3 Spout Bottle Filler

Vinoors · Oct 13, 2017

Does anyone have experience with the bottling setup in the attached link?

https://morewinemaking.com/products/3-spout-bottle-filler-blue-painted.html?site_id=5

At $130, it seems reasonably priced when I think of the time savings and inconvenience of the bottle wand/auto siphon combo that I currently utilize.

Just curious if anyone with a similar setup has any feedback.

NorCal · Oct 13, 2017

I've used these type fillers more than a few times. I can honestly say that sometimes they work well, other times not. When they were not working well, the fill height would be inconsistent and there was a station to take a little wine out, or put a little in, before corking. The other headache was when the wand would lose it's prime and someone would have get it restarted in a not too hygienic fashion. I've also used them and they worked flawlessly. I don't think a system like this is worth the cost, unless you are bottling 100 or so bottles at a time. If you are doing carboy quantities, I'd look at an All-In-One. For about the same price you get a good bottling system as well as a pump you can use for racking and other things.

cmason1957 · Oct 13, 2017

I am a user and believer in the All-in-one as well. Works great and does other wonderful things like removing the CO2 from your wine as you do your normal three or four rackings. If you don't want to go that way and want to get away from the bottling wand, you might consider a Ferrari Automatic Bottle Filler, you still create a siphon, but it stops the flow at the same height every time. I have used it in the past and when SWMBO decides she wants to help bottling, it is what she prefers to use. You don't have to watch it super carefully and can drink while bottling.

Ajmassa · Oct 13, 2017

IIRC Vinoors was making a large amount of wine. Maybe 100 gallons, in demijohns and barrels. But even with that amount I'd think the AIO would work well. ---that 3 spout filler does look like a nice time saver though.

Johny99 · Oct 14, 2017

I have the Moplen version. https://morewinemaking.com/products/wine-bottle-filler-moplen-3-spout.html
You can see my review there. It took some messing around and modifications, but with a variable speed control for my pump, I like it. Posts above are right though, unless I’m bottleing 50 l or more, I use my all in one.

Vinoors · Oct 14, 2017

Thanks for all the feedback. When bottling with the AIO, I was concerned that it doesn't fill from the bottom up, but I suppose the reviews wouldn't be as positive as they are if this was an issue. Is there an automatic cutoff at a certain fill level with the AIO?

balatonwine · Oct 14, 2017

NorCal said:
The other headache was when the wand would lose it's prime and someone would have get it restarted in a not too hygienic fashion.

Can you say why you think it was not hygienic? Normally you start/restart the suction with a rubber hose, such as shown here:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA3LlPQmsuI[/ame]

Stressbaby · Oct 15, 2017

Vinoors said:
Thanks for all the feedback. When bottling with the AIO, I was concerned that it doesn't fill from the bottom up, but I suppose the reviews wouldn't be as positive as they are if this was an issue. Is there an automatic cutoff at a certain fill level with the AIO?

It's not an issue. The bottling attachment directs the stream along the side so it tends to run down the side of the bottle in a sheet. Sometimes there is a bit of foam by the time you get to the top but with a bit of practice you learn how to tap the relief valve a bit to minimize that.

It fills at precisely the same level every bottle. You place the carboy below the level of the bottles, and then vacuum fill each bottle until the level in the bottle is just higher than the tube in the attachment. At that point you hit the pressure relief valve - the vacuum goes away and level of the wine in the bottle is drawn down by siphon to the bottom of the tube in the attachment and no further. You can fine-tune the level of wine in the bottles by moving the tube up or down in the stopper.

This video shows how that works: https://www.allinonewinepump.com/product/original-wine-bottling-and-racking/

NorCal · Oct 15, 2017

balatonwine said:
Can you say why you think it was not hygienic? Normally you start/restart the suction with a rubber hose, such as shown here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA3LlPQmsuI

The owner of the bottler primed it the same way, but without the hose. It would lose its prime more times than I wanted to see, resulting in him putting his mouth on the filler.

NorCal · Oct 15, 2017

Vinoors said:
Thanks for all the feedback. When bottling with the AIO, I was concerned that it doesn't fill from the bottom up, but I suppose the reviews wouldn't be as positive as they are if this was an issue. Is there an automatic cutoff at a certain fill level with the AIO?

Since it pulls most of the oxygen out, before it begins filling the bottle, the exposure is minimal. Consider that the wine is sitting exposed in the bay of the gravity filler. The amount of exposure in either case is negligible, from what I’ve experienced. The beauty of vacuum filling is that you leave the vessel where you are filling from below the level of the bottle you are filling. The wine in the bottle will siphon out to the perfect fill height very consistently.

vacuumpumpman · Oct 15, 2017

Stressbaby said:
It's not an issue. The bottling attachment directs the stream along the side so it tends to run down the side of the bottle in a sheet. Sometimes there is a bit of foam by the time you get to the top but with a bit of practice you learn how to tap the relief valve a bit to minimize that.

It fills at precisely the same level every bottle. You place the carboy below the level of the bottles, and then vacuum fill each bottle until the level in the bottle is just higher than the tube in the attachment. At that point you hit the pressure relief valve - the vacuum goes away and level of the wine in the bottle is drawn down by siphon to the bottom of the tube in the attachment and no further. You can fine-tune the level of wine in the bottles by moving the tube up or down in the stopper.

