# My $10 bottle filler



## rhoffart (Aug 27, 2011)

This is my last wine project for a while. I took an old Vacu-vin, $1.49 worth of aluminum tubing from Hobby Lobby, a 1x2x6 and 1x6 piece of oak, some hot glue and wood glue.


----------



## Airplanedoc (Aug 27, 2011)

I find aluminum imparts a metallic taste to water, so I make sure my water bottles for biking are all FG stainless. You might want to be careful with hobbly lobby aluminum tube and wine


----------



## rhoffart (Aug 27, 2011)

Airplanedoc said:


> I find aluminum imparts a metallic taste to water, so I make sure my water bottles for biking are all FG stainless. You might want to be careful with hobbly lobby aluminum tube and wine



thanks ... I think it will be good, I'll be sure to sanitize it good ... 6" of tubing and 10 sec. of contact time per bottle ... also aluminum is common in the plumbing industry so I'm not concerned.


----------



## Julie (Aug 27, 2011)

rhoffart said:


> thanks ... I think it will be good, I'll be sure to sanitize it good ... 6" of tubing and 10 sec. of contact time per bottle ... also aluminum is common in the plumbing industry so I'm not concerned.



actually aluminun is not common in the plumbing industry, it is copper, plastic or galvanized iron

I agree with airplanedoc, you should probably stay away from aluminum whenever possible


----------



## rhoffart (Aug 27, 2011)

Thanks. That is an easy edit.


----------



## BobF (Aug 27, 2011)

A couple of $2 racking canes and a heat gun should get you there cheap!

Nice setup


----------



## Wade E (Aug 27, 2011)

Also, water is much less acidic then wine and that difference there is big!!!! Great job on the design, just switch those fittings to stainless or just stay with the racking hose instead of metal.


----------



## Stefani (Aug 27, 2011)

How does it work?


----------



## rhoffart (Aug 27, 2011)

Wade E said:


> Also, water is much less acidic then wine and that difference there is big!!!! Great job on the design, just switch those fittings to stainless or just stay with the racking hose instead of metal.



Thanks ... yea, it will be easy to remove the hot glue.


----------



## rhoffart (Aug 27, 2011)

Stefani said:


> How does it work?



Simple concept. One line pulls a vacuum on the bottle and the other line comes from your wine source. As the air is removed it is replaced by the wine.


----------



## PCharles (Aug 28, 2011)

*Nice Work*

My compliments on your carpentry skills. Oak is a hard wood. You did a real nice job there.

Paul


----------



## ibglowin (Aug 28, 2011)

You gotta upload a video to youtube of this thing in action once you get it tweaked/finished!


----------



## rhoffart (Aug 28, 2011)

ibglowin said:


> You gotta upload a video to youtube of this thing in action once you get it tweaked/finished!


You got it, maybe next weekend

It was crazy hot today ... 107 so I stayed inside most of the day


----------



## rhoffart (Aug 28, 2011)

PCharles said:


> My compliments on your carpentry skills. Oak is a hard wood. You did a real nice job there.
> 
> Paul



Thanks, actually very simple with a chop saw


----------



## ibglowin (Aug 28, 2011)

Talked with my folks yesterday. They live off Callaghan & IH10. You guys are suffering for sure this Summer.......

Don't miss Tejas all that much this time of the year for sure!



rhoffart said:


> It was crazy hot today ... 107 so I stayed inside most of the day


----------



## rhoffart (Aug 28, 2011)

ibglowin said:


> Talked with my folks yesterday. They live off Callaghan & IH10. You guys are suffering for sure this Summer.......
> 
> Don't miss Tejas all that much this time of the year for sure!



wow ... so close
next time your down we need to grab a bottle and share some stories.


----------



## Rocky (Aug 28, 2011)

rhoffart, How do you control the level of wine in the bottle? Do you turn a pump on and off or just break the seal?


----------



## rhoffart (Aug 28, 2011)

Rocky said:


> rhoffart, How do you control the level of wine in the bottle? Do you turn a pump on and off or just break the seal?



The suction tube is the lower one ... so when the wine gets that tube it starts sucking wine. At that point you just lift the handle and break the seal and the wine will stop flowing. If I set the vacuum pump at its lowest level it takes a few seconds longer to fill the bottle but you can stop it without sucking any wine.

