# Building a Semi Cpbf



## AndrewQLD (2/4/09)

I've been wanting to get a Counter pressure bottle filler for some time, mainly to bottle competition entries and the odd beer for friends. Reports from people who have spent quite a few dollars on commercially available ones have ranged from ok to waste of money, and a lot reported they were hard to use.
Being a tight wad I had a serious look around at parts to make one myself, I wanted it to be easy to clean, dismantle and simple to use with the minimum amount of handles to turn.

The best design I could find for what I wanted was from Langborough Brewery (thanks guys), it's simple and easy to use although I wasn't sure how easy to clean it would be, the same for dismantling.
Then I had a brain fart, surely John Guest had some fittings that would work, and here it is, $59.00:






It can be completely pulled apart for cleaning and parts are cheap enough to replace if need be.
This is the version for glass bottles and the bung can be replaced by a PET cap for the PET bottles.

Gas in through one side, bleed air out of bottle, seal and pressure up, turn off gas in and turn on beer in. Bleed pressure from the bottle slowly by shifting the bung or unscrewing the cap slightly and the bottle slowly fills. cap as normal.

I'll be testing the unit over the next couple of days. 

Andrew


Apologies if anyone has gone this route before and I haven't seen it.


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## dj1984 (2/4/09)

That looks the goods mate, if it works would you be willing too post up the parts you used?


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## brendo (2/4/09)

Will be watching this with much anticipation... have just started kegging and this looks perfect to me.

Cheers,

Brendo


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## Supra-Jim (2/4/09)

h34r: AHB Bulk Buy h34r: 

Looks the goods though, nice and simple.

:icon_cheers: SJ


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## newguy (2/4/09)

Looks good. If you can knock up a bottle holder, it's well worth it. My first experiment with a homemade CPBF was also my last. My effort didn't look as good as yours but it was basically the same. My problem was that the thing kept rocketing out of the bottle as soon as I tried to bleed in some gas, no matter how low the pressure. If you could somehow clamp the filler down on the bottle so it can't come out it will save you a headache later.


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## AndrewQLD (2/4/09)

Just tested this under pressure at 60 kpa with no problems.
I'll do a couple of test fills and post the results with a full parts list if it's successful.

Andrew


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## MarkBastard (2/4/09)

Interesting. I hope this thread doesn't turn out like the other one.


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## KHB (2/4/09)

That is the same as BYB although his is all stainless.

KHB


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## AndrewQLD (2/4/09)

Gave the bottle filler a quick run tonight, bottled a Weizen. Worked really well and there was no foaming, flow was easy to adjust by turning the lid tighter or looser and it was dead easy to clean.
here's some pics.








hefe yum



Cheers
Andrew


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## clarkey7 (2/4/09)

Top Work Andrew :beerbang: ,

Thanks also for posting the design and parts. Looks really good. Nice and simple.

Cheers,

PB :beer:


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## Jye (2/4/09)

If you ever find a 3 way push to connect tap then you could build my dream CPBF. Mine is very similar and I use a syringe needle through the bung to act as the vent.

Are you game to test the pressure at 150-200kpa? This is where I use mine to minimise foaming.


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## AndrewQLD (2/4/09)

Jye said:


> Are you game to test the pressure at 150-200kpa? This is where I use mine to minimise foaming.




No! :lol: , but with a locking nut on the cap I think it would not be a problem. I transfered at my tap pressure which is 90kpa. So the higher pressure is better Jye?

Pockets here's the last two pics. i added a bracket to the back of the CPBF to keep it sturdy.





Andrew


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## Jye (2/4/09)

Using it at a higher pressure will pretty much eliminate any foaming. If you use it at carbonation pressure then you will get foaming since cracking the bung to release some pressure from the bottle exposes the beer to a pressure lower than its carbing pressure, thus allowing it to release co2 and foam. Operating at a higher pressure never allows the beer to see a lower than carbing pressure and you can also fill quicker since you can have a greater pressure differential between supplied pressure and vent pressure.


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## AndrewQLD (2/4/09)

I'll have to give it a try Jye, although as the pics showed I really didn't get any foaming to speak of but the fill was slow, I'll try it next time, thanks.

Cheers
Andrew


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## PhilA (2/4/09)

hi Andrew, what a great idea ,I'vd saved this post for when I need to put one together 
Cheers Phil


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## MarkBastard (2/4/09)

I can't seem to work out exactly how the stainless tubing sits in there. Can you explain it?


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## Paul H (2/4/09)

Jye said:


> Using it at a higher pressure will pretty much eliminate any foaming. If you use it at carbonation pressure then you will get foaming since cracking the bung to release some pressure from the bottle exposes the beer to a pressure lower than its carbing pressure, thus allowing it to release co2 and foam. Operating at a higher pressure never allows the beer to see a lower than carbing pressure and you can also fill quicker since you can have a greater pressure differential between supplied pressure and vent pressure.



I was just about to say that..............


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## TidalPete (2/4/09)

Mark^Bastard said:


> I can't seem to work out exactly how the stainless tubing sits in there. Can you explain it?



Looks like Andrew has drilled two seperate holes ---- One for the ss tube & one for the JG fitting. Both of them allowing for a tight fit.

TP


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## Jye (2/4/09)

Paul H said:


> I was just about to say that..............



