Italian Floor Corker Misery

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smurfe

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I have read that the Italian Floor Corker is the best you can buy. Does anyone know anything about these? Are there adjustments that need to be made other than the plunger depth?


The reason I ask is today I attempted to bottle a batch of wine and had a complete terrible stressful event. The corks catch on the lip of the bottle and on the frame of the corker under the Iris when inserting the corks.





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I have had issues like this since I got the corker but never as bad as today. I do notice that bottles with the wide lip are the worse. A regular Bordeaux bottle normally corks fine. I went through over 100 corks today trying to cork this batch and eventually had to bottle it in gallon jugs with screw caps as I had to open every bottle as they all had cork particles floating in them.


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I am devastated that my high end Limited Edition kit is sitting in gallon jugs like cheap supermarket wine. I suppose I can re-bottle in some other bottles. I just wanted to use these as I have a couple hundred of them.


I can not figure out why the cork is striking the edge. The bottles lip fits in the indentation area on the corker fine. I sometimes can put the bottle in at a tilt and get a cork to enter correct but it is few and far between.


I really never figured I would have issues like this with a high end piece of equipment. Does anyone else ever have any issues? Is there any other adjustments a guy can make? I am at my wits end and dread when bottling time comes around. I have 3 more kits ready to bottle in the next week or so. Comments are appreciated.


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Smurfe
 
Smurfe


When the Iris closes on the cork, can you look and see if the cork is lined up with the hole???? Will get back to you...I have one too.
 
Holy Cow Smurfe....I have an the Italian corker and have never seen this happen. Definitely sounds like something is wrong with the line up or the iris itself.


How are you prepping the corks?


I took a good look at my corker and removed the top cover plate which is held down with 4 smallbolts and found no adjustment that could be made. Two of the jaws are bolted to the frame (one from the inside and one from the outside) and the other two are spring loaded. Use caution if you take the cover off and try to operate the corker as the iris will want to pop out!!!


Smurfe, check the tightness of the the top cover bolts and the one bolt on the front left side of the housing that holds the stationary section of the iris to make sure it is tight. Any of these bolts being loosecould cause the iris to be the out of alignment with the center hole.


It this isn't the case I would think there is a a defect in the iris and a replacement is in order.


I should have taken a few pics but didn't feel like dragging out the camera but will if needed to explain further.
 
I have found with any corker you must move fast to get the cork in before it starts to expand, move fast!!

I move slow and squish the cork down small, then push it in fast as I can shove the lever down.
 
masta said:
Holy Cow Smurfe....I have an the Italian corker and have never seen this happen. Definitely sounds like something is wrong with the line up or the iris itself.


How are you prepping the corks?


I took a good look at my corker and removed the top cover plate which is held down with 4 smallbolts and found no adjustment that could be made. Two of the jaws are bolted to the frame (one from the inside and one from the outside) and the other two are spring loaded. Use caution if you take the cover off and try to operate the corker as the iris will want to pop out!!!


Smurfe, check the tightness of the the top cover bolts and the one bolt on the front left side of the housing that holds the stationary section of the iris to make sure it is tight. Any of these bolts being loosecould cause the iris to be the out of alignment with the center hole.


It this isn't the case I would think there is a a defect in the iris and a replacement is in order.


I should have taken a few pics but didn't feel like dragging out the camera but will if needed to explain further.


Yeah, I had checked all of that and do know what you mean when you take the top plate off. It wanted to pop out of there. I am at a loss here. I have had issues more or less since I got it but thought it was inexperience. It does seem that the more I use it, the worse it gets though.


In regards to prepping the cork, I just soak them while I am corking. I don't soak them overnight or anything like that. I have heard pro's and con's about soaking the corks. I do notice that if you soak them too long the print runs off of then.


Smurfe
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Edited by: smurfe
 
AAASTINKIE said:
I have found with any corker you must move fast to get the cork in before it starts to expand, move fast!!
I move slow and squish the cork down small, then push it in fast as I can shove the lever down.


Yeah, I hit it fast like a Karate move
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I had read that somewhere before, maybe you had said it in another post before but you are correct. The biggest problem though is the cork is scraping on the side of the iris and the lip of the bottle.


Smurfe
 
I had the same problem. It is an alignment issue with the corker.


