Bottle filler problems. Leaky leaky.

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Chadwick

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2013
Messages
819
Reaction score
198
Location
Campton
After 4 years of use my old bottle filler was finally drip-leaking to the point were I wanted to get a replacement. So far my replacements have been worse than the one I threw out. They actually do a slow pour.

I figured that somebody here has already been through this themselves and has found a solution.

Q: Where can I buy a good quality gravity fed bottle filler? Or, how can I get my bottle fillers to stop leaking?

Thanks everyone in advance. :mug:
 
I use one of the bottle fillers with the spring in the tip that stops the flow when you stop pushing it against the bottom of the bottle.

Here is a link:
Spring Tip Bottle Filler

The only problem I have, is that once or twice during the bottling process, if I had it pushed down at a weird angle, the tip gets stuck in the open position and will continue to let beer out after I pull it out of the bottle...I just have learned to deal with this by always having an empty bottle ready to go in my other hand.
 
I had the same problem with the gravity fed version, though not quite as bad. Still, I bought a spring-loaded tube, and I lose a lot less beer. It still drips a bit, so I lose an ounce or two in the course of bottling 5 gallons. On both versions the tip piece is made of injection-molded plastic. The tip piece usually has a slight ridge from a slight misalignment between the mold halves during manufacturing. This is what allows a little beer to leak between it and the outer part of the tube.
 
May not be quite what you're looking for, but my system consists of cutting about a 2-3" piece of tubing and attaching that directly to the bottling spigot, and just open and shut the valve. My brew buddy and I have used this system from day one. Takes a little timing practice to get the right volume consistently without being too short or too full, but it doesn't seem much more difficult that getting timing right with an actual bottle filler. We usually end up with a few too full and a few too short, and just top off from bottle to bottle before capping. Easy and no additional equipment required.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
I use the gravity-valve bottle filler. I have it set up so I can sit & bottle with my bad L2 disc. I use some 3/8" tubing on the bottling bucket's spigot that's long enough to reach over to me & a flat-top 12 pack cooler I set a couple empty, sanitized bottles on. I let one bottle fill to the top & pull up quickly an inch or two to shut off the flow of beer.
You also have to remember that the beer coating the outside of the filler will be running off as well, back into the bottle. So after pulling up slowly to remove the filler from the bottle, I allow this excess beer to run off, & into the next empty bottle. I then set the full bottle on my bottling table, dunk a cap in Starsan, shake off & place on top of the bottle.
When I get 12-13 bottles filled & caps set on them, I then crimp them on in my bench capper. Then tip the bottle once to activate the o2 barrier thing inside the cap, if I'm using that type of cap. Then into covered boxes for carb/conditioning time.
 
This is the one I use. Like I mentioned earlier, it has a slight drip, but it's reasonable to me, as I only lose a small amount. I connect it to the spout on my bottling bucket with a 2" length of plastic tubing.

If you have a dishwasher, that makes a great bottling station. Set the bottling bucket on the counter right above, swing open the dishwasher door, pull up a seat in front and bottle. Any dripping beer will land on the open door of the dishwasher.
 
I think mine's a Firmtech, something like that? I searched the 3 sites I use & they all have different ones now? Mine uses 3/8" tubing, but some of the new ones use 5/16's?
 
This is the one I use. Like I mentioned earlier, it has a slight drip, but it's reasonable to me, as I only lose a small amount. I connect it to the spout on my bottling bucket with a 2" length of plastic tubing.

If you have a dishwasher, that makes a great bottling station. Set the bottling bucket on the counter right above, swing open the dishwasher door, pull up a seat in front and bottle. Any dripping beer will land on the open door of the dishwasher.

That's the one I use. I've actually got about 4 of them because I invariably lose a part and have to go buy a new one. I don't know how many of the black tips I've lost down the sink drain.
 
That's the one I use. I've actually got about 4 of them because I invariably lose a part and have to go buy a new one. I don't know how many of the black tips I've lost down the sink drain.

I have my large strainer in the sink when dismantling the tip for cleaning. The parts go into the strainer.
 
That's the one I use. I've actually got about 4 of them because I invariably lose a part and have to go buy a new one. I don't know how many of the black tips I've lost down the sink drain.


I use the same one, but I never thought to take it apart and clean it, so it ended up getting a ball of crud in it after a few batches. Two bottle infections later and I figured it out!
 
Back
Top