A near double disaster!!

[Joanie]

I came thiiiis close to shattering a five gallon carboy of peach on top of a 6 gallon carboy of a Masters Shiraz. I had just racked both and they were sitting side by side on the kitchen floor. I picked up the peach, got it halfway to the counter and the hand underneath slipped and it crashed into the brand new full shiraz carboy. (Glass on glass sounds TERRIBLE!) I was only holding it by the neck of the carboy at that point but somehow managed to kinda bounce it on to the floor. It could have been soooooo ugly!

I'm using handles on everything from now on! Or maybe I'll just make labels. That would be safest!

 

[PolishWineP]

Gasp!

I know that sound and it is VERY scary! Glad you didn't have a full blown disaster there!

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

Wowzers, glad it wasn't as bad as it could of been! Suppose we all at one time or another have bumped these a little harder than we wanted to. It is a sickening sound that make the stomach turn!

 

[Joanie]

The displacer marbles are a mere "plink" after that!!! Sheesh!

 

[NorthernWinos]

OMG...glad everything survived okay.....You've had enough broken glass for awhile.

We are a bit leary about those handles...Yes, we know they are made for carboys, but we just feel they put a lot of pressure on the necks of a full carboy.... Jim uses them to transport carboys across the room, keeping the carboy close to the floor...and...never lifts the carboy with just the handle, always a hand underneath and the other hand wrapped around the carboy neck, just to be sure.

Anyone ever heard of any handle mishaps?????

 

[Joanie]

I'm definitely a two-hander! The handles are this side of impossible to get on or off and they get in the way of the orange caps for degassing so I don't like them. You also can't safely use the carboy drainer as I know first hand!!

 

[Wade E]

Ive never heard of any but I dont use them anymore because they scare me too! Joan, I would watch those carboys for awhile as they might have some sort of stress crack not yet visible easily.

 

[geocorn]

I have used the carboy handles for over 6 years and have not had even the slighest indication that they would crack a neck. In addition, I have never heard of one breaking the neck. I have them on all 40 of my carboys. I think the fear of them is unfounded.

 

[Waldo]

I agree George...I have never had a problem using them either and I do so on all of mine. I do remove them when I am going to put a carboy cap on for degassing as Joan is correct there. They do get in the way of those.

 

[hannabarn]

From the top of the page to the bottom, I changed my mind 3 times. Take the handles off! No, OK leave them on! Take em off. Leave them on!!

 

[NorthernWinos]

We leave our handles on all the time.
We don't degas our wines but use the orange cap with a racking cane to siphon....seems to work okay with both the handle and orange cap at the same time...
We start the siphon by blowing in the other tube on the orange cap, once the siphon is started it doesn't matter if the orange cap pops off as long as the end of the racking cane stays on the bottom of the carboy....Usually the orange cap stays on okay even with the handles...
We have one 6 gallon carboy that the orange cap always slips off of....seems that carboy is a tiny bit bigger than most.

 

[Wade E]

NW, where do you have the handle located on the carboy as it should be in the nook between the 2 thicker rings of the neck and that is where the orange cap sits. If you have it lower you are not in the correct spot and your fear of breaking a carboy would be surely true.

 

[JimCook]

If you drop it as low as it can go on the carboy, it does not impede any of the orange degassing caps and is very secure. Since it's round pressure around a circular surface, I can't see this causing a pinch point, unless you're using a wrench to tighten the wingnut. In addition, the plastic will absorb and even out pressure from the metal ring inside around the neck of the carboy. If I happen to rip the top of a carboy off due to brute strength, I'll be sure to post it, but I wouldn't hold my breath as that happening, regardless of how much I can lift.


- Jim

 

[Joanie]

Even though the handles make for much easier lifting, it's impossible to safely stand them upside down in the carboy drainer....as you might remember...I know THAT first hand!

Jim, I bet you've already ripped a couple of carboy necks off but you're just too humble to brag about it! You he-man, you!

 

[farmer]

I am with NW I have my handles below the lower ring an see no problem. If the glass is going to break the carboy was no good from the get go. I have not lost one up to now.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Edit* Just went and double checked.....Our handles are under the first ring at the top of the carboy....So, I guess that is correct.

Our orange cap does fit on there too with the racking cane to start the siphon. Our 5 gallon carboys are pretty old and the 6's are new.

Now, where does everyone else have their handles????
Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[PeterZ]

Mine are below the second ring. My table in the wine room is higher than a regular table, so I have to use two hands to lift them up. Also, since I have fewer handles than carboys, I remove them after washing so I can use the carboy drainer in the big sink in the laundry room.


For installation and removal I completely disassemble the handle and pull the ring apart with my thumbs. That makes it fairly easy to get on and off.

 

[NorthernWinos]

I Googled CARBOY HANDLES and many suppliers came up....

Looking through the photos in the ads it looks like some of them have the handle below the rings...some between the rings.

When we bought handles for all the carboys I think they must have had instructions....I imagine Jim installed them as instructed.

So now we all have our own opinions and judging by the photos in the ads, everyone has different ideas about the placement.

 

[JimCook]

NW -


I looked at the picture that came with the handle and it showed the handle between the first and second rings instead of all the way down. When I lifted one and it shot the orange cap right off (and the fact that the handle spun and was loose (did not seem at all safe to me for picking up a carboy), I called George and talked to him about it. I had seen other pictures of carboy handles used with orange caps for degassing on other forums where the handles were installed all the way down. George confirmed this in his use and I found it be a much more reliable method of installing the handles and handling the carboys.


Joan - I don't use carboy drainer stands, so I wouldn't know about how the handles interact there. However, I can tell you that I can't comment about the number of carboys I've ripped apart with my bare hands, as I had an confidentiality agreement with local law enforcements agents after what happened last time.


- Jim

 

[Joanie]

Peter, I will take them all the way apart next time and try that. Thanks!

Jim, I've heard it's a felony if you tell people how you do that. If convicted you face life in prison, death before a firing squad, or both! Divulging as much as you have is a misdemeanor and considered a crime against a winery. Be very, very careful!