CO2 problems (DIY)

[pairustwo]

I had what I thought was a good thing going.

I have a DYI CO2 set up - 2 two liter bottles connected to a bubble counter connected to an air stone.

I dissolved two cups of sugar into enough water to almost fill a 2 liter bottle. Let water solution cool to 103 degrees f. I added 1/2 tsp of dry champagne yeast and a pinch of yeast nutrient.

This was producing gas within a couple of hours and about 1 bubble per minute by the next day.

A couple of days later however I got nothing. At least I can sit and watch the bubble counter for a couple of minutes and not see a bubble.

If I shake a bottle I get a burst of ... something.

Why is it dying out like this. I have an idea that the night temperature - it falls to 64f or so at night. Would this kill the yeast. I've put a heating pad in the case that hold the bottles but It doesn't seem to help.

Any ideas?

Thanks
pairustwo

 

[gu2high]

May be related to water pressure. How deep is the airstone under the water? I find when airstone close to surface, there is lots of bubbles. But deep in the tank, sometimes there is no bubbles and later comes out a burst. Wait until it reachs balance, then the bubbles will come out evenly.

I put a handful of crushed coral in the bottle without yeast nutrient. It can last 1 month, though the amount of bubbles decrease gradually.

 

[pairustwo]

I discovered that when I first set up. Now the air stone is near the surface. When a bubble pops up in the separator chamber it pops out of the air stone less than a second later.

 

[pairustwo]

OK so it seems that if I turn the heating pad on for a couple of hours (the two liter bottles stand up against the pad in the box) I start to get regular bubbles at a decent rate again.

Honestly this seems like a fire hazard and make me real nervous.
How do other people keep their yeast reactors warm?
The weather here is in the 60s. Not abnormal.

paiustwo

 

[rich311k]

Put the bottles in a bucket of water with a small heater to keep the water at 85 F or so.

 

[malkore]

103F is a little warm IMO for adding the yeast....coming from several years experience with making beer and mead...and thus pitching yeast into must or wort (these are technical terms for home brewing)

 

[Atl300zx]

103F is a little warm IMO for adding the yeast....coming from several years experience with making beer and mead...and thus pitching yeast into must or wort (these are technical terms for home brewing)

I agree here, when i homebrew i let the temp get around 80 before i add the yeast. I do this by putting my pot in the sink and make an ice/salt/water bath around it.

 

[pairustwo]

103F is a little warm IMO for adding the yeast

OK, I was going by the back of the package of champagne yeast I believe it said 104 - 110 was the correct temp for activation.

And It did work well for a couple of days.


Do you think the cooling off at night and the warming up with the heating pad then cooling off again is killing the yeast?

Put the bottles in a bucket of water with a small heater to keep the water at 85 F or so

I don't have a cabinet and I don't think I can get away with a big bucket of water sitting on the floor of my dinning room. Right now it is in a descrete case.

 

[vic]

100 to 110 F is fine for the hydration of the yeast. I would give some thought to "starting" the yeast in water in that temperature range and adding 1/2 tsp of sugar. Let the yeast activate and then add to the must. The must should stay at a much warmer temperature than 60F. The fermentation process also produces heat so once started the system should be self sufficient. The suggestion of placing in water with a heater, with a thermostat, will work as it will maintain the temperature until the fermentation process is producing the required heat. 85F may be a little high. Your production rate will tell the tale. If your production is too high, cool the must and the fermentation process will slow.
Vic

 

[pairustwo]

100 to 110 F is fine for the hydration of the yeast. I would give some thought to "starting" the yeast in water in that temperature range and adding 1/2 tsp of sugar. Let the yeast activate and then add to the must.

Did that. In fact the little beaker that i used to mix the yeast, warm water, and sugar (30ml) overflowed as the yeast foamed up. At that point I added to the 2liter bottle of sugar water.

The suggestion of placing in water with a heater, with a thermostat, will work as it will maintain the temperature until the fermentation process is producing the required heat

OK so why is my production going down to zero when I turn the heating pad off but goes back up to like 30 bubbles per minute when the heating pad is on?

I was at about 60 bubble per second for a day or so right after it was mixed with no heat.

I gotta say this DIY CO2 is turning out to be a tough nut to perfect.

 

[Purrbox]

I doubt that the small containers we use for DIY CO2 are large enough for the CO2 to be able to self regulate its own temperature. Going with either the reptile heating pad or the bucket of water with heater, are probably your best bet to keep the mix warm enough for a nice steady CO2 production. Having the production drop off with cooler weather is a common complaint and probably one of the many reason that people finally make the switch to Pressurized CO2.

 

[pairustwo]

Having the production drop off with cooler weather is a common complaint and probably one of the many reason that people finally make the switch to Pressurized CO2

Gotcha. I didn't realize and I didn't find this issue in the DIY CO2 instructions I had read.
Now I know.
Thx
pairustwo