This video shows how that works: https://www.allinonewinepump.com/product/original-wine-bottling-and-racking/

I could of not said it any better -

There is an additional product that stops all the foaming and makes it alot more controllable when bottling and filtering - the precision vacuum valve -

https://www.allinonewinepump.com/product/new-precision-adjustable-vacuum-valve/

balatonwine · Oct 15, 2017

NorCal said:
resulting in him putting his mouth on the filler.

Eww.

I did not even want to read that.

sour_grapes · Oct 15, 2017

NorCal said:
Since it pulls most of the oxygen out, before it begins filling the bottle, the exposure is minimal. Consider that the wine is sitting exposed in the bay of the gravity filler. The amount of exposure in either case is negligible, from what I’ve experienced. The beauty of vacuum filling is that you leave the vessel where you are filling from below the level of the bottle you are filling. The wine in the bottle will siphon out to the perfect fill height very consistently.

I agree the amount of exposure is negligible, but I really doubt that much oxygen is removed from the bottle before filling. You don't evacuate the bottle to some deep vacuum and then hit "go." You start sucking on the bottle and atmospheric pressure pushes the wine in to replace the removed air. In this dynamic process, I would doubt that the vacuum level in the bottle is reduced by more than a few inches of Hg, that is, more than 10% or so. Moreover, Steve has introduced an air valve whose purpose is to keep the receiving bottle at a higher pressure level (i.e., "less vacuum") to help control the fill speed. Obviously, in that case, there is air in the bottle!

NorCal · Oct 15, 2017

sour_grapes said:
I agree the amount of exposure is negligible, but I really doubt that much oxygen is removed from the bottle before filling. You don't evacuate the bottle to some deep vacuum and then hit "go." You start sucking on the bottle and atmospheric pressure pushes the wine in to replace the removed air. In this dynamic process, I would doubt that the vacuum level in the bottle is reduced by more than a few inches of Hg, that is, more than 10% or so. Moreover, Steve has introduced an air valve whose purpose is to keep the receiving bottle at a higher pressure level (i.e., "less vacuum") to help control the fill speed. Obviously, in that case, there is air in the bottle!

I’m sure you are correct and that the exposure either way is negligible.

sour_grapes · Oct 15, 2017

I agree, and that is partly what convinced me to stop worrying about using a bottling wand, and just fill from the spigot of my bottling bucket. (At least for reds. Maybe I will keep using that for whites.)

Vinoors · Oct 16, 2017

Does the All in one work transferring to and from Demijohns? I'm not sure if a traditional racking cane reaches the bottom of my demijohns. I usually use the large auto siphon and tubing for my demiJ's. Does it require any additional hardware?

Ajmassa · Oct 16, 2017

Vinoors said:
Does the All in one work transferring to and from Demijohns? I'm not sure if a traditional racking cane reaches the bottom of my demijohns. I usually use the large auto siphon and tubing for my demiJ's. Does it require any additional hardware?

Demijohns are not officially recommended for transferring into. Transferring "from" doesn't matter since you can transfer from anything, as long as you can stick a cane or tubing into it. But the demijohns have slightly thinner glass than the carboys (apparently) so I guess it's a liability thing. I don't think there's any accounts of anything negative with AIO on Demi's though.
I use it with Demi's as well as others I know of. And it works just as good as the carboys. My LHBS sells the longer racking canes so the cane length was a nonissue.
The only other thing was the #11 stopper needed with the appropriate 2 holes to accept the tubing. Originally I drilled out a solid type #11 stopper and it worked great on one demi but not my other. It seems my opening on one demi is slightly bigger than the other. With the vacuum pulling it was actually sucking the stopper down too far and was a nightmare to remove.
I bought a #11 universal style bung, which are longer so the taper makes them wider up top then the top of the solid type. It also has a lip around the top edge which makes it perfect for this. Here's a pic of the original solid stopper setup. Note how far down it is. Definitely get yourself a #11 universal style bung.

vacuumpumpman · Oct 16, 2017

I have seen alot of people using it for demijohns , it would need a 1/2" racking tube to reduce the vacuum and increase flow.

I also recommend purchasing the precision vacuum valve to reduce vacuum

Vinoors · Dec 12, 2017

vacuumpumpman said:
I have seen alot of people using it for demijohns , it would need a 1/2" racking tube to reduce the vacuum and increase flow.

I also recommend purchasing the precision vacuum valve to reduce vacuum

I'm taking a closer look at the AIO, so picking up this convo. Would there be any negatives to using the larger size racking cane w/ 1/2" tubing for carboys as well as demijohns? I'm guessing that I would have to drill my own smaller size stopper since the one it comes with is probably designed for the smaller cane.

On the other hand, since users have stated you can transfer "from" anything- if I moved wine from a Demijohn to a Carboy, could I use 3/8 tubing with the supplied stopper?

vacuumpumpman · Dec 12, 2017

Vinoors said:
I'm taking a closer look at the AIO, so picking up this convo. Would there be any negatives to using the larger size racking cane w/ 1/2" tubing for carboys as well as demijohns? I'm guessing that I would have to drill my own smaller size stopper since the one it comes with is probably designed for the smaller cane.

On the other hand, since users have stated you can transfer "from" anything- if I moved wine from a Demijohn to a Carboy, could I use 3/8 tubing with the supplied stopper?

If you notice - Anything that is 8.5 bung size and above - is automatically uses a 1/2'' racking cane and hose assembly - https://www.allinonewinepump.com/product/bungs-adapter/

3 Spout Bottle Filler

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