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wmcc75

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It is kinds hard to tell from the bad pic but when bottling a batch of red ale tonight the top of a bottle broke off when my wife was capping. I've never had this happen before kinda took me by surprise. I guess my wife doesn't know her own strength. But seriously thankfully no injuries. Anyone else ever have this happen?
 
Broke two bottles total from my first 15 gallons (three brews.) Not sure what I did wrong. I am using a wing capper.
 
I've had the neck break off and stay in the cap on three or four and they were all the same ones.... don't know what brand but the shoulder where the capper grabs is closer to the rim of the bottle on all of the broken ones
 
I used to use Guinness and Anchor steam bottles and several in one batch did that.

I've switched to a combination of LHBS and commercial bottles that have a deeper lip (see image below). The smaller lips on the Guinness and Anchor steam bottles didn't "pop through" as cleanly when capping and something was stressing the base of the lip. I haven't had a problem since I switched to the bigger lipped bottles.

morphology_quality.jpg
 
I used to use Guinness and Anchor steam bottles and several in one batch did that.

I've switched to a combination of LHBS and commercial bottles that have a deeper lip (see image below). The smaller lips on the Guinness and Anchor steam bottles didn't "pop through" as cleanly when capping and something was stressing the base of the lip. I haven't had a problem since I switched to the bigger lipped bottles.

From your diagram that's the same problem I was referring to. And I've been tossing any with the smaller lip that I find
 
This happened on a woodchuck cider bottle. I usually use taller bottles with a bigger lip. I honestly never paid attention to this before but will definitely will in the future.
 
From your diagram that's the same problem I was referring to. And I've been tossing any with the smaller lip that I find

I got maybe 1 reuse out of the smaller lipped bottles before I started getting cracking and failing. Haven't had a bit of problem with deeper lipped bottles. The wing cappers work much better on the deeper lips too, as they grab lower and you actually have to "pop through" the levers to cap. It's a positive indication that the cap is installed and installed properly.
 
I'm new to brewing. I bought a wing capper, and tried it on a few empty bottles. I know plenty of people have used one successfully for years, but I decided in my hands it was an accident waiting to happen.

So I bought an old bench capper on ebay for $24.99 with free shipping, sandblasted and repainted it, and replaced the missing handle with a wood file handle from Ace Hardware. One of the smarter things I've done lately....



 
I have noticed more pop on the big ones but never really thought much of it but that is a good point about it having to pop through and being secured...and not breaking off.
 
I got maybe 1 reuse out of the smaller lipped bottles before I started getting cracking and failing. Haven't had a bit of problem with deeper lipped bottles. The wing cappers work much better on the deeper lips too, as they grab lower and you actually have to "pop through" the levers to cap. It's a positive indication that the cap is installed and installed properly.

Couldn't agree with you more that is exactly what I've been running into my last few batches and why I've been throwing out any that I see before they are filled (sometimes I get in a hurry and they slip through)
 
I'm new to brewing. So I bought a wing capper, and tried it on a few empty bottles. I know plenty of people have used one successfully for years, but I decided in my hands it was an accident waiting to happen.

So I bought an old bench capper on ebay for $24.99 with free shipping, sandblasted and repainted it, and replaced the missing handle with a wood file handle from Ace Hardware. One of the smarter things I've done lately....

http://s32.photobucket.com/user/troybytheriver/media/Bottlecapperoriginal_zps37d10ea4.png.html

http://s32.photobucket.com/user/tro...6-4890-ae97-357dc2bedda4_zps34717b3e.jpg.html

Wow that is night and day on your caper refurb. Nice job.
 
troy2000 said:
I'm new to brewing. I bought a wing capper, and tried it on a few empty bottles. I know plenty of people have used one successfully for years, but I decided in my hands it was an accident waiting to happen. So I bought an old bench capper on ebay for $24.99 with free shipping, sandblasted and repainted it, and replaced the missing handle with a wood file handle from Ace Hardware. One of the smarter things I've done lately.... http://s32.photobucket.com/user/troybytheriver/media/Bottlecapperoriginal_zps37d10ea4.png.html http://s32.photobucket.com/user/tro...6-4890-ae97-357dc2bedda4_zps34717b3e.jpg.html
nice work on the restoration mate looks like new
 
I've read a few posts that say a bench capper can safely handle twist-off bottles without breaking them, and they seal just fine.

I've also read horror stories about people capping twist-offs and having some break - or worse, go flat because may didn't seal properly.... but they didn't specify what kind of capper they had used.

Opinions about the difference between bench-capped and wing capped? Better yet, can you relate your personal experience? :confused:
 
One of the first batches I did icapped a twelve pack with twist offs because I didn't have enough good bottles. Used a wing capper and didn't break any but none of the twist offs carbed everything else did perfectly
 
I've used twist offs a few times w/o knowing that they were carbed ok and didn't break but have read bad things about them so I quit using them. Now I'm probably going to stop using small bottles after a couple uses as well. My bottle supply is dwindling :-/
 
Opinions about the difference between bench-capped and wing capped? Better yet, can you relate your personal experience? :confused:

I use a wing capper and have no issues. If you have good bottles with big lips, wing cappers will do fine. A quick wipe of the inside of the bell with some food-grade oil to keep the caps from getting stuck can help if that is happening, but I rarely need to.
 
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