will keep things from growing in there.

I've never had a problem using plain water during fermentation, either. Not even for a very slow rose for a couple months at a time, though when taking readings I usually rinse and refill. a little SO2 solution for cleaning seems sufficient. I just drip some in, work it by rotating the trap in my hands until it gets all over the inside, then force it back out with water from the spout (or a hose), leave it and any other parts similarly cleaned in a clean bucket to dry a bit, then store them as needed. Another quick SO2 and rinse just before using again.

I prefer the 1-piece S lock over the 3 piece locks, mostly because parts tend to separate from season to season, and 1 piece means it always has all the pieces to work. :)

In regards to the other idea, I wouldn't use chlorine bleach at all, too easy for that to lead to TCA.

If you want to leave things soaking when not in use for a while, an iodine solution like BTM in a bucket works well to just keep around for crush season.