Customer Reviews

Works Great! Review by Ron

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I've used the 1/2" Auto Siphon for several years and have never had a problem. Use the 7/16" ID tubing as recommended and you won't get bubbles/air leaks. I wouldn't siphon with anything else. (Posted on 4/14/13)

Good auto siphon Review by Jerry

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I have used this for a couple of years and never and I mean never have I had a problem with it. I use the smaller tubing. I dry hop and use oak etc. in the primary or secondary. I put a piece of a grain bag over the tip with a rubber band when I transfer to secondary. I leave some slop in the grain bag part to avoid clogging. Eliminates almost all of the crud from entering the secondary or bottling bucket. I tilt the carboy a little at the end and get all of the brew with no sludge. I also use a regular siphon and cane when I do not have a lot of trub in the fermenter. I always use the grain bag and rubber band. Stay clean with Starsan or similar. (Posted on 12/15/12)

Works well Review by Nathan

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I'm not sure why other reviewers have so much issues with theres. It works great to transfer without rissk of contamination. The black plastic end works well to keep solid material out of the tube. I have used mine for 20+ batches (at multiple transfers each batch). IT gets a quick rinse after use and stored in the garage. i just submerge the think in star san solution and run a few cups through the piping for sanitizing. Well worth the price. (Posted on 8/15/12)

Quick Siphon but I should have practiced first Review by Douglas

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I bought the 1/2 " tubing in the description without reading the reviews and it is indeed too loose. I increased the OD of the cane by a few tight loops of duct tape and it seams pretty effective. I wish I would have practiced with water first. I tried gently pushing the plunger down but as the liquid rounded the neck of the cane the siphon would be lost. Not to get too technical but you need a plug of liquid travailing down the the tubing before a siphon will be established. I just gave it a few quick pumps and once the initial flow was established the 5 gal bucket was drained in under 3 minutes. I'm going to buy a back up siphon for when this one breaks whether that's next batch or next year. (Posted on 7/24/12)

great addition Review by Tom

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Can't believe I waited I waited so long to buy one. Used it several times already with no complaints. (Posted on 4/4/12)

not built to tolerance for 1/2" hose Review by supersillyus

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As another reviewer has pointed out, it is impossible to use this thing with 1/2" hose. the manual says you can use up to 9/16, what a joke! even with a hose clamp on it, there is still a small stream of bubbles coming in from that junction, always threatening the siphon should it cause a big enough bubble to form. hitting it with a heat gun didnt shrink the tubing enough to fit. for the 25 cents it costs, why don't they just include proper tubing with the device? I've bought 1/2" tube from a pet store and from a homebrew shop and neither fit snugly, they are way too big. with all the headaches this has caused me, I wish I had just bought a pump. it does work fine minus that design flaw though (Posted on 4/2/12)

Most of these negative reviews seem to be user error... Review by Do The Home Brew

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Love this siphon, I had the smaller version and this one is so much faster. The larger diameter makes it a bit easier to clean too.

For the negative reviews:
This needs 7/16 tubing not 1/2. The outer diameter of the cane is 1/2 so if you use 1/2 tubing it will be very loose. You can order 7/16 from NB.

These never promised to be usable for hot transfers. You'll need a ball valve and high temp tubing for that..

It's also not supposed to be a filter for hops...so it clogging is your fault not the cane's. Rubberband some cheese cloth on the end. You can also find stainless mesh that kinda looks like a test tube to attach to the bottom. (Posted on 1/23/12)

Fantastic When Used Properly Review by Jared

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the 1/2" is great. much faster transfers than its 3/8" twin.

i believe the auto siphon manufacturers recommend the 7/16" tubing in the packaging to go onto the end of the cane. its a pain to get on there, but helps to cut the tube going onto the cane at and angle then submerge 1/2" of the tubing in boiling water will help slip the tube over the cane. This is somewhat permanent, its not necessary to take the tubing off during cleaning and sanitizing.

If you keep the tip above the sediment/hops/trub for majority of the racking you will avoid any unnecessary sediment or clogging. I have not experienced any clogging, if you allow everything to settle out and/or fine your beer with finings, everything stays down and out of the way really well.

Do not use this for hot transfers. I used the 3/8" one for transferring ~165 F water and it warped the cane. It still works just not as well.

