Just used my 5-gallon Big Mouth Bubbler for the first time. I read plenty of reviews about the “lid not sealing” issue and bought it anyway. Sure enough… the lid lifts right off the mouth of the bubbler with hardly any pressure. I have 2 bricks on the lid now and hope that this is creating enough pressure to be somewhat airtight. I’m using this for secondary so there’s no active fermentation pushing up on the lid. Has anyone came up with a better way to seal these things up?
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I assume you have the new style one, not the one that screws on? Mine screw on and have never had any issue. Maybe NB should be made aware to go back to the screw on type? or whoever makes the Big Mouth Bubblers?
I do have the new style one. They’re plenty aware. I read the reviews on the bubbler’s page and many people have complained about the lids… I should have taken those complaints more serious!
I wonder then if you use saran wrap BEFORE you put the lid on. Then poke a hole where the airlock goes after you put the lid on… Just something to try… Sneezles61
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The plastic wrap works perfectly for the old screw-down lids, not so much with the new “Universal” one size fits none lids. The problem seems to be that when the lids are wet, they don’t have enough friction to hold. And their tapered shape pushes them out even without internal pressure. Of course most brewers are capping the fermenters with a lid they’ve just pulled out of a bucket of star san.
I think the brick is probably the best idea I’ve heard so far. It should only be necessary until the “seal” dries out.
NB sells a weighted ring, that’s intended for keeping flasks of yeast starter from bobbing about in an ice bath. I have one somewhere, if it’s heavy enough it would be perfect, but my gut says you’d need 2 or 3…
I’ve also hears the suggestion that you can cut-down the width if the new lid, so it fits under the ring of the old lid. Too much hassle for me.
me got a screw on got sometimes issue trying to create a seal . did find out using christo lub grease works to create a seal
but my next order my brew partner goona get rid of the bucket and big mouth bubbler only glass 6.5 alloy for our brewing
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use a type of grease me use christo lube it works
You’re definitely right about there being less friction when the lid is wet because it fit in the mouth pretty snug right out of the box. But obviously the issue is what are you supposed to do in the meantime while the thing dries. It’s frustrating.
At first I only put one brick on the lid - but that caused the side opposite the brick to rise up. I’ll try the saran wrap next time but I suppose this is all I can do for now. It looks like one of the bricks if leaning against the airlock but it’s not. Thanks for the replies!
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Here it’s keg lube.
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I have the lifting straps for two big mouth bubblers, They seem to hold the lids down well when cinched down a bit.
I just purchased the 6.5 gal siphonless glass big mouth bubbler. About to use it for the first time today. I like that they give you the harness with it now that holds down the lid. We’ll see how that works. I’m brewing a Hefeweizen and planned on using a blowoff tube. I checked the fit of the tube to the hole in the lid and the blowoff tube does not seal in the lid. I just wanted to share this observation because I haven’t seen any comments on it.
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