Issues with bench top bottle capper

[Do_you_realise]

Hey,

I have invested in a couter-top bottle capper from a UK homebrew supplies website. I'm having some issues using it
.
It's not overly clear what the make of this thing on the unit itself, but the title of the product page was "Counter Top Capper (Colt- Black)"

The issue I'm having is, well, have a look at the video I took:
http://tinypic.com/r/2qxymqb/5

(Ignore the audio, I was a bit grumpy by this point!)

It seems like the plastic cap at the top (which pops up after I lift the arm) wedges not very securely into the metal tube which has the actual cap crimper thing on the end. As soon as I lift the arm, the weight of the bottle (even when empty) is enough to cause this cap to come loose and spring out of the top of the capper.

Am I doing something wrong or is the thing buggered?

Cheers.

 

[lambert]

I would say that it's buggered. I've got one exactly like that (bought used from Amazon) and it's been working without issues for quite some time. I just had a quick look at mine and plastic bit at the top is seated very securely in the metal tube... Something must have gone wrong with yours.

Tip: get yourself a sturdy wooden cutting board and mount the capper on the board via the 4 holes in base. Makes capping so much easier - one hand to operate the lever and one hand to hold the bottle.

 

[misfit]

i had the same problem with one i bought recently, i just drilled a small hole through the metal into the plastic top and used a small screw to secure it, works fine now :thumb:

 

[jonnymorris]

It shouldn't do that, obviously. Mine looks to be the same and I've never had any issues with it.

 

[Do_you_realise]

It shouldn't do that, obviously. Mine looks to be the same and I've never had any issues with it.

I know it shouldn't do that just wondering whether I was using it wrong or had it set up wrong.

My latest hunch is that maybe I have the wrong size crown caps (???) or something. The site I bought them from mentioned nothing about cap size on either the capper or the crown caps product pages, but since then I've been through some other sites and seen mention of different sizes on offer.

Maybe mine are too big, and having smaller caps would prevent the bottles from getting "stuck" in the capping mechanism once the lever is lifted up?

Sorry for the inane questions, definitely a noob here!

 

[oz11]

I'd say return to where it came from and ask for a replacement.

 

[chrig]

I'd send the online retailer the the video and ask if oits a fault. They may know the issue and have replacement parts rather than getting it all back.

Maybe worth buying a bag of cap's to try in the mean time though, My local Tesco does 100 for £1.50 (iirc) if you don't have a local homebrew shop.

If its within 7 working days since you received the package you can also return it for a full refund under your the distance selling regulations.

 

[Growler]

I have the same one and never had that happen
but what I do is crimp the cap on and as I release the pressure I tilt the bottle to one side so it pops out of the crimper so the bottle doesn't hang from the capper

 

[Do_you_realise]

I'd send the online retailer the the video and ask if oits a fault. They may know the issue and have replacement parts rather than getting it all back.

Maybe worth buying a bag of cap's to try in the mean time though, My local Tesco does 100 for £1.50 (iirc) if you don't have a local homebrew shop.

If its within 7 working days since you received the package you can also return it for a full refund under your the distance selling regulations.

I've done exactly that yeah, just waiting for their reply... bit slow, hence asking here :)

We have a massive Tesco (ridiculously big) down the road, I scoured it for homebrew supplies the other day actually but couldn't find a thing... where do they tend to hide them?!

Cheers.

 

[chrig]

You will usually find the home brew section on the car and motoring isle. Not all of them stock it though.

 

[Glyder]

I've had exactly the same issue with my bench capper. Same design and everything.

Bottle will not release from the capping former. I've tried different caps and different bottles. Exactly the same result, the bottle cap crimps on beautifully, but will not release when you lift the handle. Then when you do release the pressure it ejects the former tube and bottle.... :evil: :evil:

Still the only redeeming feature is that I bought this from my LHBS so I can take it back easily.

Did you resolve youre issues eventually Do_you_realise ?

 

[jeff64]

Just had the same problem, bought mine from Hop and Grape, they told me they had had a number of problems with these recently. They arranged for mine to be collected by courier, cannot fault their customer service.

 

[Vossy1]

My colt capper has always lifted the bottle once capped, I just wiggle the bottle/cap combo free. I've never seen the capper combo come loose before, very odd :hmm:

 

[dennisking]

I found a smear of Vaseline helps.

 

[One eye]

My colt capper has always lifted the bottle once capped, I just wiggle the bottle/cap combo free. I've never seen the capper combo come loose before, very odd :hmm:

mine also sticks, in fact I thought that was how it worked, and always twisted the bottle of, so never returned it,too late now.

 

[Do_you_realise]

You will usually find the home brew section on the car and motoring isle. Not all of them stock it though.

I even went as far as to email their customer services to ask about this. The person who phoned me back was really keen to help but claimed that as far as she knew, none of the stores across the UK stocked this stuff. She then excitedly called me back 5 minutes later to point out that they had a few bits of brewing equipment on their Tesco Direct website, but I explained that the point of wanting local shops to stock this stuff is to avoid shipping costs, and I was mostly interested in kits and raw ingredients anyway. Didn't get the impression that this was something they were going to start doing any time soon.

I've had exactly the same issue with my bench capper. Same design and everything.

Bottle will not release from the capping former. I've tried different caps and different bottles. Exactly the same result, the bottle cap crimps on beautifully, but will not release when you lift the handle. Then when you do release the pressure it ejects the former tube and bottle.... :evil: :evil:

Still the only redeeming feature is that I bought this from my LHBS so I can take it back easily.

Did you resolve youre issues eventually Do_you_realise ?

The web shop arranged for a courier to come out and swap the capper for a new one, can't complain about the resolution apart from maybe the slow replies. I think they were in the process of moving warehouses though so fair enough really.

The replacement immediately looked better when I opened the packaging: the rounded plastic cap sat a lot lower down in the mechanism than the original one did and seemed a lot more securely fitted into the metal tube.

The replacement works fine if still a little stiff to get the bottles out after capping. I may go at it with some superglue before putting it through its first full bottling run just in case.

Hope everyone else manages to get a replacement!

 

[oldjiver]

I rub a wax candle round mine before using, seems to stop any sticking.