A question concerning my 3-piece airlock . . .

[Shooter]

What if, during the primary fermentation stage, I don't fill my airlock with enough water or some of the water is sucked into the fermenter, and the batch ferments for half a day . . . . will I have a ruined batch of brew due to possible air exposure?

[b3s]

lending on my chem classes a long time ago as long as there is enough liquid to halt the passing of air you should be fine...otherwise i'd bung the fermenter and re-fill the airlock.

btw, you might consider using vodka for filling your airlock in the future. water can mold or possibly pass off some microbes. even better would be grain alcohol like everclear.

[paul84043]

The vodka is a great idea, no nasty little microbes in there!
When you're first starting off, it's a bit vulnerable for those first hours until the C02 begins to be produced, but after that, there's so much coming out, I doubt that anything can get back in.
As long as everything has remained sanitary, there's not an issue with the water being sucked into the fermentor. I had the same thing happen to me on my first batch, but it seems to have turned out just fine.