Bench capper doesn't work

I have a new bench capper and I was bottling a batch of Apfelwein today. Not one bottle was capped correctly. They all went on slightly crooked, or more accurately, they were not sealed equally all the way around. I tried six or eight bottles before switching back to my old capper (what AHS calls the red barron), which worked perfectly.

Frustrating.

I have switched to using a Red Barron capper as my primary capper, with my Agata bench capper as a backup for difficult bottles.

My bench capper works best when placing the caps on the bottles instead of the magnetized bell. Then crimp, rotate the bottle 90 degrees, crimp again, and you should be good to go.

ArcaneXor said:

I have switched to using a Red Barron capper as my primary capper, with my Agata bench capper as a backup for difficult bottles.

My bench capper works best when placing the caps on the bottles instead of the magnetized bell. Then crimp, rotate the bottle 90 degrees, crimp again, and you should be good to go.

Click to expand...

That sounds like it would work, based upon what I saw today.

Thanks.

I always put the caps on the bottles, then cap with my bench capper. The bell threads in and out, so maybe its not tightened correctly?

I have never had a problem, one crank on the lever, never a flat bottle.

It took me a minute to figure it out the first time, but make sure you keep the handle vertical, push down till you hit the cap, make sure its centered, then pull the lever. Not trying to be condescending, just trying to help. honest . I love mine.

Never had a bench capper but I understand there are different bell sizes available. are you sure you have the right bell?

Most modern caps ar 27mm - some belgian bottles and champagne bottles use a 29mm cap and need a special bell for that.
I love my bench capper and will never go back to a hand capper. I always cap on a concrete floor and it gives me a good solid "push". You have to make sure that the lever/bell is adjusted to the right height. There should be "just" enough space to slide in a bottle and a cap (cap on the bottle not on the magnet) then just "Giv'er" (that's a Canadian expression for "crank it".)