Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

SMB/Leibinger Valve Rebuild

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • SMB/Leibinger Valve Rebuild

    Hi everyone,

    I have a 21 head SMB/Leibinger Multima K filler(mechanical) and looking to rebuild a few of our valves. We have been having a problem of the filler not even filling some of the bottles at all coming out of a few of the valves. Does that have to do with the pressurization of the bottle not being equal to the pressure of the bowl? We have had this machine over 30 years with lots of changing hands on the machine. I don't have much documentation on the machine itself and only a few diagrams on the valves. I want to get some info on factory settings of these valves. There have been lots of small changes made to the machine for it to run "better."

    Just wondering if anybody had any thoughts or ideas on rebuilding these valves.

    Thanks,

    Derek Leong

  • #2
    If it uses an equalizing valve to balance the pressure between the bottle and filler bowl, then, yes--no-fills are from the bottle not getting/holding pressure. Check the seal that mates the bottle to the head first--these wear quickly.

    We use a GAI 3003, but equal-pressure fillers are similar. I rebuild all the filler heads--all seals and o-rings--annually.
    Last edited by TGTimm; 03-30-2016, 02:54 PM.
    Timm Turrentine

    Brewerywright,
    Terminal Gravity Brewing,
    Enterprise. Oregon.

    Comment


    • #3
      Thanks TGTTIMM for the response, but checking the shape of the tulip seats was the first thing I checked. We also take out the tulips after every run, in order to put in our CIP cups. So each tulip is never on the same valve. I want to completely rebuild the valve from scratch from all new o-rings but I do not know how to set it to the factory settings in terms of the cam valves since there we don't have the manual. I contacted Leibinger, but they haven't responded yet so just wanted to see if anybody else had these manuals (but I doubt it since it is almost 30 years old).

      Thanks though!

      Originally posted by TGTimm View Post
      If it uses an equalizing valve to balance the pressure between the bottle and filler bowl, then, yes--no-fills are from the bottle not getting/holding pressure. Check the seal that mates the bottle to the head first--these wear quickly.

      We use a GAI 3003, but equal-pressure fillers are similar. I rebuild all the filler heads--all seals and o-rings--annually.

      Comment


      • #4
        Fixed the short fills but now snifting isn't working on a specific valve

        Hello again everybody, I have another problem. I have a Multima K 21 head filler with a 6 head crowner. I am having issues with one valve and the snifting function. The bottle fills to the correct height and is then level corrected. The snifting function does not release the pressure inside the bottle quickly enough. Once the filler releases the bottle, the beer then fobs since the pressure to atmosphere is too large of a differential. I have changed all the o-rings and springs in this valve and even moved back the snifting cam to allow it more time to depressurize before it is released. Do you have any suggestions?

        Comment


        • #5
          Is there some kind of orifice in the snifter circuit? On our GAI, the machine uses an Allen grub-screw with a small hole drilled through the bottom in the snifter line. A #67 micro drill bit fits this about perfectly. When the orifice is clogged, the bottles fill and level perfectly, but when released from the bottle seal, they erupt into foam--the equalizing pressure was not released via the snifter.

          These orifices are tiny, and clog very easily. Using dry powder caustic for cleaning was a nightmare--turns out, the dry caustic contains an anti-clumping agent (appears to be silica gel) that is insoluble in water and was clogging the snifters. We've had damaged o-ring bits clog them, and various other things. Cleaning these little orifices is the first go-to for serious foaming problems, and I keep that #67 drill bit in a pin chuck in our on-line repair kit.
          Timm Turrentine

          Brewerywright,
          Terminal Gravity Brewing,
          Enterprise. Oregon.

          Comment


          • #6
            Thanks for the advice Timm. Our snifting does have an orifice and our first fix is also cleaning out this channel with a very thin bit. We do also use Cirkal as our caustic which also dry. It is just interesting that this one valve is the only one with foaming problems after the snifting phase. I've tried the contact the manufacturer about our problem but they aren't easy to get a hold of (no surprise there). I'll keep researching and experimenting and I'll let you know if I find anything helpful for any other fillers.

            Comment

            Working...
            X