Parts

pump and connector

washer

tools

Instructions

I like bottling. I tend to keep several dozen different kinds of beer on hand, and a kegerator of any size would need to pay rent if it wanted to live in my very small New York City apartment.The only part of bottling that I find at all time consuming or tedious is washing the bottles. No longer!----It's a very simple concept, but it can wash, rinse, and sanitize 30 bottles with virtually no effort. I built a frame out of 1/2" cpvc fit to a standard rectangular milk crate, used 1/4" copper refrigerator coil for the vertical bottle spouts, and push water through it with a 1/4 HP submersible pump. The pump sits in my sink filled with whatever I want to wash with (pbw->rinse water->star san), and the milk crate rests right on top of it.I made three of them since I always bottle two ~4.5 gallon batches at a time, and washing those 90 bottles is now trivial. I fill the sink with PBW, let it run on each crate for 5-10 minutes, drain the sink, fill the sink with star-san, and then run it again for a minute or two. My active time for 90 bottles is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 minutes. It's so painfully easy that I kind of hate myself for only doing this now after all these years.I get plenty of power from this pump, and without the bottles to block it the stream of water coming out extends 3-4 feet above the spouts. I ran through a batch of very grimy, dried out bottles and they came out completely clean after 15min of PBW. If I built it again, I might actually use copper for the frame and sweat it all together. The JB Weld holds reasonably well, but in knocking the washer around a bit a few have come loose. They still work perfectly fine even when loose, but welded metal would obviously be more durable over the long run.I have only tested this on 12oz longneck bottles (Sam Adams type). I don't have any of the shorter, fatter bottles (Sierra Nevada type) to try with. I suspect they might not fit, but I'll post back if/when I'm able to test them.It's a pretty self-explanatory build. Parts and steps are as follows: [email protected] $47.99 - 1/4 hp submersible pump ( http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000X05G1A/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 [email protected] $3.19 - barbed to female garden hose adapter ( http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006PKMU7U/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 [email protected] $2/ft - 1/2" silicone hose [email protected] $0.20 - 1/2" worm clamps [email protected] $1 - 1/2" threaded to male garden hose adapter [email protected] $1 - 1/2" cpvc straight female to threaded male adapter [email protected] $0.20 - 3" of 1/2" cpvc pipe__________TOTAL: about $59 [email protected] $6.50 - rectangular milk crate ( http://www.milkcratesdirect.com [email protected] $22.49 - 1/4" refrigerator copper tubing (for example: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002FYAI42/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 [email protected] $0.40 - 1/2" cpvc elbow (straight) [email protected] $0.40 - 1/2" cpvc tee (stright) [email protected] $0.80 - 1/2" cpvc cross (stright) [email protected] $3 - 10' length of 1/2" cpvc pipe__________TOTAL: about $36* hand drill with 1/4" bit* JB Weld* something to cut cpvc pipe and refrigerator coil (a simple cheap-o $20 rotary pipe cutter does the job handily)* something to drill a 3/4" hole in the side of the milk crate (I used a cheap step-bit)1) Cut five 14" lengths from the CPVC pipe. These are your traversals.2) Cut eight 1" lengths from the CPVC pipe. These will attach your elbows, tees, and cross together. They should be just long enough to join your joints without space between them.3) Assemble the two ends of the frame like in the picture below. One edge is composed (elbow-tee-tee-tee-elbow), and the other (elbow-tee-cross-tee-elbow).4) Join the two ends together with your five 14" traversals. Make sure this assembled frame fits into the milk crate.5) On each traversal, drill six evenly spaced 1/4" holes, pointing straight up. The first and the last should be right up against the joint caps. Test the first hole with a small piece of copper coil to make sure it fits. It should be a snug fit, but if not you can pinch the end a bit with a pair of pliers.6) Cut thirty 7" lengths of refrigerator coil.7) Slip the lengths of copper into the drilled holes, and use the JB Weld to seal the joint between the CPVC and the copper. Let bond set overnight.9) Drill a 3/4" hole into the lower side of the milk crate right where the cross open end of the cross joint is. This cross joint should be the only open part of the frame.10) Assemble the connector (3" cpvc pipe -> 1/2" cpvc straight female to threaded male adapter -> 1/2" threaded to male garden hose adapter)11) The connector should be able to pass through the hole in the side of the milk crate to attach to the frame inside, and the silicone hose with the garden hose adapters should connect this up to the pump.12) Plug it all together and let 'er rip!(Apologies if these instructions are confusing. If there's anything I can clarify, let me know. If I build another one at some point, I'll take pictures of the actually assembly process.)