On the highest setting it took about 8 sec. to fill ... on the lowest setting it took about 12 sec. to fill. Plenty fast for me.


----------



## ibglowin (Aug 28, 2011)

rhoffart said:


> wow ... so close
> next time your down we need to grab a bottle and share some stories.



Lets do. I went to JMHS class of 76. UTSA class of 1980. I plan on coming down for a visit once it "cools off" a bit. Folks are getting up there. Dad is 79, Mom is 78 so I like to get home a couple times a year as they don't travel much anymore do to health problems. I'll bring some wine to share/swap!


----------



## rhoffart (Aug 29, 2011)

ibglowin said:


> You gotta upload a video to youtube of this thing in action once you get it tweaked/finished!



Well I suck at making videos ...

[ame="http://youtu.be/FtH3GfuKgks"]http://youtu.be/FtH3GfuKgks[/ame]


----------



## Rocky (Aug 29, 2011)

Not at all, the video was great. 

I looked like you were using water in the video. Does wine present any foaming problem?


----------



## rhoffart (Aug 29, 2011)

Rocky said:


> Not at all, the video was great.
> 
> I looked like you were using water in the video. Does wine present any foaming problem?



My next bottling is about 2 months out ... yes it was water. Good question, I would say no, vacuum fillers are out there.


----------



## ibglowin (Aug 29, 2011)

Looks like it works great. I want something to replace my Buon Vino. I have the vacuum pump just need to figure out all the pieces here!


----------



## rhoffart (Aug 29, 2011)

ibglowin said:


> Looks like it works great. I want something to replace my Buon Vino. I have the vacuum pump just need to figure out all the pieces here!



1) vacuvin - tore apart and drilled out
1) roll ice maker tubing - from HD
1) 1/4 inch oak dowel
1) 1x2x6 oak
1) 1x6x6 oak
1) hose clamp
hot glue gun
wood glue

some basic tools and about 2 hours


----------



## rhoffart (Aug 29, 2011)

in the video it took about 30 sec. to fill ... I had my pump turned all the way down, the weakest vacuum possible. When I cranked it up the flow was about double but the amount suck into the vacuum tube at the end was a lot more.


----------



## twistedvine (Aug 30, 2011)

I think your video is great, just need some dimensions on the lumber


----------



## twistedvine (Aug 30, 2011)

twistedvine said:


> I think your video is great, just need some dimensions on the lumber



I know you said 1x6 and 1x2x6 but how long did you cut eacch piece for the project?


----------



## rhoffart (Aug 30, 2011)

twistedvine said:


> I think your video is great, just need some dimensions on the lumber



The base and the handle are 22" long







The side rails are 14" tall






The center brace is 11 1/2" tall






The little 45's are 5" long






Before hot gluing the ice maker tubing put a little olive oil on the tube and the glue will make a good seal but you can still adjust the height.






and of course it's a no-brainer ... seal the wood before using it with wine.

That's it.


----------



## vacuumpumpman (Aug 31, 2011)

nice work ! 
Does it work with all bottle heights ? If not maybe put a adjustable piviot pin for doing 375 ml bottles or for the taller reisiling bottles.

I just love the mechanics of wine making !!

steve


----------



## rhoffart (Aug 31, 2011)

vacuumpumpman said:


> nice work !
> Does it work with all bottle heights ? If not maybe put a adjustable piviot pin for doing 375 ml bottles or for the taller reisiling bottles.
> 
> I just love the mechanics of wine making !!
> ...



Great point Steve, no it's fixed height but I don't ever see myself bottling anything but 750's


----------



## rhoffart (Oct 22, 2011)

I just bottled 90 bottles ... love this bottle filler. Works great for a one man operation. I have the vacuum set very low and it takes a little over one minute to fill a bottle. Just enough time to cork the bottle. There is no splashing in the bottle at all and every bottle is filled exactly 1/2" under the cork. 

[ame]http://youtu.be/XxgQzmNmhq0[/ame]


----------



## daugenet (Oct 22, 2011)

what vacuum pump is that? This looks like a great build!


----------



## rhoffart (Oct 22, 2011)

daugenet said:


> what vacuum pump is that? This looks like a great build!



aspirator pump from Amazon ... you can get them on eBay as well. Also don't forget our sponsor ... see banner ad.


----------

