# shrink caps



## lieu (Jun 14, 2011)

Hey Guys,
I have tried to use steam from a boiling pot of H2o,sticking the bottle in boiling water and also a hair drier and none seamed to work good. The hair drier worked but took about 3-4 minutes. Does anyone have any tips? I looked in the tutorials but didnt see anything. There was 1 but couldnt get the link. Thanks guys.


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## Runningwolf (Jun 14, 2011)

Buy a cheap heat gun. A hair dryer really does not work well. Others will swear that boiling water works great.


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## lieu (Jun 14, 2011)

Thanks Dan,
I guess I will be visiting Harbor Freight tomorrow. They might have one???


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## Runningwolf (Jun 14, 2011)

I bought mine there. Hold the capsule on the bottle with a spoon or something so you don't burn your finger. Then start at the top and work your way down on the capsule. After doing 3 or 4, you'll get the hang of it in no time. Good Luck.


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## Flem (Jun 14, 2011)

+1 to what Dan said. I bottled my first batch last week using a heat gun. I held the bottom edge of the cap (carefully) with my fingers and, starting at the top, applied heat until it grabbed the upper edge of the bottle, and then, worked my way down. If you get a few wrinkles, just keep passing the heat over it and they will smooth right out. Good Luck!!


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## ibglowin (Jun 14, 2011)

Heat gun all the way!


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## Wayne1 (Jun 15, 2011)

One Christmas I got the electric shrink wrapper for the shrink caps from George - very easy, just slide the bottle in with the shrink cap loose on it and it is shrink wrapped in a few seconds - I can't find it listed on the Winemaker Toy Store site anymore so I don't know if Georgecarries it any longer


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## Rocky (Jun 15, 2011)

I have seen the electric shrink wrappers on other sites and they are fairly pricey. Grapestompers has one for $224 but I seem to remember seeing one for about $150. One would need to have to shrink an awful lot of bottles to make that pay off.


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## grapeman (Jun 15, 2011)

http://www.finevinewines.com/XPListSubRe.asp?MM_PartNumber=19000 

<DIV align=center>






It is about $170 more or less depending on discount. It seems like a lot, but it depends on what toys you want and need worse.I have done thousands of bottles with mine. It is effortless, but does put out a lot of heat. You can heat a small room up with it while you do a few case. It takes ~2 seconds or less for it to shrink after about 60 seconds warmup the first time.


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## ibglowin (Jun 15, 2011)

Now Rich you know that link won't work!







appleman said:


> http://www.finevinewines.com/XPListDet1.asp


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## grapeman (Jun 15, 2011)

Have you tried it Mike? It works here for me................... Of course I don't have the advantages of a Mac.................... 



It is product 19000 for those that get the Merlot Bucket.


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## ibglowin (Jun 15, 2011)

Get the "MM AJ Merlot" just like Dan did the other night. Did you see that thread in the Mods section?


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## grapeman (Jun 15, 2011)

Is that better now Mike? Yes I saw Dan's post and the solution, but it worked here for me when I tried it so I assumed it was OK.


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## ibglowin (Jun 15, 2011)

You must be caching the image/link or something.......





That link works fine since its not the ASP redirect.

Am I blind or did the "search" function disappear form the FVW website?


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## Rocky (Jun 15, 2011)

I think the "Search" function disappeared as part of the recent system upgrade. Wait a minute!


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## Runningwolf (Jun 15, 2011)

appleman said:


> Is that better now Mike? Yes I saw Dan's post and the solution, but it worked here for me when I tried it *so I assumed* it was OK.





and when we assume....


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## grapeman (Jun 15, 2011)

The search is still there. It is a great big link in the upper left side of the main page and says something like "Search" Click it and it brings up the search function. It took me a few seconds to figure out where it went also.


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## Rocky (Jun 15, 2011)

That must have been added after the conversion. I don't think it was there originally. I even asked the question at the time and was told that it had not been added yet.


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## ibglowin (Jun 15, 2011)

Holy cow for some reason that does NOT show up in any scan of the page, bad location and just plain blends in to the background.


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## grapeman (Jun 15, 2011)

Mike see this... 










See under the FVW logo upper left where it says search - it is clickable!


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## Randoneur (Jun 15, 2011)

To shrink caps, I don't have a stove in the basement, I break out the camp stove and boil water about 4 inches deep in a sauce pan. I shink before putting on the labels. 


Someday I'll catch up to you guys!!


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## Runningwolf (Jun 15, 2011)

Mark just curious, do you really think that is easier than a heat gun?


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## Flem (Jun 15, 2011)

The heat gun is sooooooooooooooooooooooo easy!!!


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## Wade E (Jun 16, 2011)

The electric Thermocapsuler is what I use and would be lost without it. My back gets fatigued fast when trying any other method and I better results with the big toy also. I do find that the LD Carlson Matte finish capsules work the best with this though!


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## Rocky (Jun 16, 2011)

Wade, when you say the LD Carlson Matte finish "work the best," can you tell us in what context, i.e. a neater job, faster, smoother? I might have to ask for this for an un-Birthday present. Thanks.


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## ibglowin (Jun 16, 2011)

That so does not stand out. Absolutely looked all over that page yesterday and its hiding in plain sight kinda like OBL! 



appleman said:


> Mike see this...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## ibglowin (Jun 16, 2011)

Pretty sure he means the finish on the shrink caps. LD Carlson makes all the shrink caps. The Matte finished ones look the smoothest (no wrinkles) when applied. The Glossy ones seem to always wrinkle up when shrunk. The Gold ones are the absolute worst.



Rocky said:


> Wade, when you say the LD Carlson Matte finish "work the best," can you tell us in what context, i.e. a neater job, faster, smoother? I might have to ask for this for an un-Birthday present. Thanks.


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## Rocky (Jun 16, 2011)

Bummer, Mike. I just bought a supply of gold caps for my white wines. Fortunately, not a huge investment.


BTW, I stillcan't believethat the "Search" function was there originally. I don't think I would have missed it.


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## ibglowin (Jun 16, 2011)

I don't think its in a very noticeable spot thats for sure. Seems to just blend in with the color of the main header up top. To me it really shuold be located to the right in WHITE as well as somewhere down on the left side bar navigation again, in WHITE!


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## Wade E (Jun 16, 2011)

Yes those shrinks just seem to come out perfect unlike those more vinyl looking ones that seem to wrinkle or come out uneven across the bottle.


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## Randoneur (Jun 16, 2011)

runningwolf said:


> Mark just curious, do you really think that is easier than a heat gun?





No, it's definitely not easier, otherwise I wouldn't need to catch up to the rest of you guys using heat guns!!!


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