Beer bottling
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JonathanMSE
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Good selections posted above... whatever you do. Under no.circumstances be tempted to save a few quid on a hand capper, you'll regret it.
Go for a bench capper.
Go for a bench capper.
Yep second that Jonathan,
I know you will hear one or two say twin lever cappers are ok but most do have issues eventually and can snap of the necks of bottles so my advice is buy a bench capper
I know you will hear one or two say twin lever cappers are ok but most do have issues eventually and can snap of the necks of bottles so my advice is buy a bench capper
Funilly enough, I bought a bench capper to use over my twin capper and was disappointed. It down't seem to push the cap flaps(?) in as much as my twin-handled capper, meaning they stick out and is quite painful if you catch it wrong with your hand.
I have done a low-budget drawing to demonstrate what I mean:
I have done a low-budget drawing to demonstrate what I mean:
I reckon your capper is poorly, or it's set up for the slightly larger crown caps and is therefore not crimping them properly
curtiskenny
New Member
I found the bench capper the best.
The twin capper doesn't work with some recycled commercial beer bottles as the gap between the top and the lip is much shallower than the capper needs to get a good grip.
The twin capper doesn't work with some recycled commercial beer bottles as the gap between the top and the lip is much shallower than the capper needs to get a good grip.
It's simple...you're using the wrong colour caps.
Cheshire Cat
Landlord.
Get a bench capper it’s a game changer
moto748
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As I've remarked before, I'm sure bench cappers are fine. If you have a bench, or other room for one. I don't. I have a twin-lever capper and I've done *many* brews with it. I pretty much only use 'deep collar' bottles which work properly with the twin-lever tool. I do have a crude 'hammer on' tool, which will cap any bottle, but those really can break the neck if you're not careful, so I seldom use it. I've never broken a bottle, or had any other issues, with a twin-lever.
I am sure bench cappers are very good but I have always used a twin capper. I have used it on countless brews over about 20 years and have never had a problem. However, I have been thinking of getting a back up since it is pretty old now so maybe I should look at a bench capper. My bottles are on the floor when I fill them. I assume you can use the bench capper set up on the floor?
I checked and it is the 26mm capper that's fitted
Cwrw666
Landlord.
I've been using the same twin lever Boots capper for the last 40 odd years. Works really well though I have to say it's a much more substantial piece of kit than the ones I see advertised these days.
barry.morgan71
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Interesting. I have a twin-lever capper and have only done 2 brews, but on the second brew I did have a bottle neck break. I don't know if it was a weakness in the bottle or something I did incorrectly
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When I first got my bench capper I found you really need to put some weight behind the lever to get a proper seal on the cap.
You hear a faint clunk and feel a firm resistance once it's properly seated, made me realize I hadn't been getting caps fully crimped before.
Dovecote
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Fully agree. Twin lever has worked fine for last few brews but feel an upgrade will be much better.
A bench capper would be much better if all my bottles were the same size, but I use such a mixture of sizes that I'll be sticking to my double lever hand capper.
Oh & yes, I find some particular types of bottles are more prone to breaking at the neck when capping. I had half (3) bottles recycled from one of those 6 pack Xmas gift boxes snap on me over 3 consecutive brews last year, but I'm putting it down to that style/batch of bottles being unsuitable.
Oh & yes, I find some particular types of bottles are more prone to breaking at the neck when capping. I had half (3) bottles recycled from one of those 6 pack Xmas gift boxes snap on me over 3 consecutive brews last year, but I'm putting it down to that style/batch of bottles being unsuitable.
UPDATE (in case anyone in future has a similar issue): I emailed TMM and they said to try a bit of Vaseline in bit that presses the cap down just until it "wears in". I just did a couple of tests with empties and can confirm it seemed to do the trick.
Lucky I have a vat of Vaseline.
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