Humidity and Evaporation

[Cosmic Charlie]

This is in reference to my airlocks, which are about to be unsupervised for a couple weeks. I don't want to over-fill them because the air pressure changes when thunderstorms roll through cause 'suck-back'. Anyway, its hot and humid, and I had to wonder how the humidity level affects the evaporation of water - if at all. Any thoughts?

[BrewDog]

The more humid the air is, the less the water will evaporate.

If you are REALLY worried about suck-back, you could always change to a blowoff tube.

Yikes, just imagine hearing THAT sentence out of context.... :D

[Chubber]

Higher humidities will cause less evaporation.

If you are really worried about it, put a plastic sandwich bag over the airlock and loosely gather the bottom. (I steal a hair "scrunchy" from my wife, though a loose rubber band would work, too). That will let a little air flow but keep most of the sanitizer from evaporating.

Are you using alcohol or water or sanitizer in your airlock? I use 5-star in there and it has gone months with no visible drop in level.

[sittingcow]

I've never noticed any evaporation from my airlock either, but nonetheless I'd recommend changing to a blow-off tube for this one. That'll destroy the possibility of suck-back, and you can use as much liquid in the blow-off bucket as you need.

[Cosmic Charlie]

That's a good idea - no wonder why it never occured to me!