Font Mounted Cpbf For Filling Any Bottle

[Nick JD]

After recieving an adapter from Batz icon_cheers to fill crown top bottles, of which I have none, and seeing my large collection of Grolsch bottles are about to gather dust I thought I'd try my hand at adapting the font mounted counter pressure bottle filler to work with any bottle. The aim here is to use the bottom of the bottle to provide upward pressure to seal the rim ... not the neck of the bottle.

So here goes. I'm halfway finished at this stage; and it's only a prototype to see if it works and holds a seal - so please excuse the plywood, etc. The final one will be made from that choppingboard plastic, probably - or well sealed wood.

At Bunnings I got a PVC pipe thingo that has an internal diameter of 42mm. This is the same as the outer diameter of the sleeve mechanism on the CPBF.

The pics are self-explanitory.

I drilled a 5mm hole and used the CPBF's roller screw to cut a 6mm thread in the soft PVC.

The braces are just some Al angle cut with a hacksaw.

The roller screw threads in with a couple of washers as the PVC is slightly thinner than the CPBF sleeve and I don't want the thread shredding the plastic roller bushing.

With the bushing inserted in the helical doohicky in the CPBF sleeve, and the screw in, the CPBF turns instead of the sleeve. If that makes sense.

CPBF up.

CPBF down.

Now all that's needed is to mount this on the top of a box. The box will have a sliding base that can be set high up for stubbies, or low down for champers or magnums or 2L PET. And somewhere in the middle for longnecks and Grolsch swingtops.

Total cost so far, about $3.50

 

[Florian]

I feel like an idiot but I don't understand.

EDIT: Ahh, think i got it now. Will be interesting to see how exactly that box works. You could just insert different sized layers of plywood or the likes under the bottles I guess?

 

[NickB]

I didn't either, but I think what he's getting at is that the piece that he's fabricated will be the top of a box or enclosure, and that the bottle will sit flat against the bottom of the box, with the CPBF coming down to the top of the bottle... At least that's how I read it.

Personally, I'd look at a small stainless collar similar to what you have unless the grolsch bottles have a neck that is too long...

Cheers

 

[Florian]

I didn't either, but I think what he's getting at is that the piece that he's fabricated will be the top of a box or enclosure, and that the bottle will sit flat against the bottom of the box, with the CPBF coming down to the top of the bottle... At least that's how I read it.

Yep, that's how I got it now as well, see edit.

Personally, I'd look at a small stainless collar similar to what you have unless the grolsch bottles have a neck that is too long...

So you mean similar to taking 3 or 5 washers from Batz and stacking them together? That would work on quite a few other bottles but I think the neck on the grolsch ones is too long as you suspect.

Good to see Nick (JD) is approaching this from a different angle though.

Without wanting to hijack, one idea I unsuccessfully trialled about six month ago was cutting the top of a PET bottle and basically trying to insert a silicone mould inside the top, so you could push a glass bottle into the PET top and then attach it as normal to the CPBF. I gave up after about 5 moulds but I'm sure with a bit of persisting and maybe different materials it should be doable.

 

[booargy]

a lever and a weight like the old hanging balance scale. weight on the back of the box lever going through push down on front of lever insert bottle. the weight or fulcrum point can be moved to adjust pressure on the bottle. the box holds the bottle straight. :blink:

 

[Nick JD]

Yup, you guys have it.

Picture a box as tall as a champers bottle. On top there's the CPBF - and the whole CPBF rotates, lowering the seal onto the bottle.

Within that box is a platform that slides from the top to the bottom. A wingnut on a bolt traveling up a channel in the box means the platform can be locked at any height. Of course, the "usual" bottles can be marked so the platform can be slid up and locked.

PET can take quite a bit of downward pressure. This was a concern, but I'm reasonably sure they are stronger than the seal pressure needed before they collapse or deform.

I'm trying to abstract the bottle from the device.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Nick - have a look at the site of the company that make the CP filler of which these font mounted ones are a cheap knock-off.

They have a different device for filling glass bottles, growlers etc that is very similar to what I think you are proposing and maybe it will give you a few clues and save you some re-inventing work/effort/trouble. These units are in place in a few of the growler fill places in Melbourne and look like absolute winners to me.

Here's links.

http://pegasdistusa.com/?page_id=2
http://beerinnovations.com/beerequipment/b...spensers/images

With the PET bottles in your variation - even if the aren't strong enough to take the full pressure, as soon as you can get them to hold even a little pressure, that will stiffen them up and you can then clamp them tighter to hold a higher pressure. I dont think you'll have an issues. Nice kludging.

