Breaking Glass When Bottling

[Verbyla]

I'm a few days off bottling my latest brew thats been sitting in the fermenter for 2 weeks now and i've decided to start using glass bottles. I went out and bought the safeway standard bottle tops. I had a bit of a practice this afternoon with putting the bottle caps on the bottles but i'm finding that when i do so the glass around the top cracks or chips. Im just using a standard bottle capper, its a few years old but its bearly been used and i'm only applying enough pressure so that the lid properly seals the bottles.
Any idea why this is happening???
Anyone aware of any tricks to stop this occuring???
Is there any other easy way of getting the caps on without using a capper???

 

[peas_and_corn]

Is your capper a bench capper or one of those hand held things?

 

[Adamt]

Have you got the double lever style capper, or the hammer-on type?

You definitely should get a bench capper, also called a Superautomatica. They cost about $50 and I'll guarantee you'll never have a bottling problem again.

 

[Verbyla]

I'm using a double lever style capper.
Is this common when using these?

 

[Adamt]

It's definitely not unheard of... not as bad as using the hammering tool though. The superautomatica will make bottling much, much less painful.

 

[Verbyla]

Alright thanks so much for the advice, its gona save me alot of trouble!

 

[boingk]

Another vote for the 'Superautomatica' bench-style capper. I used the double-handle one I got with my Tooheys kit before the superautomatica, and it cracked/chipped the necks of bottles as you describe. I have never looked back.

Cheers - boingk

 

[marlow_coates]

From what i remember of the double handled ones, is that they use a narrow portion of glass near the mouth to lever off for force.

Even if some of them weren't chipped, on the next brew of after they will weaken and break.

This weakens the whole top end of the bottle, not to mention causing cut lips if drinking straight from the bottle.

Used this technique for a while till I figured it out, then bought a bench capper... much better

 

[jonocarroll]

From what i remember of the double handled ones, is that they use a narrow portion of glass near the mouth to lever off for force.

Even if some of them weren't chipped, on the next brew of after they will weaken and break.

This weakens the whole top end of the bottle, not to mention causing cut lips if drinking straight from the bottle.

Used this technique for a while till I figured it out, then bought a bench capper... much better

While I'll agree that a Superautomatica is certainly the way to go, I've used my double-handled capper for roughly 1000 bottles - There's some in there that would have seen at least half of the batches. I've only ever had one bottle break, a thin-glass longneck, and that was by someone else who was putting their entire weight on the thing. You don't need to push down a lot - most of the action is on the sides.

These have the advantage that you don't need to readjust for different bottle sizes, and that you can do your bottling wherever the bottles are. Just adding the other side of the coin.

Just don't get the wrong type of capper...

 

[Cube]

I agree - the hand lever cappers are great in the right hands. There is a 'knack' to using these well, and fast.

Took me a few brews to get the feel of it, but no complain here. Crown seals are mint, twists you need to be a little more careful. Both styles I have 100% success and no problems with.

 

[andreic]

I disagree... toss the double handle lever capper and get a bench capper.

My first bottling session with the double hander led to a couple of broken bottles and many more chipped bottles. I threw it out after that and got a bench capper. I think they might be fine for some specific types of bottles, but with the bench capper you can do them all.

 

[jonocarroll]

I disagree... toss the double handle lever capper and get a bench capper.

My first bottling session with the double hander led to a couple of broken bottles and many more chipped bottles. I threw it out after that and got a bench capper. I think they might be fine for some specific types of bottles, but with the bench capper you can do them all.

I've used mine for just about every type of bottle I can imagine - no worries.

I think the more correct statement is "I think they might be fine for some specific types of bottles people, but with the bench capper you can do them all anyone can use it."

 

[whitegoose]

I'm using a double lever style capper.
Is this common when using these?

I just recently ditched my double lever capper for a bench capper.

The double lever was cracking/chipping the thread on twist top bottles a lot... crown seals were much better. It did come with 2 different fittings, a longer one for crown seals and a shorter one for twist top - making sure you're using the right one will help but seriously, get a bench capper - they make life easy, and seal the bottles tight!

 

[Pollux]

I must have capped over 400 bottles with my hand capper (hammer on style) before I got my bench capper...

It's all in the technique, ever watched a traditional tattoo being applied? Soft tap, hard tap, soft tap hard tap.....

I never broke a bottle once.

 

[Verbyla]

Got into contact with a mate of mine today and got him to bring over the hammer capper and bench capper. Had a go with both and didn't find there was any problem with either in turns of bottle breakages. I see why so many people have been backing the bench capper as it is simple and can be used fast. The hammer capper wasn't to bad but it took a bit longer.
Thanks for the help guys

 

[Rodolphe01]

I use a hand capper, only broken 2 bottles, 500ml erdinger bottles. A bench capper is just another piece of shit I'd have lying around.

 

[marlow_coates]

I think there are 3 types of cappers being discussed here

1 - double handled lever capper
2 - hand held hammer capper
3 - bench capper
and possibly the superautomatica (not sure what this is yet)

The hand held capper and the bench capper work in the same way, in that the pressure is applied via a force from above.

The double handled lever capper works by levering off the neck of the bottle (the one I had did anyway but I am sure there are other varieties).

I reckon both hand held hammer capper and bench capper are better, of course the bench one is easier to use.

The double handled lever capper is the one I have had troubles with, but not with crowns, only with twist. (should have said in original post). The twist top bottles had a small ring of glass beneath the thread that my capper levered off. It was this weak bit of glass that is prone to breaking and chipping causing the above problems.

My vote backs the bench capper for best, the hand held hammer capper for second choice and the double handled lever capper as a last resort

Marlow

 

[Rurik]

A friend of mine has used a double leaver style bench capper for years. I once asked him if he had any problems. His reply was yes but he had over come it by putting his capper in the freaser for a period of time before hand. I think it made it shink slightly or some thing. Hope this helps.


- Rurik

 

[Batz]

Chuck your two handled bit of rubbish in the bin!

Plenty of these cheap on ebay

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Batz

 

[PostModern]

Chuck your two handled bit of rubbish in the bin!

Plenty of these cheap on ebay

http://tinyurl.com/c94hvo

Batz

Your tinyurl is broken. It gives:

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