Great... you can explain what I just said to me tomorrow


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## MarkBastard (2/4/09)

TidalPete said:


> Looks like Andrew has drilled two seperate holes ---- One for the ss tube & one for the JG fitting. Both of them allowing for a tight fit.
> 
> TP



Drilled two holes in what?

All I can think is that the SS tube goes inside the straight through adapter? Must just happen to be a nice fit?


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## AndrewQLD (3/4/09)

Mark^Bastard said:


> Drilled two holes in what?
> 
> All I can think is that the SS tube goes inside the straight through adapter? Must just happen to be a nice fit?




All I had to do was drill the straight adaptor out by a fraction on the threaded side (not all the way through, that would ruin the push fitting side) and the S/S tube fit very tightly inside. A grommet was cut in half and put on the threaded side of the fitting and then the fitting srewed into the bottle cap (screws in tight), I'm still looking for a nut to put on the end of the threaded fitting but it's very tight. 

I tested it overnight with 80kpa of pressure and it held well and didn't leak.

Andrew


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## TidalPete (13/6/09)

AndrewQLD said:


> All I had to do was drill the straight adaptor out by a fraction on the threaded side (not all the way through, that would ruin the push fitting side) and the S/S tube fit very tightly inside. A grommet was cut in half and put on the threaded side of the fitting and then the fitting srewed into the bottle cap (screws in tight), I'm still looking for a nut to put on the end of the threaded fitting but it's very tight.
> 
> I tested it overnight with 80kpa of pressure and it held well and didn't leak.
> 
> Andrew



Bump!
Looks like a job well done Andrew? :icon_cheers: 
Starting to get the gear together to build one of these.
I presume the bottles hold carbonation indefinitely?

Mark^Bastard, 



> Drilled two holes in what?



I should have said counter-bored *NOT* "Two seperate holes" as I stated in post 18. Bad choice of words.  

TP


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## yardy (13/6/09)

hadn't seen this until now, nice job, did you fill the CDA clone botts with this Andrew ?

cheers
Yard


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## TidalPete (15/6/09)

Bump!

TP


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## AndrewQLD (16/6/09)

Sorry guys, this one keeps slipping under the radar.

Yardy the CDA and the CSA and the English pale were all filled using the CPBF. It works really well.

Pete I had a bottle of Pilsner that I tested this on and after 3 weeks it was still carbed well.

As Jye said filling at a higher pressure works best with no foam or carbonation loss to speak of.

Andrew


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## 3G (29/6/09)

Does anyone know where i can get the 8mm beer/gas control valve. Andale dont stock them and it doesnt look like beerbelly has them.
Cheers


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## AndrewQLD (29/6/09)

3G said:


> Does anyone know where i can get the 8mm beer/gas control valve. Andale dont stock them and it doesnt look like beerbelly has them.
> Cheers



Craftbrewer has them.

Andrew


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## 3G (29/6/09)

AndrewQLD said:


> Craftbrewer has them.
> 
> Andrew




Yep, sorry meant Adelaide. Ill order from Craftbrewer if i cant find them today. I was just after something to do this arvo!


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## davo4772 (17/1/11)

AndrewQLD said:


> I've been wanting to get a Counter pressure bottle filler for some time, mainly to bottle competition entries and the odd beer for friends. Reports from people who have spent quite a few dollars on commercially available ones have ranged from ok to waste of money, and a lot reported they were hard to use.
> Being a tight wad I had a serious look around at parts to make one myself, I wanted it to be easy to clean, dismantle and simple to use with the minimum amount of handles to turn.
> 
> The best design I could find for what I wanted was from Langborough Brewery (thanks guys), it's simple and easy to use although I wasn't sure how easy to clean it would be, the same for dismantling.
> ...





Hello,

Nice looking unit

Are you still using this design? How does it go bleeding the pressure from the bung.

Am trying to rig one up as simply as possible 

This one looks pretty straight forward


http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/uplo...-1060644750.jpg


The air needle I have is too short to go through the bung, plus not sure how easy it is to join the needle to tyre valve. 

Your design is probably easier to manage.


Cheers


Dave


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## kyleg (3/12/12)

Nice design Andrew. How does it go filling glass bottles? What did you use for the bung for filling glass bottles?


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## Truman42 (3/12/12)

AndrewQLD said:


> A grommet was cut in half and put on the threaded side of the fitting and then the fitting srewed into the bottle cap (screws in tight), I'm still looking for a nut to put on the end of the threaded fitting but it's very tight.
> 
> I tested it overnight with 80kpa of pressure and it held well and didn't leak.
> 
> Andrew



I would like to make one of these but not sure what you meant by this Andrew? Doesnt the black rubber grommet just slide over the thread on the straight fitting and then sit on top of the PET cap?


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## Truman42 (4/12/12)

Bump???


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## AndrewQLD (4/12/12)

Sorry guys, only just saw your posts.

David72, I haven't used a CPBF for a long time as I don't bottle at all anymore. The design worked very well although I would probably save the hassle and just buy a unit now given the price of the fittings and the drop in price of the stainless CPBF.

Truman,
The rubber grommet is actually just an O ring now, it slides over the thread on the adaptor and then the adaptor is screwed into the hole in the bottle cap, the whole is small enough for a tight fit for the adaptor. I never found a nut for the thread on the adaptor but in all the fills I did it never leaked even under pressure.


Andrew


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## Truman42 (4/12/12)

Cheers Andrew, thanks for clarifying that.


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