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Greetings hive mind.
I have myself a used 1996 4 head Meheen for 12oz long necks that i have been in the process of refurbishing. I have it 99.9% working except the capper bar that keeps grabbing all 4 bottles and lifting them off the deck and then ejecting them once the top of the spring loaded screw contacts the upper bar often knocking the other rows of bottles out of alignment and causing a train wreck when the machine goes to index the next set of bottle forward.
this is an older model that is not equipped with ejection cylinders. Just small springs on adjustable screws. So I don't think that this is an air pressure issue.
things I have tried:
-remove, clean and lubricate capper bar
-smooth out nicks and burrs on poly alignment/ cap magnet holder
-leak check all air fittings (As I said, I don't think this has to do with air supply. main regulator gauge does drop to ~90psi when capper bar lowers though.)
-check crimp with go/no go gauge. (in spec but on the high end)
-tried a few different brands of caps, no improvement
I have ordered a few sets of new springs of various compressive strengths and am waiting to see if any of those do the trick. Anyone else have any ideas? anyone else still using a machine that is pre bottle ejection cylinder era?
I also have been thinking about upgrading to air operated ejection cylinders and have a local machinist who could modify the bar for me. would anyone be able to share the model number for their ejection cylinders? And are they controlled by a dedicated Mac valve or could they just be Tee-ed in with the main capper cylinder lines?
Any ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Richard Mar
PIVO Brewery
Calmar, IA.
richard@pivoblepta.com
I have myself a used 1996 4 head Meheen for 12oz long necks that i have been in the process of refurbishing. I have it 99.9% working except the capper bar that keeps grabbing all 4 bottles and lifting them off the deck and then ejecting them once the top of the spring loaded screw contacts the upper bar often knocking the other rows of bottles out of alignment and causing a train wreck when the machine goes to index the next set of bottle forward.
this is an older model that is not equipped with ejection cylinders. Just small springs on adjustable screws. So I don't think that this is an air pressure issue.
things I have tried:
-remove, clean and lubricate capper bar
-smooth out nicks and burrs on poly alignment/ cap magnet holder
-leak check all air fittings (As I said, I don't think this has to do with air supply. main regulator gauge does drop to ~90psi when capper bar lowers though.)
-check crimp with go/no go gauge. (in spec but on the high end)
-tried a few different brands of caps, no improvement
I have ordered a few sets of new springs of various compressive strengths and am waiting to see if any of those do the trick. Anyone else have any ideas? anyone else still using a machine that is pre bottle ejection cylinder era?
I also have been thinking about upgrading to air operated ejection cylinders and have a local machinist who could modify the bar for me. would anyone be able to share the model number for their ejection cylinders? And are they controlled by a dedicated Mac valve or could they just be Tee-ed in with the main capper cylinder lines?
Any ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Richard Mar
PIVO Brewery
Calmar, IA.
richard@pivoblepta.com
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