Airlock stuck to stopper causing cracked airlocks

Northern Brewer General
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I racked my cider to secondary today and found 3 fruit flies floating at the bottom of my airlock.

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Didn’t think those little suckers could get through the holes in the airlock cap. In case anyone is wondering, there isn’t much Starsan solution in the airlock because I cracked it trying to separate it from the stopper. I find that the stopper sticks to the airlock quite often. Does anyone else have this problem? Has anyone tried using a tiny bit of keg lube on the airlock stem to prevent sticking? Oh, and does anyone think I have too much headspace on this cider in secondary? :laughing:
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I had about 6 gallons of juice in my 6.5 gallon carboy. This year, I used Safcider yeast with pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient. I found that the lees were much more packed on the bottom than usual and yielded more cider. I guess purging the carboy with CO2 first wasn’t really necessary this time :smile:

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I’ve cracked the S-style air locks by grabbing them too high to twist from the bung. Now I only use two fingers and grip the air lock on the stem just above the bung using very light twisting pressure. I have several spares also.

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Wiggle wiggle. Don’t think the fruit flies will make it but no big deal if they do they won’t drink much

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I hope you flushed that headspace with CO2 or you’ll likely have vinegar…

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On that type off stopper, you can slip a 1/2" ID tubing over that nipple and put the other end in a growler half full of water… Since I started doing that, I no longer use those plastic air lockers… Sneezles61

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