Why are my caps TWISTING OFF?

I made a batch.... I got that RED BOTTLE CAPPER. that you hold over and squeeze it to cap.
My bottles ARE NOT twist off. And I was doing what seemed to be right in capping..
-BUT SOME OF MY CAPS LEAK WHEN I SHAKE THE BOTTLE OR OVERTURN IT.
-AND none of my beeer is really carbonated that well is this a factor??
-AND i open with a bottle opener it comes off so easy..nothing like a heineken or something would....i could twist the cap it makes a noise and then just pull it off....... HELP!

First thing that comes to mind is that you may not be using enough force to get a good seal. Exactly what kind of bottles and caps are you using?

My guess is that you're not crimping the caps all the way down. What you're saying should never happen

i was afraid of breaking the bottle....

i have gold "brewers best caps"

I remember being worried the first time I tried it too - don't worry about it

could the lack of carbonation be because of my loose caps?

bobbydigital said:

could the lack of carbonation be because of my loose caps?

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That's quite likely. If they're leaking beer, then CO2 is leaking as well.

it would be very difficult to break a bottle with the capper. practice on a few empty bottles and see for yourself. Just apply a bit more force and you will be a master capper in no time.

"don't let fear stop you."

I was worried about breaking the bottle at first myself but then realized no amount of pressure I applied did any damage. Squeeze down tight on those caps.

One thing I noticed is that with my capper, which sounds identical to yours, a good cap seal left a round circular imprint from the magnet right in the center of the cap.

totally, i squeeze mine, twist, and seal again. then i do it again if it doesn't have a whole circle on the inside from the magnet.

i had a friend (actually one of the guys that got me into homebrew) come over to cap about a month ago and he didn't leave "the mark". I thanked him, sent him home and finished them all off myself. that shiznit needs to be airtight!

you won't break the bottles. well, i never had and i'm pretty gol-darn tootin tough

If you have a hard time releasing the capper from the bottle, you know you've secured it right.

DeathBrewer said:

totally, i squeeze mine, twist, and seal again. then i do it again if it doesn't have a whole circle on the inside from the magnet.

i had a friend (actually one of the guys that got me into homebrew) come over to cap about a month ago and he didn't leave "the mark". I thanked him, sent him home and finished them all off myself. that shiznit needs to be airtight!

you won't break the bottles. well, i never had and i'm pretty gol-darn tootin tough

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I don't think it requires that much force but it sounds like the OP is under doing it. I have a redbaron capper and I noticed once I've got the cap crimped well there is a stop on the handles. I just press down until I hit the stop then more to the next. Never had a problem with caps. Take a look at a commercial in a pop top bottle. You cap should look just like theirs when you are done.
Craig

Agree. If you try pushing past the handle stops, you're just asking to bust the capper into a few pieces. I believe the OP is only going to the point where the bell slips down over the cap (which takes a good bit of force) but not going quite far enough to get the crimp.

I had one of those dual lever ones. I had a problem with breaking New Belgium Brewery bottles and Pete's bottles.
For my b-day a friend of mine got me a solid cast iron pull down lever type capper and it is one of the best additions to my brewery I have. Those dual lever type suck and require way to much work....