My airlock today has a bug inside, I think it must have crawled in and died from an overdose of cheap Gin. Anyway, I was wondering, should I wait to clean out the airlock until I move to secondary or is it safe to remove it now, clean it and pop it back in?
asked Aug 2, 2017 at 10:57
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1 Answer
Generally speaking it is safer to remove, clean/sterilise and replace the airlock. It should only take 30 seconds and the vent hole can be covered with an inverted glass to prevent any accidental ingress. If you have a spare airlock (they are cheap enough) then you can prepare and replace the offending item almost instantly.
One could possibly leave the bug in the airlock and it probably will not cause any problems after all there should be little "suction" on the airlock to cause a reverse flow. But be careful when removing the lid, bung or the air lock itself because this is the time when "suck-back" may happen.
