Thought I'd share a recent project with the group.
I'd tired of waiting for the spring loaded pistol type bottle filler to
be back in stock by a major supply house, so built my own. For about $4.
Here's how:
Get a plastic pistol type garden hose nozzle, the kind with threads on
the spray end as well as the hose end. Get two cheap plastic disconnect
fittings, one for each end of the pistol. Probably one each, male &
female. Attach the fittings and slip your siphon hose over the barb end
of the lower fitting. Use a hose clamp if necessary; I didn't need one.
The barb end of the upper fitting makes a neat filling spout that fits
nicely into the neck of a bottle. You may wish to enlarge the opening
around the valve pin in the front end to increase the flow, but be
careful not to make it larger than the washer which closes it.
By adjusting the back stem nut on the nozzle and angling the flow into
the bottle, I find it easy to fill bottles quickly and with great
control & little/no aeration.
Cleanup is easy as there are few moving parts and they disassemble
easily. Even the spring inside my 97 cent nozzle is stainless steel.
--
Mike MTM, Cokesbury, NJ, USA

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Sounds interesting, and I think I already have all the parts, but I'm
having a hard time picturing everything you describe. Can you post a
photo?

Ok, so maybe you don't have a photo, but after reading your post again
I think I can picture it in my mind now. You are saying two quick
disconnects with male and female attached to each other then the female
threaded onto the pistol grip nozzle at both ends, correct? The only
thing I don't have and can't remember ever seeing is a nozzle threaded
at both ends, but I'll take a look next time I'm at Home Depot.

I'm a little concerned about the aeration part, but maybe you could
attach another tube to the filling end and run to bottom of bottle to
help avoid air?

Mike,

Sorry about the delay, but I've had/am having ISP issues on this end.
Yes, I went and photoed the filler gun, but don't have a place to post
it to. I'd be happy to e-mail it to you as an attachment if you'd like.

It sounds like you have the idea, though.

I was concerned about aeration too, as the flow out of the nozzle valve
was a little ragged. So I enlarged the hole around the actual valve pin,
and the increased flow volume made for a smoother flow. The hole & pin
are what you see when you look into the front of the nozzle. The pin is
what moves in & out to open the valve. I thought about a filling tube on
front too, but I don't like the way the wine continues to drain out of
such things, after you've shut off the flow. I like to be able to
control the fill level carefully, and leave minimal ullage. Angling the
tip to the side seems to work well at minimizing aeration, but I may try
heating & bending the tip ( the barb end of the front quick connect) to
get the same effect with just sticking the thing in the bottle neck. I
can see where a fast filling system might want a better solution though.

My flow rate is 10 sec per bottle, from a full carboy on the counter to
a bottle on the floor. About as fast as I can move the bottles around
and still keep an eye on things. YMMV

--
Mike MTM, Cokesbury, NJ, USA

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There is a photo of the filler here, I hope.
http://www.snapfish.com/uploadsubmit...a.net:SFOPRD07

--
Mike MTM, Cokesbury, NJ, USA

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is that plastic "food grade"

--
Suppose humans figure out how to make other humans outside of the way "god"
intended (thru re-engineering). Now, is the GOD supposed to allow these
man made humans into heaven? Suppose god is ****ed, what then?
"Mike McGeough" wrote in message
...
Thought I'd share a recent project with the group.
I'd tired of waiting for the spring loaded pistol type bottle filler to
be back in stock by a major supply house, so built my own. For about $4.
Here's how:
Get a plastic pistol type garden hose nozzle, the kind with threads on
the spray end as well as the hose end. Get two cheap plastic disconnect
fittings, one for each end of the pistol. Probably one each, male &
female. Attach the fittings and slip your siphon hose over the barb end
of the lower fitting. Use a hose clamp if necessary; I didn't need one.
The barb end of the upper fitting makes a neat filling spout that fits
nicely into the neck of a bottle. You may wish to enlarge the opening
around the valve pin in the front end to increase the flow, but be
careful not to make it larger than the washer which closes it.
By adjusting the back stem nut on the nozzle and angling the flow into
the bottle, I find it easy to fill bottles quickly and with great
control & little/no aeration.
Cleanup is easy as there are few moving parts and they disassemble
easily. Even the spring inside my 97 cent nozzle is stainless steel.
--
Mike MTM, Cokesbury, NJ, USA

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http://www.snapfish.com/uploadsubmit...a.net:SFOPRD07



i didn't see it.

billb wrote:

http://www.snapfish.com/uploadsubmit...a.net:SFOPRD07



i didn't see it.


Bill,

Click the above link and then click the button labeled "Back to Photos".

As to whether or not the plastic is food grade, let's ot pick the fly
sh*t out of the pepper. The wine passes through so quickly that there's
no chance of picking up anything foreign. By way of comparison, let me
repost part of Lum's famous essay on what's actually in a ton of grapes:

Quote begins

I "sterilized" everything when making wine at home twenty years ago.
Now, at
the winery, I seldom attempt to sterilize anything. Here is my perspective
on wine "bugs."

