Trouble w/ Vinator

[CassieV]

I was bottling last night & I put the Vinator together but it wouldn't pump any kmeta through. Does anyone know what might be wrong? It's worked on previous wines I've bottled.

 

[ibglowin]

Make sure its screwed on tight and the spring is locked into place. I have seen it take anywhere from 15 to 25 pumps before it primes itself.

 

[Wade E]

Agree with above post. Sometimes mine works within a few pumps and sometimes it takes a lot more and then works fine.

 

[Bert]

Do you flush it good with water after use???? K-meta will corrode metals even stainless steel...hope you get it working....A great tool to have...

 

[CassieV]

Yea I rinse it really good after I use it. All the metal looks fine. When I've used it before it took a few pumps to get it working. It just wouldn't work yesterday or today. I took it apart multiple times. I did notice the spring is bent a little. Could that have anything to do with it? I'll try it again before I bottle this summer & if it doesn't work I'll get another because it is really handy.

 

[Randoneur]

Maybe try putting it together wet, in the sink and pump it to prime?

 

[ArdenS]

Mine varies quite a bit also. I bottled a Malbec yesterday, and it must have taken about 25-30 pumps to get it primed. I thought about squirting some K-meta in the hole to fill the pump - then it started working.

 

[whino-wino]

Check the base of the threads for a hairline crack. I had one of these crack on me once and it was not able to maintain pressure and would not work any more.

The base of the thread is poorly designed on the white pump housing. It has too sharp of an edge. They should have put a relief radius at the base to make that area stronger. Trust me, I design stuff like this for a living....

See how sharp the edge is between the shoulder and the bottom of the last thread? This creates a stress area and if you tighten it even a little too much....snap.

Like I said, I broke one of these already and didn't know it for a while. I discovered it after I had the same problem you have, it wouldn't pump any k-meta. It didn't crack all the way around, maybe just 1/4 of the way, but it was enough to make it lose all pressure. The crack might be hard to see. You'll have to look closely.

 

[ArdenS]

Thank you for that heads up. I don't know about the original post here, but I occasional issue has been that it was slow to prime. It held up and worked fine once it got going. Even so, I'll keep your warning in mind. That's good to know.

Arden

 

[CassieV]

Thanks Whino I'll check to see if it's cracked. From what you've described I'm thinking that might be the what's wrong with mine.

 

[jnmar]

Mine was difficult to get primed from the very first time I used it. It helped to put more liquid in it. Once primed it worked fine. The issue I have with it is that there's no recess or cup at the bottom of the spring to keep it centered, so the spring slides off it's bottom perch and then bends instead of compress. Great concept but poorly engineered.

 

[ibglowin]

Another fine Italian engineered product from Ferrari .......

You know kind of like the Fiat!

  Great concept but poorly engineered.

 

[CassieV]

Another fine Italian engineered product from Ferrari .......

You know kind of like the Fiat!

  Great concept but poorly engineered.

I agree. I have the automatic bottle filler. I've always had to stop it or it'll overflow. Other than that it still works pretty good.

 

[Rocky]

I used my bottle rinser vinatorfor the first time today and I had to do some re-engineering on it to get it to work okay. The main issue I had was that the return spring kept slipping out of its detent when I was screwing it together. I called FVW and talked to Joseph and he was willing to take it back but I was all set to bottle. He suggested checking the nylon bearing retainer in the base to make sure it was seated deeply enough in the base to give the spring an adequate indention to sit on.


I noticed that there was a lot of "flash" on the underside of the base where the nylon retainer is seated.I first carved that away with an Exacto knife, then pushed the bearing retainer out from the bottom. I took about 1/16" off the top of the retainer with an Exacto knife and then cut away the same amount onthe shoulder on which the spring rests with a paddle bit. I was able to get the assembly together, but it is not my favorite piece of equipment. I think I will get a spray bottle, fill it with K-meta solution,and spray up into an inverted bottle.

 

[fiat84]

As mentioned we find the vinator works best when it is very full, almost overflowing for a long single pump to each bottle.

After an over aggressive bottle washer helper sheered off the plunge tabs using wide mouth screw cap wine bottles. Found this fix on the Coopers beer forum and now the Vinator works better than it did originally due to the larger plunge surface area.

591ml pop bottle cap is thinner than a 2L, drill a 1/2" diameter center hole fix. Drill the small slightly larger center holes around the circumference close to the middle hole. The smaller perimeter outside holes were drilled first but these just sprayed liquid all over instead of back down into the vinator.

 

[Wade E]

Great idea as mine is getting worn out there also after many years of use. My fingers usually look like your also being very dry!!!!!!!

 

[Brent2489]

My spring has NEVER stayed centered. It always 'snaps' after the first pump or two and is then lying crooked in the pump assembly.

I have found that it primes better when you pump slowly until the prime occurs and the pump is full. After that you can go as fast as the spring will return to the top.

Love the pix of the bottle cap. Will be doing this as soon as I get a cap. Was just looking at the
tabs and wondering how much longer they would last until I had to spring for another cleaner. Would rather put those $ into another kit!!!

 

[Runningwolf]

I am also going to look at my tabs and this bottle cap idea. I have to say this is one piece of equipment that has never failed me from the beginning. I am sure I have put at least 3000 bottles on it as I usually do my bottles twice (once when I first get them used and then just before bottling). I does work better 1/2 full and it takes about 8-15 pumps before it gets primed. I just thought this was normal stuff.

 

[Rocky]

I have no problem with the Vinator once I get it assembled. It was just hard to assemble before I made the alterations. It is still a little tricky, but I can get it together. Prior to the changes, I could not get it together without the spring popping out of the detent.


I do not fully understand the bottle cap idea. I am going to have to study the photos a little longer. Looks like a good idea.

 

[Wade E]

Rocky, once the vinator has been used for some time the area where your bottles stop on there gets worn out(3 or 4 little prongs) and some bottles start slipping in a little further making the stroke a little shorter when depressed.