Bench capper won't release bottles

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

JonBrew

Landlord.
Joined
Jun 5, 2014
Messages
677
Reaction score
356
Location
Perth, Scotland
Hi all,

Just purchased a bench capper after nearly having a mental breakdown as a result of my wing capper behaving like a nutter (which in fairness has served me well for many years until recently).

Bought the bench capper from the Malt Miller - not branded but seems to be a fairly standard design, think it was about £35. Anyway, tried to use it last night and the thing, after capping the bottle, wont then release it. I need to use a bit of force to pull/twist the capped bottle out of the bell.

I've searched the forums/online and views on this seem mixed. Others seem to have the issue and say it's just part of the operation of such a capper, some say the bell loosens over time, others claim they never have this issue. Quite a few folk suggest lubricating the bell - said the actress to the bishop - which supposedly helps stop the bottle sticking.

Just wondering what the consensus is on here? Do you agree that this is just how they operate and it's something you can work around or should I be asking to swap for a new capper?

Cheers guys
 
I found the same when I first switched to a bench capper, for me it was a technique issue - instead of pulling down/twisting on the bottle pull the base of the bottle towards you - IME this makes enough of an angle on the cap to break the friction with the bell and then the bottle can be removed easily.
 
I found the same when I first switched to a bench capper, for me it was a technique issue - instead of pulling down/twisting on the bottle pull the base of the bottle towards you - IME this makes enough of an angle on the cap to break the friction with the bell and then the bottle can be removed easily.
Exactly that.
 
I found the same when I first switched to a bench capper, for me it was a technique issue - instead of pulling down/twisting on the bottle pull the base of the bottle towards you - IME this makes enough of an angle on the cap to break the friction with the bell and then the bottle can be removed easily.

Thanks Steve. So is that you pull the base of the bottle towards you whilst simultaneously lifting the lever? Or are you just letting the capper lift the bottle up, then pulling toward you to release it then?

Cheers
 
They are tight when new, mine was.
After a good few bottling sessions it is a lot looser now.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top