Floor Corker modification

[Putterrr]

I was never happy with my corker. The design made it impossible to give it a good cleaning. I had a welder cut the bottom plate off and reattach it with a hinge. Now I can lower the bottom plate for cleaning/drying. The plastic jaws stay put as long as you don't pull the lever down (always make sure the top and bottom plates are screwed together before pulling the lever, trust me on this one). It seemed like a simple solution and it only cost me $20 (and a bottle of wine or course)
I added pictures to my gallery it you want to have a look

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/album.php?albumid=353

 

[rodo]

Looks good, how much **** was in there?

 

[Putterrr]

Looks good, how much **** was in there?

My corker was over 20 years old so it really needed doing. I have already lined up friends to get their corkers done.

 

[Flem]

No wonder you are the Putterrr. Looks good.

 

[Wade E]

I like it!

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Good idea ! Putterrr

 

[Runningwolf]

Nice, great idea!

 

[ibglowin]

Nice little modification. Good job man!

 

[thegypsy]

great job, great modification. A small idea goes a long way. congradulations and keep those ideas coming. A newbie like me needs all the ideas possible.

 

[Putterrr]

I bottled my first wine yesterday with the modified corker. I wiped everything down with generous amounts of Kmeta. When done, I lowered the bottom plate and gave everything a good cleaning and then left it to dry. Best 20 bucks I ever spent.

 

[Putterrr]

Some of you might find this interesting.

Yesterday I bottled 3 batches, which amounted to 90 bottles corked. I used premium composite corks and to prepare them I put them in a colander in my primary pail, poured some Kmeta over them and sealed it up. So the corks were a bit wet when I used them. When I was done you could see some moisture around the lip of the ring in the bottom plate. I then lowered the bottom to give it a good cleaning before storing. I expected a bit of liquid Kmeta but I was very surprised to see the amount that had accumulated. It was at least 1/3 - ½ an ounce and brown with most of it outside of that indentation ring. Without the ability to lower the bottom, this would have sat in there till it dried. In the past I would have used paper towel stuffed down the opening to clean up the visible moisture. I now see that the corker design makes it impossible to get all the liquid out and this would explain why they get so gunked up over time.

Food for thought

 

[Rocky]

I have the Italian model floor corker and I do not have the modification that was noted. I do rinse the corker after each use with a spray bottle of plain water, wipe it with a paper towel and let it air dry with the lever in the full up position.

 

[Putterrr]

What I was pointing out was that you can use a whole roll of towel and you will never get to where the excess water/kmeta collects. You may think it is clean and dry but what I saw proves otherwise.

 

[Rocky]

Putterrr, you got my curiosity up so today after bottling some wine, I took my corker apart to see how it was faring. The Italian model cannot be easily modified like your corker was as the bottom of the iris housing is a stamping and access to the iris is from the top. I have only had the unit for about a year and have only bottle, maybe, 500 bottles but there was some early signs of corrosion starting on the housing. I think I will sand it, primer it and paint it with Rustoleum when I have a break in bottling.

Anyway, your post was a good "heads up" for all of us and I recommend that people take a good look inside their corker periodically to see what is going on in there. Out of site, out of mind and that can cause some problems.

Thanks!

 

[Runningwolf]

I wonder if you can just drill a few drain holes in it? I have not looked at mine in that much detail but I can tell you I'll never soak my corks and thats a personal preference. Wineries don't do it and with a floor corker you shouldn't have to do it and that even includes pouring meta over them. To clean and sanitize my floor corker I use alcohol which will not corrode anything. Again this is my personal preference even though some books and how to's will tell you different.

 

[rezod11]

No permission to view this post? Why?

 

[tonyt]

No permission to view this post? Why?

Me too guys.

 

[ibglowin]

Something going on with that link. Here are pics.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/photo/albums/floorcorkermodification-256.html