4 head bottle filler for $275

[johnnymax]

The problem is the foam. You do not want the filler to think it is full when foam hits it, you want it to shut off when the the beer level is correct.
I like to have the neck full of foam so I am capping on foam if possible.
With any type of float triggered shut-off the foam will close the valve, unless somebody know of one that ignores the foam.
Thanks for the link, I will check it out.

[vinesrushes]

PPM Corp

The problem is the foam. You do not want the filler to think it is full when foam hits it, you want it to shut off when the the beer level is correct.
I like to have the neck full of foam so I am capping on foam if possible.
With any type of float triggered shut-off the foam will close the valve, unless somebody know of one that ignores the foam.
Thanks for the link, I will check it out.

Here's another commercial filler with some information and actual photos.

http://www.ppmcorp.us/tabletop_filler.htm

And here's a PDF with a bunch of technical information on filling

http://www.ppmcorp.us/picts/carbonated_packaging.pdf

[vinesrushes]

Commercialization of filler

http://www.microfillingsystems.com/

Just came across this company - which is essentially producing a commercial version of the 4 head bottle filler. But, at $2k, I'm afraid they're not going to get a lot of takers. Maybe there should be a parts list and open source 3D printer plans for manufacturing this. Any 3D printer aficionados out there?

[vinesrushes]

Stainless Manifold

Stainless Manifold Link

Here's the manifold I put together. The manifold consists of 6 x 1 1/2" TC fittings. Right now, I have a 1/2" TCxBarb inlet from the brite tank, 4 x 1/4" TCxBarb to attach to each filler and a sight glass and end camp on the end.

[SoMe Brewing]

Hey guys!

We built one of these back in April. Started with 1 head, then two, now 4.

Once we got up to 4 heads, we were having major issues with foam. I first teed off the supply line in succession but the last head barely filled. Then I went to a center tee, then split off that in opposite directions to another tee for the two heads. That was terrible. Recently, we got that Foxx manifold. 1/2" line (about 4 ft length) into the manifold. That then has 4-1/4" lines (2.5 ft length each) into the heads. we still get crazy foam. (We bottle off kegs right now).

When we pressurize the bottles, sometimes the pressure pushes back up through the line into the manifold. Other times, it blows the bottle out of the stopper.

Foam is killing us and its sooo frustrating.

Worst part is, there is no consistent problem. Every time something different is acting up. 1 head that worked perfect last time will be the worst this time.

Beer is carbed at a MAX of 2.6 vols and is coming out at 38 deg.

Occasionally we get a good run, but we are losing a lot. ANY help would be much appreciated.

[jcmcdowell]

A brewer down the road from me says he can't can over 34 degrees. He carbs to 2.8vol. He cans in his walk in and drops the temp the night before.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mtnmann]

Hey SoMe, it sounds to me like maybe the bleed off valves on the fillers are open too far or failing? I've noticed that If I get foam on fill, I can increase the pressure in the bottle by tightening the bleed off down and that will force the foam back into the beer. Or are you getting extreme foaming after removing the bottle from the filler? If you're getting pushback into the manifold, it sounds like your incoming beer pressure needs to increase. Do you have your beer and purge on separate co2 regulators? Do you chill your bottles, ie with a cold sani rinse?

On another note, is anyone having luck with beer manifolds? Or is just teeing off and keeping supply lines equal length working for you?

alex

Hey guys!

We built one of these back in April. Started with 1 head, then two, now 4.

Once we got up to 4 heads, we were having major issues with foam. I first teed off the supply line in succession but the last head barely filled. Then I went to a center tee, then split off that in opposite directions to another tee for the two heads. That was terrible. Recently, we got that Foxx manifold. 1/2" line (about 4 ft length) into the manifold. That then has 4-1/4" lines (2.5 ft length each) into the heads. we still get crazy foam. (We bottle off kegs right now).

