Bought a bottle tree & bottle rinser - lessons learned

[jstluise]

In preparation to bottling up 15 gallons of cider, I decided a bottle rinser would be a worthwhile piece of equipment to have. And a bottle tree while I was at it. I've seen pictures of the rinser sitting on top of the bottle tree and it looked like a nice setup.

I ordered the vinator bottle rinser (#7255) and the economy 45-bottle tree (#70012). Unfortunately I assumed that these two items were compatible and soon found out that they were not. After some searching around I found that the rinser is only compatible with the standard bottle tree (#6669). Some websites (Midwest & Northern Brewer) actually state this explicitly which is great...too bad the place I ordered it from did not.

In short, the rinser does not fit on the "economy" bottle tree!

Luckily I have access to a lathe at work and some scrap plastic, so I was able to quickly turn an adapter to fit my rinser on my tree.

"Economy" bottle tree with handle:


Rinser is too small to fit snugly:


My adapter installed:


All set and ready to go!


I finished bottling the 15 gallons and I have to say this setup is worth its weight in gold! Very happy with it and made the process go along much easier. I even got to test out the tree handle when I had to move the bomber-filled tree to another table while I was getting my bottling line set up...it worked great!

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Awesome! "Adapt, improvise, overcome!" Nice DIY save! You know, you might be able to sell those adapters, I'm sure you're not the only one who's made that mistake when ordering a bottle tree. Just a thought.
Regards, GF.

 

[eadavis80]

I have those same two items and while you seem pleased you were able to arrange it so the vinator sits atop the tree, do you mind if I ask what difference it makes? On my bottling day, I just put the vinator on the counter, right next to the tree, sanitize my bottles and put them on the tree. What advantage is there to having the vinator on top of the tree? I know having the vinator really shaved some time off my bottling day though and I'm sure it did the same with your 15 gallons of cider

 

[FatDragon]

Very nice. I was really bummed when I discovered that my local (Chinese) bottle tree - which looks identical to yours - wouldn't take the Vinator on top. On the other hand, I got the bottle tree for free when my employers gave me a budget to pick my own birthday gift from work, so I live with the Vinator on a table beside the bottle tree. It could be worse, I could be soaking bottles again.

 

[Maylar]

Nice solution to a common problem. I might take a chunk of maple and turn an adapter on my wood lathe... hmmm...

 

[jstluise]

You know, you might be able to sell those adapters, I'm sure you're not the only one who's made that mistake when ordering a bottle tree. Just a thought.

Thought about that, but for what I'd have to charge to make it worth my time, someone could buy the other bottle tree that fits it On the other hand, I could 3D print the adapter in ABS which requires pretty much zero effort...then they wouldn't be as expensive.

I have those same two items and while you seem pleased you were able to arrange it so the vinator sits atop the tree, do you mind if I ask what difference it makes? On my bottling day, I just put the vinator on the counter, right next to the tree, sanitize my bottles and put them on the tree. What advantage is there to having the vinator on top of the tree? I know having the vinator really shaved some time off my bottling day though and I'm sure it did the same with your 15 gallons of cider

I agree that it isn't necessary to have the vinator on the top of the tree. I actually thought I wouldn't really use it, but I was bored and made the adapter anyways. When I started rinsing bottles I had the tree on the counter but didn't put the vinator on top; it worked fine just having the vinator on the counter like you do. But, I ended up moving the tree to the floor because I was short on counter space and I was bottling on the floor anyways (sitting on a small stool)...at that point it was nice having the vinator on the top of the tree. Also, it is nice to put the vinator on top to get it out of the way when you're not using it; however, you don't really need the adapter for that.

It could be worse, I could be soaking bottles again.

No kidding! After my first batch of cider (10 gallons), I knew I had to have the rinser. Saved me so much time this go around! The bottle tree is just a bonus.

Nice solution to a common problem. I might take a chunk of maple and turn an adapter on my wood lathe... hmmm...

That would work nicely. I actually thought about wood first, but luckily found a chunk of plastic in our scrap bin that had the dimensions I needed.

 

[Maylar]

Thought about that, but for what I'd have to charge to make it worth my time, someone could buy the other bottle tree that fits it On the other hand, I could 3D print the adapter in ABS which requires pretty much zero effort...then they wouldn't be as expensive.

There's a 3-D printer at work.. might be a good excuse to learn Solidworks.

 

[jstluise]

There's a 3-D printer at work.. might be a good excuse to learn Solidworks.

Go for it! It's about the simplest part you can make. You might print a couple test pieces to get the diameters right before printing the entire part; I know it can be tricky mating 3D printed parts since the tolerances are less than perfect. Might have to do some post-printing sanding to get them to fit. On the other hand, depending on how thick of wall you have there might be enough flex in the plastic to get a nice fit.