Auto siphon fix

I was cleaning my auto siphon for tomorrow’s brew day and could not understand why I wasn’t able to get a siphon started. Where was the air coming from? 
Hose on tight…Check.
No cracks in the tube…Check.
Search the web…no help.

What the heck is that little black thing in the bottom of my cleaning bucket?  The butterfly valve thingy!!  Great. How am I getting that back inside the tube?  I found a video where a guy used a small wooden dowel and taped the valve to the end, slid the dowel into the tube and CLICK!  Brilliant. But I don’t have any dowels laying around. Wait, the pool bridge!  Unscrew the bridge end, tape the valve, and 10 seconds later I’m back in business. I owe that guy a beer.

A little blurry, but you get the idea.

I never knew that could happen.  Good tip.  My only failure has been when eventually the rubber on the cane part wears out and you can’t get a seal in the tube.  No quick fix for that, but fortunately LHBS sells just the cane without the tube.

I saw at HomebrewCon this summer that there is some supplier that is now selling a stainless steel version of an auto siphon. That unit should correct the deficiencies of the plastic version.