When we pressurize the bottles, sometimes the pressure pushes back up through the line into the manifold. Other times, it blows the bottle out of the stopper.

Foam is killing us and its sooo frustrating.

Worst part is, there is no consistent problem. Every time something different is acting up. 1 head that worked perfect last time will be the worst this time.

Beer is carbed at a MAX of 2.6 vols and is coming out at 38 deg.

Occasionally we get a good run, but we are losing a lot. ANY help would be much appreciated.

[vinesrushes]

Bottle Filler design changes

I've made a bunch of enhancements to the original johnnymax bottler design. First and foremost is a new stainless frame for mounting everything to. Next is a drip tray with a drain line like you would find in a bar under tap heads. Next is a stainless 1-1/2" manifold with a site glass and pressure gauge attached. I'll get some more videos and photos out but this is a starting place - the link is (http://vinesandrushes.com/carbonation-equipment). We bottled for the first time with this setup a few weeks ago and came out to bottling 180 gallons in about 2.5 hours - 22oz bottles, about 400 bph. That was our first bottling with this new design. We were dealing with pre-sanitized bottles in this case but the next bottling will be with a new bottle rinser design as well. We reached this speed with a crew of 5 - two people on the bottler, one capper and two drying condensation from the bottles, casing bottles and getting empty bottles ready for the people on the bottler.

Here's some documentation photos and video of our equipment - I'll be updating these with a bunch more video and other details soon.

http://vinesandrushes.com/carbonation-equipment

[vinesrushes]

New video and more details

I added some additional videos of the new counter pressure filler and a new bottle rinser design. There's also a list of the major parts and prices. We bottled today for the second time with this setup and filled 110 cases of 22oz bottles in 3 hours - averages out to 440 bph. I think we can still bump this up just a bit and maybe hit 460 or 480 bph. We also switched to buying bottles from http://buyourbottles.com and the bottle design is slightly difference and seems to make a noticeable difference in how it fills and it cuts down quite a bit in foam right at the end. Head pressure in the brite tank was 4.5-5psi. Cider temperature was about 35F.

Here's all the details:
http://vinesandrushes.com/carbonation-equipment

[applecran]

Has anyone found a source for replacement ball valves other than more beer?

I've got a couple that just don't work anymore, the "off" position leaks beer and co2 in weird spots.

We've been using five of these as our growler filling station over the last few months and we've filled a few thousand growlers. Almost weekly we've had to tighten the set screw in the valves.

As for foam, increase the back pressure by tightening the pressure release valve and keep the beer very cold. If it's still foaming, fill slower by increasing the pressure. It will greatly depend on what volumes of CO2 you are carbonating your beer at.

[admin]

Have you checked here?

Have you checked our supplier directory

http://www.probrewer.com/the-probrewer-supplier-directory

[soia1138]

Has anyone found a source for replacement ball valves other than more beer?

I've got a couple that just don't work anymore, the "off" position leaks beer and co2 in weird spots.

We've been using five of these as our growler filling station over the last few months and we've filled a few thousand growlers. Almost weekly we've had to tighten the set screw in the valves.

As for foam, increase the back pressure by tightening the pressure release valve and keep the beer very cold. If it's still foaming, fill slower by increasing the pressure. It will greatly depend on what volumes of CO2 you are carbonating your beer at.

I have had the same issue with the ball valves on these fillers. My fix that has worked great so far was to exchange the beer and co2 side barbs. The set screw comes on the co2 side and we had constant problems with gas blow by which meant for constant tightening of the set screw. Swap the sides so that the screw is on the beer side.

[revnatscider]

Two years later

UPDATE: 2/15/2015
We have used this filler for the last two and a half years, and sent 230,000 bottles through it. It continues to operate flawlessly.

After every bottling run (10-100 bbls) we drop the entire thing into our water bath pasteurizer to kill bugs in the crevices.