The seal at the tip on the racking cane that moves inside the siphon assembly sometimes needs to be "stretched" outward as to make a good seal to the walls of the larger diameter tube. This will prevent air from being sucked in as well as having the correct size tubing. Also DO NOT store the racking cane with the seal inside the larger diameter tube. This causes the seal to "form/shrink" to the walls of the larger diameter tube, the seal needs to be slightly larger to seal properly.

This product will eventually need to be replaced due to wear and tear. When stress cracks and form it can and may harbor bacteria that it hard to kill with sanitizing. It's time to be replaced. Some buy one every year, my 3/8" i have had for over two years and is in great condition except for the slight warping ing the racking cane.

Excellent product made for the homebrewer's frequent/unfrequent use. Mileage may vary. (Posted on 12/20/11)

I'd like to like this but.. Review by Robert

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there are better ways. Went through 2 of these in as many years. The plastic is flimsy and there is no way to access the plunger mechanism if it becomes stuck. Try a homemade T-siphon instead. (Posted on 12/15/11)

waste of money Review by Gage

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The first time i used it it clogged with whole hops, I had to take it apart to clean it. The second time I used it it no longer created a suction. It would work great if there was nothing in the beer to clog it, other than that its a complete waste of money. (Posted on 12/7/11)

Get the right tubing and it works great Review by Robert

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If you get the 1/2" ID thermoplastic tubing with this cane, you'll spend every transfer trying to figure out how to get it to keep a seal. And it just won't. So, don't try.

Get the 7/16" ID tubing and all your problems are solved.

I'd give this 5 stars if they recommended the 7/16" tubing with it, but since they recommend 1/2", I have to take a star away. I also assume it will fail (probably at an inopportune moment) because of the plastic, but at this price point I'd be okay with replacing it every year or two. (Posted on 12/4/11)

Forming small cracks Review by Nate

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My siphon is about 2 years old and has been used to transfer and bottle about 8 batches of beer. It has never been dropped or exposed to extreme heat -- only what comes out of the faucet for cleaning. It's now forming hairline cracks all over and needs to be replaced. My guess is the plastic is so cheep it starts cracking with age. (Posted on 8/4/11)

#*^#%!!! Review by JR-Sconnie

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Had a 5/16 siphon and broke that one. Thought the 1/2" would make like better with faster transfers. Wrong. Have tried multiple types of tubing and I cannot get this thing to seal and hold siphon. Lets air in, even with clamp, and will not keep the flow up. Junk. I'm going bacj to smaller diameter one (Posted on 3/27/11)

Strong Auto Siphon Review by Mike

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I just racked several beers with my newest acquisition and have dubbed this my "strong siphon". It emptied the carboy before I could finish my pint; my 5/16" siphon is a "session siphon" in comparison! (Posted on 2/20/11)

Good and bad Review by Someone

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I can't imagine racking without an autosiphon. I have used the 5/16" for years and decided to get a larger one, mostly because I am impatient and this works fast. My only complaint is the cheap plastic these are made of. I have never used hot liquid in any of my autosiphons and I have taken precautions like heating up the tube to attach. The top broke off the center tube after a few batches. I wish they made a more rugged version. I would pay more so I wouldn't have to buy a replacement...which I will because it works well. (Posted on 2/16/11)

indispensible but breakable Review by crush

I've just broken my third autosiphon - foolishly tried to transfer wort with lots of hops in it. The hops clogged the value, and I broke the value trying to re-insert it. (Next time, I'll follow SixFoFalcon's advice on re-inserting the valve.) All 3 failed in the same way.

Unlike the other reviews, I've never broken the cane, because I don't remove the tubing. After use, I rinse with water then siphon some starsan through it. Never had an infected batch.

Indispensible - I'm not looking forward to racking without it. (Posted on 12/12/10)

Impressed.... So Far Review by Spatrat

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taking advice from a friend I purchased one of these along with some 1/2in ID hose (slightly too big) and a hose clamp. The idea behind the 1/2in hose is to avoid excess pressure on the cane. I am very impressed with this thing so far, can drain 5gal in no time:):) I have to hold back though and only time will tell how durable this thing will be. So far so good. (Posted on 9/14/10)

Not perfect, but better than the rest Review by SixFoFalcon

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The AutoSiphon is a great tool to have—it enables you to easily start a siphon without sucking on tubing. I’ve been brewing a little over four years now and I’m on my third AutoSiphon. The first one (which came in my NB Deluxe Starter Kit) lasted quite a while (maybe 2 years?) but eventually it accumulated enough scratches and stains that I was worried it was becoming a bacteria trap. When I bought my replacement, I decided to move up from the 5/16" size to 1/2" for faster transfers. While I was pleased with the faster transfers, the replacement didn’t last long because I stupidly manhandled the thing while trying to remove some stuck-on siphon tubing and I broke the cane at the bend like so many others have done. I sawed off the broken bit and continued to use the AutoSiphon for another few weeks, but that was a pain because without the bend, the flexible siphon tubing always wants to kink, making it cumbersome to use. Not finding any other suitable replacements on the market, I ordered a second 1/2" AutoSiphon which I have been using for about 1.5 years now.