 

[Nick JD]

Nice kludging.

Thanks, Thirsty. I hadn't seen those growler fillers before ... but in the back of my mind an a few US micro visits, I might have seen one in the corner of my eye and this is subliminal.

EDIT: now I'm thinking I need a perspex door.

 

[Nick JD]

So here's stage two. I can't put full pressure on it yet because the glue has only had an hour or two, and most glues need 24 hours before stressing joints.

This is nearly the shortest bottle I have, although I think my little 300ml PETs are shorter - so it will fill a 250ml stubbie at the top - and a 2L PET at the bottom.

Here's the platform adjustment wingnut.

And of course the holy grail ... a swingtop filler!

Does weird neck fills too. Might do the next version really fat - growlers would be good to take to BBQs/parties.

Can get quite a bit of pressure on it. The seal ring starts to deform a bit, so I reckon it'll work. After seeing Thirsty's links I might put a perspex door on it, just in case.

All up it cost under $10.

 

[Thefatdoghead]

Nice work mate. I just bought one and was wondering how I was going to fill my 750ml swing tops. So you just use muscle power to apply pressure on the seal do then lock the wingnut hey? Just wondering how much pressure you need for a good seal?

 

[Frag_Dog]

Looks good.

I wonder if you could have the bottle platform on some sort of cam that would allow you to set the height, unlock the cam, allowing the platform to lower an inch or so, insert the bottle, lock the cam, and fill.

Disclamer: I don't have a CPBF and I've had a few... :icon_drunk:

 

[Thefatdoghead]

Looks good.

I wonder if you could have the bottle platform on some sort of cam that would allow you to set the height, unlock the cam, allowing the platform to lower an inch or so, insert the bottle, lock the cam, and fill.

Disclamer: I don't have a CPBF and I've had a few... :icon_drunk:

I seen these drop saw's with a vice that has a nut that you can turn and the thread slides straight through the nut then you swing the nut back the other way and screw the vice tight. Would be ideal for a rig like this one Nick has done. Might try make one at work.

 

[Nick JD]

Nice work mate. I just bought one and was wondering how I was going to fill my 750ml swing tops. So you just use muscle power to apply pressure on the seal do then lock the wingnut hey? Just wondering how much pressure you need for a good seal?

The CPBF rotates, lowering and sealing (it's on a roller "thread"), so if you want to fill 12 Grolsch bottles you set the platform and leave it there. The height adjustment is only needed when changing bottle heights.

I've retained the rotaing and locking mechanism from the original design.

Up.

And then when you turn it anticlockwise ... down/sealed.

 

[Florian]

Looking at it again it's actually a really good idea. Will be interested to know how you go with it in 'day to day filling'.

 

[Thefatdoghead]

The CPBF rotates, lowering and sealing (it's on a roller "thread"), so if you want to fill 12 Grolsch bottles you set the platform and leave it there. The height adjustment is only needed when changing bottle heights.

I've retained the rotaing and locking mechanism from the original design.

Up.

And then when you turn it anticlockwise ... down/sealed.

Oh I see. Awesome work mate hope you don't mind me copying your idea. It's nice and easy.

 

[Batz]

OK guys there was another seven letters waiting for me this weekend, all now in the post with a washer and a Batz brewery sticker

Hope to catch you Adelaide brewers at the Wheatie in a couple of weeks time.

Batz

 

[MastersBrewery]

hey Nick JD was wondering if you, got any further with the development of this ....would love to see some shots of the final product :beerbang:

 

[Nick JD]

hey Nick JD was wondering if you, got any further with the development of this ....would love to see some shots of the final product :beerbang:

The only further development is I gave the whole thing a coat of epoxy to waterproof it.

I've filled a dozen or so bottles so far with only one issue - the sliding base is only locked with one wingnut and washer. It's possible to generate enough downward sealing pressure to make it slip, and this can be annoying, so I'm going to add another locking bolt. Usually, I'm filling a bunch of the same bottles, so only the first one needs to be set up.

I'll fill a few bottles tomorrow and take some photos of the process.

 

[Frag_Dog]

Looks really good NickJD. Have you tried filling a growler with on of these?

 

[jacknohe]

That's fantastic! I've been thinking about getting a CP filler but wanted a solution for different sized/type bottles. Hmmm, this may have sold it for me.

As I was reading through the post, a thought crossed my mind. I was wondering if it would be beneficial to perhaps have the CP filler on a movable slide and have the bottom of the bottle hard against the bottom of the frame or bench/table. Much like a bench bottle capper where you would adjust the height of the CP filler according to the bottle size.