Do beer CAPPERS ever wear out ?

[Duster]

I have one of these guys...

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewi...fermenters-favorite-royal-crown-bottle-capper

... its seems it will last longer than me but lately - its either me or it - it does not seem to be holding the cap on the bottle correctly before the tighten.....does it matter if that little magnet is working or not ?!?!?

Thanks in advance...

:fro:

 

[Jasper18]

I don't think magnets ever stop working lol. If you have non-ferrous caps then they won't stick. As far as the mechanism is concerned i guess it can wear out. it's mechanical and man-made. It'll break sooner or later.

 

[HBngNOK]

Mine got "wonky" for lack of a better term, and seemed to be harder to align caps and bottles than it was when it was newer. It isn't the magnet, I think it's hinges got looser/sloppy, which made it harder to keep it aligned with the bottle.

I replaced it with a bench capper, which I should have gotten in the first place.

 

[Yesfan]

Mine came with my kit when I bought it about 4 years ago. Of course I don't bottle as much now that I'm kegging, but it's still going.


On another note, how come there always has to be a name change when they change the color? Black Beauty, Red Baron (mine), and now Royal Crown? It's still the same winged capper in the end, right.

Waiting for Stay Puft Marshmellow, Purple Rain, or Orange Crush to be the next in line...........

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

Still have my old double lever capper that came with my Brewer's Best homebrewing starter kit. I've been using it for the past 16 years or so without any hiccups. Magnets don't wear out as far as I know, but I have to agree with what Jasper and HBngNOK stated about the hinges eventually getting sloppy. If your double lever is giving you that many issues with capping a bottle of beer, I would definitely recommend upgrading to a bench style capper.

 

[beergolf]

I have the origanal capper that I got when I started brewing. It has capped close to 500 cases of beer and still works.

I guess they can wear out but mine has not reached that point yet.

 

[Duster]

WOW - awesome. . .

I have the origanal capper that I got when I started brewing. It has capped close to 500 cases of beer and still works.

I guess they can wear out but mine has not reached that point yet.

 

[Stillraining]

Some bottles just don't cap well with some styles of wing cappers so be aware of that. I can only do long necks and some pints with the one I have.

 

[Yesfan]

Some bottles just don't cap well with some styles of wing cappers so be aware of that. I can only do long necks and some pints with the one I have.

I think a lot of that has to do with the top of the bottle and not so much on whether it's a long neck or not. Check the pic below.

The one on the left has a taller "shoulder" (or is that called the crown?). I can cap those all day long as the capper has a bit of leverage to apply a nice crimp to the cap, giving me a good seal. The one on the right is a different story. If I get any of those when buying brew (ex: Einstok's Artic Pale Ale), I just chuck them to the recycler.

 

[Calder]

I got my Red Barron about 20 years ago. Still going fine, 300 batches later. I bottle every batch.

 

[Stillraining]

I think a lot of that has to do with the top of the bottle and not so much on whether it's a long neck or not. Check the pic below.

The one on the left has a taller "shoulder" (or is that called the crown?). I can cap those all day long as the capper has a bit of leverage to apply a nice crimp to the cap, giving me a good seal. The one on the right is a different story. If I get any of those when buying brew (ex: Einstok's Artic Pale Ale), I just chuck them to the recycler.

You are 100% correct Yesfan...you explained it much better then I did,,,I guess what I have found is most non long necks that I or my buddy's buy have that short shoulder and my caper just wont crimp them..I have yet to find a long neck I could not cap hence the way I originally worded it.
FWIW I have the same style as the OP, maybe a different brand of "wing caper" will do them I don't know....my wife would be pissed if I anchored a bench caper to her counter. So we just recycle them as well. I've tossed a lot of Alaska Amber bottles.

 

[Pantherjon]

^^+2 Thankfully the only bottles I have run across with short 'shoulders' have been imports and I don't drink many of those..

 

[unionrdr]

My red baron wing capper had the bell wear out a little after a couple years of use. It stretched out just enough to where some caps didn't seal well enough. The beers got oxygenated. Wet, moldy cardboard smell & taste resulted. i since got a super agata bench capper.

 

[hartlesj]

There are a few things that may help with the different size bottles. the metal tabs in the wings have 2 sides to them. If you pop them out and turn them around they have a larger size opening. It's kinda tricky to pop them out. they slide in the channel, but there is a tab right in the center holding them in place. I had to shove a flat tip between the metal and plastic. Be careful with this.

You can also change out the bell with a new one. It just unscrews.

Speaking of that. if the bell has unscrewed, it may not rest right on the cap. Check to make sure it's tight and hasn't unthreaded a bit.

Watch though if you do decide to change the bell, there are a few different size bells. The most common size is 19mm (check, because it's been a while. I could be off in my memory). I made a sour and put them back in lindamans bottles. they take a 22mm cap which requires a bigger bell, and switching out the plates that grab the bottle rim. I also corked them, just like a lindamans. That was a fun process.

I've heard from others that the bells do occasionally stretch. Mines still good after 3 years of use though. So I would just check to make sure it's threaded all the way up.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Yesfan]

If the bells are pretty cheap, and universal among cappers, probably wouldn't hurt to add one as a spare.