I've come up with some tips that may help other brewers:

1. Do not use this racking cane on boiling or very hot wort. The plastic isn't rated for high temperatures, and it will develop surface cracks when overheated.

2. You must be gentle when installing or removing the flexible siphon tubing. It doesn't take much force to break the racking cane right at the bend. I highly recommend that you remove the siphon tubing immediately after every use so that it is less likely to get stuck in place.

3. Clean the AutoSiphon immediately after each use. We all know we are supposed to clean everything in the brewery after each use, but sometimes at the end of a long brew day dirty things just get tossed in the sink and left until the morning (or worse!) The AutoSiphon should NOT be one of those things! It's nearly impossible to remove any stubborn deposits that accumulate inside the AutoSiphon down near the valve, and using water at high pressure will pretty much guarantee that the valve will come loose. Rinse this thing out with low-pressure water right after every use and save yourself from headaches down the road.

4. If (read, "when") the valve comes loose, you CAN re-seat it, but it takes some finesse. (The valve is just a flat oval with two ~1/2" long legs protruding from it—the legs are designed to snap into the slots in the base of the AutoSiphon, but they must be inserted from the inside, which poses a problem as the legs of the valve never want to randomly land in the right position, so simply dropping the valve in isn’t going to work.) Here's my method for re-seating the valve: Find a 4-foot-long piece of sewing thread and a paperclip. If you haven't done so already, remove the bottom tip and the inner racking cane from the outer tube of the AutoSiphon and set them aside. It’s likely that the small plastic valve will fall out of the AutoSiphon at this time—don’t let it go down the drain or get lost. Form a small noose at one end of the thread, and slip the noose around the two legs of the valve in such a way that tightening the noose will tend to draw the legs toward each other. Pull the noose just tight enough that it won't slip off the legs of the valve. Tie the free end of the thread around the paperclip. Drop the paperclip into the outer tube of the AutoSiphon from the top end (the end with the larger opening) and shake it around until the weight falls through the bottom opening, then pull the thread to get the valve into position. The noose will make sure that the valve approaches the opening “legs first” as it should. It takes some maneuvering, but with some gentle tugging on the thread, you can eventually get the two legs of the valve to fit into their respective slots, and then pull a little harder on the thread until the legs snap into place. Once you are satisfied that the valve has been reinstalled properly, use scissors to snip the loop and remove the thread. Replace the inner racking cane and the tip, sanitize everything, and you are good to go.

I know it sounds like a PITA (and it can be) but it's worth the occasional hassle just to be able to start a siphon without risking contamination, and that's what the AutoSiphon is all about. (Posted on 9/13/10)

Good, but...... Review by BaronVonHawkeye

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I love the speed of this auto-siphon, but like many other reviewers, the bend in the cane is way too easy to break, especially when trying to remove tubing after you have completed racking. It would be nice if you could use a stainless steel racking cane instead of the easy to break plastic. (Posted on 7/12/10)

breaks real easy Review by scott

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well i have brewed 5 batches of beer with this and batch 4 the top of the cane broke off at the bend then the batch 5 the little oval piece down in the glued end of the racking cane popped out and would not go back in so now i have to order another one or find another way of doing this. :( cheap (Posted on 6/25/10)

Indispensible! Review by The Fox

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This thing really is indispensible! When I got started brewing, my LHBS included the 'medium' sized Auto-Siphon in their kit, so I haven't ever racked without it. Then, when I accidentally broke the neck on that one, I upgraded to this larger size. I have an extra one on hand, still in the plastic, just in case something happens to this one, as it really is that indispensible! (Posted on 5/19/10)

Worth it but fragile Review by NH Brewer

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Device works well, but rack can easily break at the bend. Only after the second use when I was trying to remove the plastic tubing the racking cane snapped off at the bend in the cane. Yu should be able to buy repacement racking canes or they should strengthen the bend. (Posted on 4/1/10)