For me, I think the biggest issue was positioning the pickup tube in the right place. It needs to be low enough to stay submerged. Then if the braided hose starts to clog near the pick up tube (and it will on hoppier beers), a figure 8 would cause the hose to be too high. Air would eventually get in and stop the siphon. I kept my hose in a ring, and it caused the large dead space. I think I may try it again some time, but for now, I get about 1 oz of dead space, and my beer seems good, so...