Fermenting Bin Leak

Mreddster

Hey guys. I use your 25l fermenter and it has done 4 brews no probs. The last one however didn't seem to get pressure if you know what I mean. The fermenting happened but there was deffo a leak somewhere.
Does this matter? Does it have to be air tight?
Any ideas how to make the lid air tight again?
Cheers

HBO_Staff

The good news is that at the fermentation stage the vessel does not need to be airtight and many people brew with the lid just loosely covered to allow any gases to escape. If you have the lid sealed on and you think any gases are escaping then the likely suspect with the rim firmly pressed down is around the stem of the airlock where it passes through the grommet. If the stem has any slight imperfection where it was made then a slight ridge may stop the grommet from fully sealing, smoothing it off would solve that. Even the slightest pin hole anywhere would allow gases to escape, but this is nothing to worry about. 

What quite commonly happens is that during cooler temperatures the fermentation is much less vigorous, fermentations are slower and less pressure is created inside the vessel, the lid will often dome to show here is pressure inside, but there is not enough pressure to displace the water and force gas through the airlock. Don't worry though if the airlocks don't bubble, it is not a problem, some starter kits do not come with an airlock as they do not need to be airtight, the main thing is that they are covered to keep any contaminants out. At warmer temperatures the ferment can be more vigorous and this is when they tend to bubble the most

Mreddster

Ok Cheers