capping issues..another lesson

[scrapes]

My irish red settled nicely at 1.016, time for bottling. Prep went smoothly, sanitized everything, transferred to the bottling bucket. I handled the priming mix a bit differently this time. The last (my first) i didn't get a good blend so this time I poured it in in stages, and gave a real gentle stir when I was done. Set the bucket over the clean and empty dishwasher and off I went. I set the bottles on the floor with caps and capped after I got 6 ready to go. About the 10th bottle I leaned over to snug it, and bam, shatter....yeesh. Happened fast. Over zealous probably. It seemed my black winged capper went south too, I had trouble getting caps centered and the darn thing kept capping on an angle. I have a 20 year old red all metal capper that I went to and it worked fine. The red capper is nice because you can see the bell and how it lays on the cap.

2 weeks 46 bottles in waiting.

 

[Varmintman]

I have a old benchtop capper that has capped well sheesh untold thousands of bottles and I have never broke a single one nor had a lid fail yet. Slower than a wing type capper but in the long run much better I think

 

[Ghost1220]

My black wing capper did the same exact thing, I switched it out and all's well now.

 

[Tupperwolf]

I've read bad things about the black capper. I wish I knew how many people have complained about broken bottles before I bought one; I have one but I've only capped 30 bottles with it. It went smoothly but the potential for failure was heavy on my mind.

 

[Ghost1220]

If it's any consolation, you can feel something's a little wonky before it breaks a bottle.

 

[unionrdr]

The thing is too,that the bell on the black metal capper can't be changed. but the bell on the Red Baron can be. but after a couple years use,the bell on my Red Baron stretched out to where the caps leak under pressure when the room gets warm. So I just bought a new Super Agata bench capper. Interesting that it's made by Ferrari,just like my bottle tree & vinator.
So my low carbonation problems should be solved. I was getting wiffs of sweet malt with the old one when the room would get really warm. 5-6 weeks at room temp & 2 weeks fridge time for half decent carbonation.
This should change with the new one.

 

[dstranger99]

Since I got the bench capper, bottling is a breeze now, I just adjust the height for the bottles, and usually cap six at a time. Nice tight fit too !!!

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,I have high hopes that the bench capper will get the caps tight enough to solve my mechanically challenged carb issues.:rockin:

 

[Tupperwolf]

I think the bench cappers make a lot more sense from an engineering perspective. The only reason i bought the Black Beauty capper is that when I drove 3+ hours to the closest homebrewing supply store I wasn't going to be too choosy about the equipment I bought, as long as it would work. Where I live it's very cost prohibitive to order stuff from the internet.

In about 1.5 years I will be kegging everything, so as long as the Black Beauty lasts for a few more batches of bottled beer I will be satisfied!

 

[scrapes]

The black one was a pain trying to line up. A view of the bell is tough due to design. The red one works better but really locks up when it seals the cap, and you have to play around to get it to release.

 

[andy6026]

I'm in the market for a capper. Considering that I'll probably be doing this hobby forever, what do you guys recommend is best for ease of use and functionality?

 

[Gixxer]

Save the money and get a Colonna capper/corker combo... Sooner or later you want to cork belgians, so why not get that now? I have the red wing capper, and although it works great... sooner or later it will shatter bottles. I got the bench capper so now I can reload even those with the lip that is closer to the opening that the wing capper couldnt grab... And cork belgians when I get around to making em.