Bottling wands & forum-search

[olie]

2 Qs:

Q1) Forum search doesn't appear to work for me -- I always get 0 results. I started searching "bottling wand" (my Q2), then "wand", then "bottling", then "keg", then "beer" -- always 0 results. I'm pretty sure that's not right.

Is there some "you must be this tall in order to use search" criteria? Thanks!

Q2) I'm closing-in on time to bottle my 1st batch (yay!) It seems to me that a bottling wand ought to make the operation a ton easier, but every one I view online has 10-20% 1-star reviews that all talk about how it leaked, or barely worked at all; wasn't the product advertised, etc.

So what's a bottling-n00b to do?

Thanks!

 

[olie]

Ok, I found Q1 -- my ad-blocker was blocking search. D'oh! Whitelisted site, now search works.

Now I'm looking through old threads for wand info.

 

[flars]

Get a bottling wand with the spring tip. The smaller diameter wand will fill the bottle with less head space compared to the larger diameter wand.

 

[RM-MN]

You have to be 6'6" tall and weigh 300 pounds with Harry Potters magical ability to use the search.....or turn off the ad-blocker as you noted. Good job troubleshooting.

My bottling wand sometimes gets some hop debris in it that makes it leak. I just hurry to finish filling the last bottles and then rinse it out really well so it doesn't leak next time.

 

[YellowRiver]

I have the spring loaded wand. Came with my starter kit. Approx 2200 bottles later it still works. I rinse clean and sanitize when done and repeat procedure before I do s batch.

 

[flars]

The really good spring tip wands can be disassembled to clean the spring and the plunger. Reversing the spring assembly will result in drips.

 

[soccerdad]

I have an extra wand. Happy to send it.

 

[olie]

I have an extra wand. Happy to send it.

Very generous, but I'm all set, now. Got 1 of each size so i can experiment (they were too cheap not to -- it costs more to drive back to make the correction! )

Thanks!

(I'll add a note here when I get around to my 1st bottling, or maybe add to the super-long sticky about it, if I come up with something extra-brilliant )

 

[Calder]

I used to used the springless wands, but they eventually leak. They have a plastic to plastic seat/seal. It is a pain when they leak as they don't shut-off. They worked well for a long time, but then became a pain. Can't disassemble them to clean them.

Then Igot a couple of the spring type that you can disassemble. I found 2 problems with them:
- Difficult to prime if you are not using gravity from a ported bottling bucket. I don't so dah to hold it open while I primed it.
- The end can come off When that happens it is wrse than the leaking springless wand. The more you disassemble to clean, the looser it gets, and the more likely it is for the end to come off. I experienced this, but I have not seen any other report on it.

I ended up taking the spring out and use teflon tape between the two parts to make a firm conection. Works great, and the soft seat in the wand is much better than the hard seal in the springless version. I must have done at least 50 batches with the current one with no issues since i took the spring out.