Quick & Easy Pistol Grip Bottle Filler

Sounds interesting, and I think I already have all the parts, but I'm having a hard time picturing everything you describe. Can you post a photo?

Ok, so maybe you don't have a photo, but after reading your post again I think I can picture it in my mind now. You are saying two quick disconnects with male and female attached to each other then the female threaded onto the pistol grip nozzle at both ends, correct? The only thing I don't have and can't remember ever seeing is a nozzle threaded at both ends, but I'll take a look next time I'm at Home Depot.

I'm a little concerned about the aeration part, but maybe you could attach another tube to the filling end and run to bottom of bottle to help avoid air?

Mike,

Sorry about the delay, but I've had/am having ISP issues on this end. Yes, I went and photoed the filler gun, but don't have a place to post it to. I'd be happy to e-mail it to you as an attachment if you'd like.

It sounds like you have the idea, though.

I was concerned about aeration too, as the flow out of the nozzle valve was a little ragged. So I enlarged the hole around the actual valve pin, and the increased flow volume made for a smoother flow. The hole & pin are what you see when you look into the front of the nozzle. The pin is what moves in & out to open the valve. I thought about a filling tube on front too, but I don't like the way the wine continues to drain out of such things, after you've shut off the flow. I like to be able to control the fill level carefully, and leave minimal ullage. Angling the tip to the side seems to work well at minimizing aeration, but I may try heating & bending the tip ( the barb end of the front quick connect) to get the same effect with just sticking the thing in the bottle neck. I can see where a fast filling system might want a better solution though.

My flow rate is 10 sec per bottle, from a full carboy on the counter to a bottle on the floor. About as fast as I can move the bottles around and still keep an eye on things. YMMV

There is a photo of the filler here, I hope.

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is that plastic "food grade"

12357752327835:3f3aefaf761d6:1000: snipped-for-privacy@patmedia.net:SFOPRD07

i didn't see it.

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Bill,

Click the above link and then click the button labeled "Back to Photos".

As to whether or not the plastic is food grade, let's ot pick the fly sh*t out of the pepper. The wine passes through so quickly that there's no chance of picking up anything foreign. By way of comparison, let me repost part of Lum's famous essay on what's actually in a ton of grapes:

I "sterilized" everything when making wine at home twenty years ago. Now, at the winery, I seldom attempt to sterilize anything. Here is my perspective on wine "bugs."

Professional winemakers always wash their receivers, crushers, etc. before grapes are processed. The pros make sure everything is clean, but they seldom attempt to "sterilize" their equipment. On the other hand, the home winemaking literature is filled with statements such as "...assemble all the winemaking equipment and sterilize everything with a sulfite solution." Have you ever wondered why the pros seem so indifferent about "sterilizing" their equipment?

On average, a ton of California wine grapes contains seven pounds of dirt, one mouse nest, 247 bees, 198 wasps, 1,014 earwigs, 1,833 ants, 10,899 leaf hoppers and four pounds of bird droppings, more or less. Besides the above materials, the waxy coating on grapes contains a variety of microorganisms. Freshly crushed, grapes contain several non grape substances and many microorganisms, so attempting to "sterilize" crush equipment seems a bit futile.

I'm sure the plastic is safe, but even if it weren't, it would have a long way to go to match the grapes I made the wine from in the first place.

In fun, Mike MTM, Cokesbury, NJ, USA

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microorganisms.

I hope you made that up.

Bill,

'Fraid not. That was written by Lum Eisenman, a knowledgeable gentleman of the highest regard. Lum works in the California wine industry, and those words appeared in an article he authored. I don't know where the data come from, but if Lum says it's so, it is so.

The point is that sterility is not only unnecessary, it's unobtainable at the start.

Also, no human pathogens are able to live in wine, and wine has been used throughout history to disinfect water & render it safe to drink.

I like Lum's quote because it serves as a reality check when we start to go off the deep end on cleanliness.

that will become my new sig file.

that ratio of leaf hoppers to ants seems awfully high. how do you account for that.

Lack of effective leaf hopper birth control?

See below, your famous now.

That must be for Central Valley grapes.... Up here in Sonoma County they're all pristine LMAO.

Does seem a bit of exaggeration.... I only get 2lbs of dirt, 49 wasps,

308 ants, 7 leaf hoppers, 545 earwigs, 62 hairs of hare, 6 dozen grape leaves, 836 weed seeds with attached 'wings' and half a pound of bird droppings, plus or minus a few.

I guess we're pretty lucky.

billb wrote: