Air pump or cartdridge wine openers

[Russ K]

Has anyone got long term experience with these? My wife bought me and my dad each a Skybar unit from QVC. I really like it, a few pumps and the cork pops out, leaving the cork in excellent condition. not as exciting as tongs, but pretty good. I have not tried it on long corks yet, but works for most bottles.
QVC is recalling apparently a bunch of people hurt themselves using these over the holiday. I can see how, if you grab on to the opener, you will prevent the cork from rising, and could pressure up the bottle.
My engineer in me says this is perfectly safe if you use it right, there is no way a cork won't slide before the bottle breaks....If QVC wants to give me my money back great, but I do not want to ship mine back or have to get my dads from phoenix or Canada back to me in denver to ship it back.....
thoughts? Its not like ists a brand new invention, these have been around for years haven't they?

thx
Russ

[Peter W. Meek]

A 3/4" cork is about 1/2 square inch (.44 sq-inch actually). I am sure that I have had tight corks that required 40 or 50 pounds pull to start them, based on a wine-key/waiter's friend with about 5-to-1 leverage. This says that it would take approaching 100 psi to start the corks. Frankly that seems like a lot to expect from a standard wine bottle. (Not sparkling wine, which has a deep punt and heavy glass.)

If there is some kind of regulator which limits the pressure to something more reasonable (I don't know if this is so) then maybe they are safe.

If there is no regulation except the limit of the cork's starting pressure, then maybe not.

If they rely on saying "No more than two strokes," I think that is not something you can expect the average consumer to obey and is definitely not safe.

I once exploded a glass quart milk bottle (the kind they used to deliver via horse-drawn milk wagon in 1950) by dropping a leaking CO2 cartridge into it and putting my hand over the opening. At my then weight, I couldn't have put more than 50 pounds pressure on my hand which divided by the approximate area of an old milk bottle neck would be about 30 psi. (I was experimenting with do-it-yourself home carbonization at age 7 or so -- don't ask.) I got away with minor cuts (fortunately my hand was between the bottle and my face), but the pressure was MUCH less than we are talking about with wine corks.

To be fair, a milk bottle has flat sides, which are very weak from a pressure standpoint. The weak point of a puntless wine bottle is the flat bottom.

[Andy Velebil]

I do recall Roy having a bad experience with some type of air-cork extractor and an old VP bottle exploding.

[Russ K]

Thx guys, I did some more research as well.
http://www.corkqc.com/qcguidelines/qc.htm

This states a cork shall be extracted with between 150 and 450 N. thats basically 15 to 45 kg. so wholly pressure batman, 100 lbs of force may be required. That would push our half sqaure inch cork to requiring 200 psi in the bottle. I guess thats probably pushing things a bit isn't it...i doubt there are rules for pressure testing the wine bottles unless carbonated...
Russ

[Peter W. Meek]

Well, that explains why wine bottles don't explode when they are being corked. (I've always wondered)

If the cork fills 80% of the space above the wine to the top of the neck, the pressure would be 5 times atmospheric; if it occupies 90% the pressure would be 10 times 15 psi. (Assuming the cork seals immediately when the first bit goes into the neck.)

If the cork and over-the-wine-space is in a fairly good vacuum, then the cork can be driven without compressing all that air into a tiny space. It DOES mean that a wine corking machine is a fairly complicated device.

[Roy Hersh]

While the CORK POPS needle through the cork injects gas which works well on strong young bottles and relatively "easy" corks ... I highly suggest you do NOT use this for old bottles that are more fragile or with thinner glass. Mine was a 1908 Sandeman VP which exploded with tremendous force, right in my face and the shards were coating my glasses and face and miraculously none cut me. My glasses were trashed but fortunately I was wearing them at the time ... just for reading and close up action. Otherwise, I may have lost my sight. I never touched that device ever again.

[Eric Ifune]

Just last week, I opened an 1980 BV Private Reserve with a waiter's corkscrew. The lateral part of the neck and rim broke off in my hand. Fortunately just a very shallow laceration to the palm. I manage to salvage the contents. I think with an air pump opener, the whole bottle would have exploded!

[Roy Hersh]

Yep, me too. They are ok with young Shafer Hillside Select bottles which weigh like 29 pounds per bottle, but otherwise ... I'd find another device to open bottles than that.

[Eric Menchen]

(Assuming the cork seals immediately when the first bit goes into the neck.)

I don't think this is a good assumption. The corker squeezes the cork from all sides in large metal jaws, an iris, then pushes it out of those into the bottle. The cork starts to expand as soon as it exits the jaws, but it is still one piece of cork, so when 25% of it is out of the corker and into the bottle, that 25% isn't back to 100% diameter.

[Russ K]

Erics right, otherwise home corkers would have no hope relying only on compression of the cork to release the air out fo the bottle when snapped in and maintain reasonably low pressure.

Even heavy bottles have seams. I could live with 20 to 30 psi to get the sucker out (my assumption), but 200+ psi doesn't feel good to me.

I just had NO IDEA the regulations of the force required to pull a cork, never really thought about it. The internet is an incredible place....450 newtons...
Its going back.

thanks all!
Russ

[Peter W. Meek]

(Assuming the cork seals immediately when the first bit goes into the neck.)

I don't think this is a good assumption. The corker squeezes the cork from all sides in large metal jaws, an iris, then pushes it out of those into the bottle. The cork starts to expand as soon as it exits the jaws, but it is still one piece of cork, so when 25% of it is out of the corker and into the bottle, that 25% isn't back to 100% diameter.

I'm beginning to gather that commercial corking machines are a LOT more complicated than I knew. I thought they just stuffed the cork in.

[Eric Menchen]

I'm beginning to gather that commercial corking machines are a LOT more complicated than I knew. I thought they just stuffed the cork in.

You should watch the SNL skit about the cork soakers. O.k., it won't teach you about corking, but it is very funny.