Corks not going into bottle all the way

[Boatboy24]

Corker: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=forumyield-20
and corks: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=forumyield-20.

Corker description claims "Adjustable plunger depth", but don't see how to change.

In my experience, the #9 corks are darn near impossible to get all the way in with that two handed corker.

 

[winemanden]

Strange though it may seem, I read a tip in one of my old winemaking books recently. For what it's worth? I'll pass it on.
Don't forget to hang a piece of string over the neck of the bottle when inserting the cork. After the cork has been inserted, pull out the string and you will release the compressed ait beneath the cork.
Real homespun advice from when people used to make a gallon (6 bottles) at a time. A lot of people still do that, The amount I mean not the string.

 

[winemaker81]

Corker description claims "Adjustable plunger depth", but don't see how to change.

I looked at the Q&A on Amazon, according to the seller:

That's a good question. There is not an automatic height adjustment. However, it does allow you to modify the depth based on how far you extend the handles. If you extend the handles all the way down, you can achieve a depth of about 1/8in below the top of the bottle. If you prefer to have the cork rest higher than that, then you can just stop pushing down on the handles when the desired depth is reached.

This explanation doesn't use the word "adjustable" as I expected it would. [Queue up a quote from Inigo Montoya]

Next time you bottle, ensure the bottom of the corker is tight to the mouth of the bottle, and when you move the levers down, ensure the contact remains tight, and push the levers all the way down. It's been several decades since I used a double-lever corker, so I'm dredging up memories. I do recall that it took a bit of practice to seat the corks even with the top of the bottle. I purchased my floor corker, gave teh double-lever to my brother, and never looked back. [until now]

My unit looked like the picture, and it seated #9's with no problems. I tried #8's briefly, but used long #9's after that.

 

[joeswine]

I always try to use a 1 3/4" cork. (The Nomacorcs I just received are only 9 1/2" but there is no problem inserting them with my Italian corker.) If the cork does not seat completely, there is still enough contact to ensure that that the wine is protected and I am no worse off than if I had used a 1 1/2" cork. Aesthetically, they suffer and they are marked for internal use and early drinking. If the corks does not seat by more than 1/4" I remove it and re-cork.

 

[Sailor323]

If they are 1/4 inch proud of the bottle, Use a rubber mallet to drive them in the rest of the way

 

[KCCam]

If they are 1/4 inch proud of the bottle, Use a rubber mallet to drive them in the rest of the way

Gently. I would use the "wooden dowel trick," or possibly the "inverted bottle & tap the bottom" trick first. I would also do it in some sort of bucket on the off chance of the wort-case-scenario: bottle breaking.

 

[mainshipfred]

The rubber mallet works pretty well.