Crown seals

[bigj]

I've just bought a used bottle capper for peanuts and tried it out. I noticed that while the cap stays on the bottle you can spin it around easily. When capping I have pushed the lever down as far as it could go. Is this normal for home brew bottling? It feels like its too loose. The capper is old but its solid so I don't think there's an issue with that .Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. John.

 

[manticle]

Does it work on the caps?

More importantly does it work on the peanuts?

You can buy replacement bells but if it seals without issue, I'd just go with it

 

[geneabovill]

What kind of capper? Superautomatica style or the one that looks like a bottle corker on steroids?

Superautomatica-style cappers can bend over time resulting in less leverage to push the cap down firmly. This can be fixed by lowering the height of the unit.

Or maybe the bell is the wrong size? Either way I'd be worried if the caps are freely spinning. Means that the cap isn't crimped down hard enough to squeeze the seal down onto the mouth of the bottle.

 

[manticle]

Just re-read. If the cap is spinning, I'd say it isn't sealing properly.

 

[Pogierob]

Just a thought why don't you buy a bottle of soft drink, pour it into a bottle and then cap it. Leave the bottle for a couple of days then open it and see if it still has any co2 left in it.

 

[bigj]

I have attached a PIC of it. I forgot to mention the bottle gets stuck when I put the cap on the bottle.

 

[geneabovill]

Looks the business to me. I'd try lowering it slightly and recapping your beer.

Might be that it's just not pushing down hard enough of the cap.

Edit: I like to have mine very nearly lowered right against the bottle, then pulling down to crimp the cap on nice and firm - my caps tend to have a slight dint in the top from this.

 

[bigj]

Tried that. I lowered so it pretty much was flush with the bottle and pushed down as far as it would go.I might take it to the lbs and let them take a look

 

[geneabovill]

Smart move. If they're good blokes they'll try to help you legitimately before trying to flog you one of their cappers.

 

[bigj]

Haha for sure. I guess that's all I can do

 

[hoppy2B]

There are different sized bells you can get for cappers. There is one that does Champagne bottles and may be slightly larger if I recall correctly. You may have one of these on your capper or your bell may be slightly warn. Easy enough to put another bell on it.

 

[Spiesy]

I have attached a PIC of it. I forgot to mention the bottle gets stuck when I put the cap on the bottle.

I often find my bottles are tough to remove from the bell as well, and I do worry about breaking the seal, or the bottle, when removing.

I don't bottle often, but when I do, they seem to work fine.

 

[geneabovill]

+1 Spiesy. I have the same thing.. I tend to put a folded tea towel under the bottle to give it a soft landing after I yank it outta the bell.

 

[hoppy2B]

I have attached a PIC of it. I forgot to mention the bottle gets stuck when I put the cap on the bottle.

Looks a solid capper aye what. :blink:

 

[AlwayzLoozeCount]

When I bought my Superautomatica years ago the home brew shop guy said to put a bit of vasoline on the inside of the bell to stop the bottles from getting stuck in there.
Works a treat.

 

[Spiesy]

When I bought my Superautomatica years ago the home brew shop guy said to put a bit of vasoline on the inside of the bell to stop the bottles from getting stuck in there.
Works a treat.

I'll give that a go, cheers.

 

[Scooby Tha Newbie]

This works well. It does sound like your bottler has the larger bell.