Help with sealing foil capsules

[tonyportale]

Hello,
I have had no luck using steam, boiling water, etc..getting a consistent shrinking of the foil capsule. Has anyone used and had luck using a heat gun to seal their foil capsules? If so, what brand / type of gun did you use?

Thank you,
Merry Xmas,
Tony

 

[Flem]

I use a Milwaukee heat gun and it works great. Here's a link from a week or so again with other ideas.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16684

 

[roblloyd]

I have a wagner heat gun. It works great except you just have to be careful with them. Mine has 2 heat settings. On low it works well but takes a little longer. On high it goes very fast but a little too long and it shrinks it too much causing it to tear.

I hold it down with a pencil or similar object and then start the heat from the top. If you don't hold it down it starts to shrink and rise up off the bottle.

I was thinking of taking the scraper/stripper attachment - the one with the spatula like shape, and making it into a U shape to fit around the bottle.

 

[Schuetzen]

I have a Harbor Freight heat gun with 2 heat settings and it seems to work well on low just hold it 5 to 6 inches from the capsule and rotate the bottle. Most HF stuff is junk but for $8 on sale what do I have to lose, some time you get lucky and find something good from them.

 

[Lurker]

A heat gun is the best. Probably <$15.

 

[Runningwolf]

Any cheap heat gun will work. A hair dryer will NOT work. It does not get hot enough. Start at the top of the capsule and work down.

 

[bernman]

I use a Craftsman heat gun

 

[millwright01]

I use a king heat gun. It was $12. Any cheap heat gun will work, you can use distance away to control heat. I only use high setting now that I am used to it.

 

[djrockinsteve]

Tony, I've been there, done that. Hot boiling water sucks!

Tell Santa to get you a 15 dollar heat gun from a craft store. They are small but put out the heat.

Place the foil on the bottle. Turn on gun and let it run 10-15 secs. to get hot. With a downward angle a few inches away heat the foil while spinning the bottle. You will see it begin to shrink. Continue spinning and move the direction of the gun from upper bottle to lower part of the foil. It will all seal up.

Then do a quick once over around certain areas to get out any bubbles. Wha-Lah. Perfect.

Blowing from the side will lift the foil up and it won't work.

 

[JordanPond]

I use a heat gun now. I started by dipping the bottle in boiling water. Worked great. then one day the bottle slipped in my hand and splashed boiling water on my hands = Minor burns. No permanent damage but a few days of discomfort. And absolutly no word to the wife. The heat gun works great on the low setting.

 

[Dvorak]

I have a Harbor Freight heat gun with 2 heat settings and it seems to work well on low just hold it 5 to 6 inches from the capsule and rotate the bottle. Most HF stuff is junk but for $8 on sale what do I have to lose, some time you get lucky and find something good from them.

This is what I did after trying a blow dryer (laughable attempt, did nothing), boiling water (messy & if you do this, don't put labels on first...).

$9 at Harbor Freight & worth every penny. Just find the right distance and don't hold it too long in one spot or you'll melt them.

 

[Filibert]

I use an old electric kettle (like the one below), the vapour shrinks the capsules pretty well.

This kettle does not stop when the water boils and it concentrates the vapor to whistle, so it shrinks the plastic quite fast.

 

[Gekko4321]

I had bad experience with Wagner heat gun. Took me 1 to 2 minutes to get foil wrinkle free and neck of bottle got so hot it melted some of the glue holding the agglomorated cork together! Water took 1 to 6 second dip depending on foil. My two cents.
UPDATE: I now think I may have had bad corks and I am working on figuring that out. Still took me some time to use the gun unlike most but it was only way for me to get wrinkle free.

 

[Runningwolf]

This kettle does not stop when the water boils and it concentrates the vapor to whistle, so it shrinks the plastic quite fast.

So you whistle while you work, LOL. I don't think I could handle the whistle while I'm capsuling 10-20 cases of wine.