Professional winemakers always wash their receivers, crushers, etc. before
grapes are processed. The pros make sure everything is clean, but they
seldom attempt to "sterilize" their equipment. On the other hand, the home
winemaking literature is filled with statements such as "...assemble all
the winemaking equipment and sterilize everything with a sulfite solution."
Have you ever wondered why the pros seem so indifferent about "sterilizing"
their equipment?

On average, a ton of California wine grapes contains seven pounds of dirt,
one mouse nest, 247 bees, 198 wasps, 1,014 earwigs, 1,833 ants, 10,899 leaf
hoppers and four pounds of bird droppings, more or less. Besides the above
materials, the waxy coating on grapes contains a variety of microorganisms.
Freshly crushed, grapes contain several non grape substances and many
microorganisms, so attempting to "sterilize" crush equipment seems a bit
futile.


Quote ends

I'm sure the plastic is safe, but even if it weren't, it would have a
long way to go to match the grapes I made the wine from in the first place.


In fun,
Mike MTM, Cokesbury, NJ, USA

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On average, a ton of California wine grapes contains seven pounds of
dirt,
one mouse nest, 247 bees, 198 wasps, 1,014 earwigs, 1,833 ants, 10,899
leaf
hoppers and four pounds of bird droppings, more or less. Besides the
above
materials, the waxy coating on grapes contains a variety of
microorganisms.


I hope you made that up.

--
Uh-huh. Now in order to get to your rooms, you need to go this way to
through the casino. Veer to your left. Take a sharp right at the first giant
palm tree. You'll see a group of blackjack tables. Not baccarat, not craps,
blackjack. Keep going, and wind around to your left. If you get to the pool,
you've gone too far, back up and take another right. You'll see a bank of
elevators. Those aren't your elevators, stay away from them. But keep going,
you'll see another bank of elevators, the gold ones, those are yours. Take
them up to the tenth floor, take a right, and at the end of the hall you'll
find your room. Any questions?

billb wrote:

I hope you made that up.

Bill,

'Fraid not. That was written by Lum Eisenman, a knowledgeable gentleman
of the highest regard. Lum works in the California wine industry, and
those words appeared in an article he authored. I don't know where the
data come from, but if Lum says it's so, it is so.

The point is that sterility is not only unnecessary, it's unobtainable
at the start.

Also, no human pathogens are able to live in wine, and wine has been
used throughout history to disinfect water & render it safe to drink.

I like Lum's quote because it serves as a reality check when we start to
go off the deep end on cleanliness.

--
Mike MTM, Cokesbury, NJ, USA

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that will become my new sig file.

--
Uh-huh. Now in order to get to your rooms, you need to go this way to
through the casino. Veer to your left. Take a sharp right at the first giant
palm tree. You'll see a group of blackjack tables. Not baccarat, not craps,
blackjack. Keep going, and wind around to your left. If you get to the pool,
you've gone too far, back up and take another right. You'll see a bank of
elevators. Those aren't your elevators, stay away from them. But keep going,
you'll see another bank of elevators, the gold ones, those are yours. Take
them up to the tenth floor, take a right, and at the end of the hall you'll
find your room. Any questions?

that ratio of leaf hoppers to ants seems awfully high. how do you account
for that.


--
On average, a ton of California wine grapes contains seven pounds of dirt,
one mouse nest, 247 bees, 198 wasps, 1,014 earwigs, 1,833 ants, 10,899 leaf
hoppers and four pounds of bird droppings, more or less. Besides the above
materials, the waxy coating on grapes contains a variety of microorganisms.

billb wrote:

that ratio of leaf hoppers to ants seems awfully high. how do you account
for that.


Lack of effective leaf hopper birth control?

--
Mike MTM, Cokesbury, NJ, USA

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See below, your famous now.

--
On average, a ton of California wine grapes contains seven pounds of dirt,
one mouse nest, 247 bees, 198 wasps, 1,014 earwigs, 1,833 ants, 10,899 leaf
hoppers and four pounds of bird droppings, more or less. Besides the above
materials, the waxy coating on grapes contains a variety of microorganisms.

"Mike McGeough" wrote in message
...
billb wrote:

that ratio of leaf hoppers to ants seems awfully high. how do you
account
for that.


Lack of effective leaf hopper birth control?

--
Mike MTM, Cokesbury, NJ, USA

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That must be for Central Valley grapes.... Up here in Sonoma County
they're all pristine LMAO.

Does seem a bit of exaggeration.... I only get 2lbs of dirt, 49 wasps,
308 ants, 7 leaf hoppers, 545 earwigs, 62 hairs of hare, 6 dozen grape
leaves, 836 weed seeds with attached 'wings' and half a pound of bird
droppings, plus or minus a few.

I guess we're pretty lucky. grin

billb wrote:

On average, a ton of California wine grapes contains seven pounds of

dirt,

one mouse nest, 247 bees, 198 wasps, 1,014 earwigs, 1,833 ants, 10,899

leaf

hoppers and four pounds of bird droppings, more or less. Besides the

above

materials, the waxy coating on grapes contains a variety of

microorganisms.


I hope you made that up.