Making a Cheap FV

[Kevin]

Hi everyone,

I have been reading on here how to make my own cheap FVs from 5ltr water bottles. I made some today, so I thought I would take pics and share this 'mini tutorial with you'

Here's all of the equipment you'll need:

• Empty 5ltr water bottle
• Drill & drill bits
• Rubber grommet (from any homebrew store)
• Airlock

1. Place the lid on the bottle, and drill a hole. I used 13mm as that's the size needed for my grommet.

2. Wash the blue bits out of the bottle, then place the grommet in the hole.

3. Insert the airlock and, voila, one shiny new FV!

I hope someone finds this useful!

Kevin

[goldseal]

Spot on Kevin

The only thing I would do is tidy up the drilled hole a little, to ensure an airtight fit.

Does the 13mm hole give a REALLY snug fit with the grommet & airlock?

Other than that, it is more or less exactly what I intended to post when I got some free time, so you have just saved me a job

EDIT 1: In case people are wondering, the same grommet will work with the pictured Junior airlock, and a Bubbler airlock

EDIT 2: DO NOT rely on the plastic carrying handle which is fitted to the neck of many of these bottles. They do fatigue over time, and eventually snap.

[Rich]

Good post, well done

EDIT 2: DO NOT rely on the plastic carrying handle which is fitted to the neck of many of these bottles. They do fatigue over time, and eventually snap.

Go on Pete, share the story of how you know..

[Kevin]

Thanks guys.

Good points there Pete. I did actually clean up the hole after that pic was taken. I used 13mm as those grommets are from old youngs buckets and that's the size of the hole they came out of.

I also took lots of pics of me making the Ancient Spiced Orange Mead. Might upload that as a tutorial too.

Kevin

[mark g]

old draught sherry boxes

hi kevin
I some times use the old draught sherry boxes you can get from the off-licence
shop for free,i use them for beer or wine making,all you do is cut out the tap
from the threaded top, and the airlock and bung will fit perfect.away
you go, may the wine keep flowing,hope this helps.

[fatbloke]

I think that those are the same bottles I have in my truck cab (but I get them from elsewhere - and they're "free").

If you have a "stepped" drill bit, you can use that and make the hole large enough to take a standard bored bung for the airlock - which would save the cost of having to get "bucket grommets".

either way, it's nice to see the initiative. Ha!, I still make stuff in 12, 13 and 19 litre water cooler bottles (stepped drill to open out the hole to take the bung of course).

regards

jtfb

[mcblades]

HI:

my local homebrew shop (well an hours drive away) sells a bored cap and grommet for 75p. Having tried to drill my own and ended up with a fv without a cap due to the measure once, drill twice, oh F**K guiding principle of DIY, I was grateful for useful cap at all.

Hats off for the tutorial though, would probably have savd a couple of quid if I'd read it first.

cheers

Mark

[fatbloke]

HI:

my local homebrew shop (well an hours drive away) sells a bored cap and grommet for 75p. Having tried to drill my own and ended up with a fv without a cap due to the measure once, drill twice, oh F**K guiding principle of DIY, I was grateful for useful cap at all.

Hats off for the tutorial though, would probably have savd a couple of quid if I'd read it first.

cheers

Mark

Just a case of seeing an appropriate "vessel" and trying to make use of it.......

Plus as you point out, no all of us have a home brew shop on the doorstep, so it can take a little while to work out what available locally.

regards

jtfb

[Richard S]

A much safer and neater way of drilling the hole in the lid is to remove the lid, turn it upside down and sit it on a bit of scrap wood. The wood provides the resistance to make a neat/safe job.