The pin that holds the handle in place is the problem. If it wears down, the corker does not align with the hole. Take the pin outand see if it is worn and give me a call. I will get a replacement to you as fast as I can.
 
PWP,


Your idea would be more fun, but I imagine Smurfe would like to bottle some more wine before May.


By the way, we will also replace all of the lost corks! Let me know how many to send.
 
Princess, I was going to suggest that Smurfe carefully pack the three kits he needs to bottle and bring them to Texas. Sunday, we could have a tasting and bottling party. Try out all of the bottling and corking equipment at the Toy Store. Smurfe would be able to go home with 3 very clean carboys and perhaps 5 cases of wine. What’cha think.
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Smurfe, I do apologize for making light of a situation that I know can be very frustrating. There are very few things in winemaking I find more irritating than equipment that does not meet my expectations. Fortunately, you have George in your corner.
 
geocorn said:
I had the same problem. It is an alignment issue with the corker.


The pin that holds the handle in place is the problem. If it wears down, the corker does not align with the hole. Take the pin outand see if it is worn and give me a call. I will get a replacement to you as fast as I can.


Are you talking the pin where the blue handle connects to the silver thingy? I tried to pop that pin out but it hits the frame so I guess I would need to take the top plate off and disassemble the IRIS? I will say though, there is no slop in the handle where that pin connects.


Smurfe
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geocorn said:
It is the silver pin with a nut on each end that goes through the corker and the handle swings on it.


Well, I pulled that pin out and don't really see anything out of the ordinary. It shows no sings of wear and there is no gross extra movement at the connection. When I watch a cork slide through the Iris, it don't hang up on anything. Of course I realize that a slow handle stroke is different from a fast stroke so dunno if that is it. I do notice that the plunger is not perfectly centered on the hole though so I don't know if that is kicking the cork into the lip of the bottle or not. I dunno, it has me baffled.


Smurfe
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Edited by: smurfe
 
Now you have me baffled. I will talk with LD Carlson tomorrow and get their thoughts.
 
Smurf...I got P.O'd just looking at the photos....being as the bottles were all the same...and....it looks like the corks are tearing on the bottles....Could it be the bottles fault?????Would smaller corks work better????????
 
Smurfe,


Take an empty bottle and get a few photos of the process, especially the alignment of the cork and the bottle. It would appear to me from your photos that there is definetelyan alignment problem. These corkers produce a fair amount ofleverage and if they are off a small amount,the cork would end up crushed instead of seated. Maybe the photos will provide some answers for George.


Hope this gets resolved for you very soon!


Pat
 
I just talked with LD Carlson and the only thing they can determine is that the pin that holds the handle in place is out of alignment. Put it back together and try it again.


I have new pins on order and if you need one, let me know and I will take one of mine apart and send it to you.


Keep me informed of this situation. I want to get it solved for you and for others that may have this same problem.
 
I concur with Pat. First I think I'd try closing the iris while looking down (or up) through it to be sure that the hole is aligned so it misses the frame. Then I'd try putting a few corks through without a bottle underneath. If the cork tears at this point, you know it is the alignment of the corker and has nothing to do with the bottles.


Finally, add an empty bottle. If it tears at this point, it would seem to imply the bottles are the problem.Edited by: Funky Fish
 
Funky Fish said:
I concur with Pat. First I think I'd try closing the iris while looking down (or up) through it to be sure that the hole is aligned so it misses the frame. Then I'd try putting a few corks through without a bottle underneath. If the cork tears at this point, you know it is the alignment of the corker and has nothing to do with the bottles.


Finally, add an empty bottle. If it tears at this point, it would seem to imply the bottles are the problem.


I have tried all of this. When you look down through it, it looks good. When you pull the handle easy it looks good, when you pull the handle with the force needed to seat a cork it kick the cork to the right and it either scrapes on the bottom plate but more likely the lip of the bottle. I looked at some older bottles I corked and see a few that have scraping on the leading edge of the cork. Like I said, this problem started small and has been getting worse each time I use it.


I have put it back together and still the same issue. I am wondering if the base the bottle sits on is the issue by not holding the bottle straight. I am about ready to just start using a rubber mallet to drive them in. Wouldn't be any different results.


Smurfe
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