Floor corker strip/clean

[lockwood1956]

Cheers Brian

good find, thanks for sharing

regards
Bob

[Cellar_Rat]

Share: IF you have an italian floor corker READ THIS.

I have found that there seems to be an issue with one of the pins in Italian floor corkers and it needs extra lubrication.

http://www.barossa-region.org/winemaking/Floor-corker-malfunctioning.html

This is just one (best?) ref I have for it, but it did seem very common topic on other forums.



EDIT: (Bob) The link has potential spam in it if you click the highlighted words

I have de spammed and copied the text here

The following is a scenario I've seen on 2 separate Italian corkers: as the handle is brought down the side links start to push the jaws closed; just before the bent rod begins to move the cork down into the bottle, the jaws reverse and open up a bit. On a properly functioning corker this slight reverse movement does NOT occur.
Rick and Joe, if this is what you are seeing I think I can tell you what the problem is. I've never used synthetics so I don't know if this behaviour is causing your creases. In my corkers, what it does is cause the leading lip of the cork to scrape against the hole in the corker as it goes into the bottle. This causes the lip of the cork to fold back or tear and results in an unacceptable closure. Here is the cause! It has to do with the lubrication of the handle "journal" bearing. This bearing is a simple steel cylinder welded onto the handle. The bearing normally rotates on a shaft (also mild steel) that is threaded on each end and retained in the sheet metal housing with 2 nuts. This is a "terrible" design, btw! When the lubrication of the journal on the shaft diminishes (only a matter of time) the journal will "freeze" on the shaft and the shaft will begin to turn in the housing when the handle is moved. The shaft holes in the thin sheet metal housing take no time at all to wear into an egg shape! The result of this is that the jaw forces when the cork is compressed push back through the links and move the shaft rearward! This allows the jaws to open slightly! Viola! Crappy closure!

[lockwood1956]

I have been thinking along these lines too Rich, and I have decided not to use sulphite solution on the corks just prior to use, but to store them in a corkodor (sp) a sealed plastic container that has within it a tub of sulphite solution so the air in there is full of sulphur fumes.

should alleviate the problem i hope

regards
Bob

[Rich]

Why use sulfite on your corks Rich? Corks come sanitized ready to use in the bag.

Because the bags tend to be repackaged from the home brew shops into about 100 corks or so. Also, it's not always a fresh bag I'm opening. I've been meaning to make a cork humidor for a while following some info I got off here or winepress, just not really got round to it.

[rjb222]

Why use sulfite on your corks Rich? Corks come sanitized ready to use in the bag.

[Rich]

The ebay corker I cleaned here was a bit passed it really, and needed new jaws. I got a new one from Duffbeer at Grapefest '09. This new one has done me well so far, but I've noticed it does need a clean, or at least some attention.

I spray my corks with a 10% sulphite solution before corking. Not loads, but some. They then sit there, excess is shaken off before insertion. This leaves the corker slightly damp though, which then causes it to corrode under the jaws.

So, should I modify my technique, or just fix corrosion?

[lockwood1956]

Gave mine another clean today, as it was leaving a streak down the corks

thanks again for a great tutorial Rich

[lockwood1956]

I stripped and cleaned and re-assembled mine today ....its working juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust fine

[Rich]

I may attend to mine today, as Karl and I bottled some Montepulciano yesterday, and it was getting a bit "sticky"

Update? Is it fixed?

Mine is sticking a bit now on the bottle hold mechanism. Will see to that this week!


Rich

[lockwood1956]

I may attend to mine today, as Karl and I bottled some Montepulciano yesterday, and it was getting a bit "sticky"

[lockwood1956]

Excellent Rich....cheers

[Duffbeer]

Now you can claim to own a Farri

Exactly.... my claim to fame, I am the proud owner of a free standing Italian, Farrarri bottle corker and what a blessing it is too..Trust me you have to have used the others to understand.

[rjb222]

Now you can claim to own a Farri

[Rich]

I'll be happier when it has a round handle, just to make it nicer on the hand..

It could do with a lick of paint too, and then the bottle hold up linkage cleaned/lubed.

Some folk restore cars.. Thought I'd try a corker

Got a 5 gallon WE Barolo kit to filter and bottle tomorrow, so it'll be this corkers first real job for me! (Another reason why I got this done today!)

[Duffbeer]

Excelent mate you have the same Farrari that I have, this is one hell of a piece of kit. corking becomes a pleasure at this point.