Almost immediately after putting the machine into service, I eliminated the main trunk beverage line with each head feeding off a Tee. Instead, we now have all lines feeding directly to a tri-clamp manifold: http://www.gwkent.com/manifold-1.html This produces a much more consistent flow to each head.

We have replaced the filler heads three times, so apparently they last about 50-70,000 bottles total, or about 15,000 bottle fills per head.

The spring inside the PRV on each filler head, as supplied by MoreBeer, are made from mild steel, so they rust. That is a totally boneheaded move. McMaster-Carr sells a replacement spring that we use: http://www.mcmaster.com/#1986k92/=vvo2j3 Buy a bunch and keep on hand.

The PVC boards are a little soft and have bent underneath the bottles. It would be best to add some more aluminum square tubing across the bottom of the filler platform to support the bottles, not just perpendicular to the filler like shown in the photos.

Our throughput in 500 ml bottles and 750 ml bottles, FILLING CIDER, is always 280 bottles (one tier of bulk glass) per 45 minutes. That is a consistent time, we schedule long runs based on that throughput, and it allows some wiggle room. We fill bottles 16 hours per day, day after day, and almost always beat that 280 bottles per 45 minutes across the course of the whole run.

My photos and Facebook album and build: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...9062711&type=1

[Mtnmann]

Thanks!

Thanks for the update, Nat. I've been using a two head filler based on these designs and it's been working quite well. Working on a 4 head next when we step up to larger volume production. Your google group cider thread as well as this one has been invaluable to me.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed.

alex

UPDATE: 2/15/2015
We have used this filler for the last two and a half years, and sent 230,000 bottles through it. It continues to operate flawlessly.

After every bottling run (10-100 bbls) we drop the entire thing into our water bath pasteurizer to kill bugs in the crevices.

Almost immediately after putting the machine into service, I eliminated the main trunk beverage line with each head feeding off a Tee. Instead, we now have all lines feeding directly to a tri-clamp manifold: http://www.gwkent.com/manifold-1.html This produces a much more consistent flow to each head.

We have replaced the filler heads three times, so apparently they last about 50-70,000 bottles total, or about 15,000 bottle fills per head.

The spring inside the PRV on each filler head, as supplied by MoreBeer, are made from mild steel, so they rust. That is a totally boneheaded move. McMaster-Carr sells a replacement spring that we use: http://www.mcmaster.com/#1986k92/=vvo2j3 Buy a bunch and keep on hand.

The PVC boards are a little soft and have bent underneath the bottles. It would be best to add some more aluminum square tubing across the bottom of the filler platform to support the bottles, not just perpendicular to the filler like shown in the photos.

Our throughput in 500 ml bottles and 750 ml bottles, FILLING CIDER, is always 280 bottles (one tier of bulk glass) per 45 minutes. That is a consistent time, we schedule long runs based on that throughput, and it allows some wiggle room. We fill bottles 16 hours per day, day after day, and almost always beat that 280 bottles per 45 minutes across the course of the whole run.

My photos and Facebook album and build: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...9062711&type=1

[littlewolf]

Hi all,

Inspired by this thread, I am in the process of building a two head filler. I managed to pick up two counter pressure bottle fillers for a relatively good price. I put together a rough prototype stand from marine ply and tried to bottle yesterday.

The first issue I ran into was that the three way valve leaked gas, no matter where the handle was. After a bit of reading, I found out about the hex nut in the one side. I tightened this, which fixed one of the fillers, but the other filler carried on leaking. Has anyone else had this problem? Any other suggestions to help fix it? I'm bottling at about 1 bar (14.5 PSI).

The other issue I ran into was that the bottle would often tilt forward when under pressure and "burp" causing a foamy mess. Is it best to have the shelf, where the bottle sits, facing backwards at a slight angle?

Besides this, I managed to fill about 30 bottles with the one working filler. I think it's now just a matter of tweaking and refining.

Cheers,
Stefan Wiswedel
Little Wolf Brewery