The question was asked of how to fill with a Counter Pressure Bottle Filler. Here is my reply to the person who asked. I just filled 125 bottles last night with my filler. It is a modified Foxx brand. I did not like the needle valves, so I replaced the gas in and liquid in with ball valves, but left the relief valve as a needle valve. All in all, it is the same concept, except the length of the dip tube is adjustable, so It will fill different length bottles better. I will comment on how mine works, and maybe that will help you to adjust your technique. Robert (robertac@calweb.com) wrote: : The instructions that came with this rig say..... I usually spend a couple of days at 40deg (refridgerator) with 30 PSI on the keg. I have done it at 60 deg (basement) also. I shake the keg twice a day until I stop hearing the CO2 hiss. This gets it over carbonated, since you are gonna lose some in the bottling process. I then put the keg in the freezer for 2-4 hours before bottling. This helps to keep the CO2 in suspension while filling. : 1...With alll lines connected to both the keg and bottle filler, turn : on the CO2 supply and adjust pressure to 10 - 15 psi, or as necessary : to prevent foaming. Yes, make sure you do not go to high on the pressure at this point. I find that 12 PSI works great. But only after the first two or so bottles. I have tried blowing off all the keg pressure first, but it still seems to foam just a bit while on the first couple of fills. : 2. Be certain that all valves are closed ( A, B and C) Duh! : 3. Seat the bottle filler into the bottle. Well, Mine is adjustable, so I sort my bottles by size, and set the thing so the dip tube just touches the bottom while pushing down as far as I can. With a little release of my hands, it returns to be about 1/8 of an inch from the bottom. If a bottle is a little taller, or the mouth is a little smaller inside, it will be higher in the bottle. I then push the dip tube to one edge, and hold it there before filling. That helps to stop foaming without readjusting the tube length. You see, It is MOST important to have it fill from the VERY bottom to prevent foaming. If that is not possible, you need to allow the beer to flow down the side of the bottle much as you would fill a glass from a tap via the side of the glass. : 4. Open CO2 inlet valve ( B ), pressurizing the bottle. Then open : purge valve ( C ), and allow to purge for 2 or 3 seconds, then close : valve C. I have a little trick I use to prevent a little back pressure at the start of the fil. I open B all the way, and purge with C until C is half a turn open (mine is a needle valve). Then I close B with one finger (Ball valve for me) and quick close C in less than a second. This allows there to be just a little less pressure in the bottle than the keg. If I do not do this, when I open A, The beer flows back into the kag about 3 inches of the line attached to A. Instead, with my "trick", when I open A, the beer flows just a trickle into the bottle. : 5. Open the beer inlet valve ( A ). No beer should flow. Then : SLOWLY open the purge valve ( C ), allowing beer to enter the bottle. : Adjust it so that beer flows sufficiently but does not foam. Ah, This is the one that counts. I open A fully. As I said above, I will now have just a trickle of beer in the bottom of the bottle. Now is the time to insure the tube is at the side of the bottle. You want the first inch to fill from the side. This is where it will make or break it! I also think it is important to note: Do not allow the cork to come loose. That will cause mucho foam. Keep it sealed. Now, I only open my valve C (needle valve) about 1/32 of a turn. YES, I did mean very, very little. Almost nothing flows at this point. You want this very slow fill for that first inch. As it gets above the dip tube end, I then can go as high as 1/8 of a turn, but NEVER more than 1/8 of a turn. If I go higher, the beer will foam increadably. : 6. When bottle is full, close beer inlet valve ( A ), remove the : filler and cap immediately. I should mention that I have a tube leading off of C going to an empty glass jug. This is because I use C to blow off any foam that may appear. I will let the bottle fill until the foam reaches the blow off part of the dip tube. Then, I watch until the liquid stops rising, and only foam is being made. I then close A completely. I let C stay open for a few seconds. I slowly open C about 1.5 turns letting the foam flow out the tubing and into the jug. This serves two purposes. It lets the foam go some where other than into the cap you are gonna put on it, and it also keeps the pressure built up inside from spraying beer onto your nice clean t-shirt! I pull the filler out of the bottle, leaving C open, and cap the bottle quickly. I have a hanger above my filling area that I hang the filler on while capping. Although I have thought that a two person operation would speed this up. I then put the next bottle under it, and open B. Since I left C open it will start purging right away. I slowly close C until, again, it is about 1 and a half turns open and close B with one finger and close C just after that as stated earlier. I am now into the cycle again and follow the same steps. Hope this helps you some. I know mine is a different model, but they all work about the same. The keys are cold, correct pressure, (the filling pressure should be lower than the carbonation pressure) and go it slow. VERY slow. Be patient. Drink the first bottle. That always helps me. ---------------------------------------------------- A ----------------------- ------------------------ B | | | | | | | | [| |] <--- Adjustable compression fitting ( | | ) This allows this whole piece _____(_| |_) with C valve, cork, and Blow off | ||) tube to slide up and down on the C _____ | ||) dip tube. (|| ||) __(|| ||)__ \ || || / \ || || / <--- Cork \|| ||/ || || || || || || <--- Blow off tube inside bottle | | | | | | | | <--- Dip tube | | | | To Bottom of bottle Good beer to you ... And Happy filling!