Bearing Grease

If you find that the bearing grease is leaking out of the bottom of your filler you may need to rethink - cleaning the filler. Too much heat can cause the grease to 'boil' creating pressure inside the column and blowing out the bottom grease seal.



With out lubrication the life expectancy of the bearing is very short.

The tapered roller bearing at the top and bottom of the filler column are 180x120x38 Model 32024.

To change the bearings you will need to:
Remove the beer bowl.
This will expose the thrust bearing Model 51126
Remove the threaded collar.
Remove the bottle lifting mechanism.
Remove the gear from the bottom.
Lift the column from the machine.

The bearing can be removed by:
Reinstalling the threaded collar to the column.
Dropping the column on a wooden block.

While this is apart you may want to drill and tap grease fitting - to make servicing easier.

Reassemble with lots of grease!


Temporary larger washer can be helpful while installing the grease seal.

Again - lots of grease!
Note that the lifter deck has been siliconed to the threaded column.
This keep water/beer from dripping down into the tapered bearings below.

Filler 'up ramp'

These bottling lines sometimes have a hard time starting. Part of the problem is that the 'up ramp' feeding the bottles into the filler is at too steep an angle.


This is a photo of the 'up ramp' marked for cutting.




Here is the ramp with the piece that had been cut with a narrow cut off wheel in an angle grinder and smoothed with a sanding disk:

The new 'up ramp' angle:

Once this ramp had been cut the vacuum actuator need to be moved:


Note that the left bracket is now on top of the ring mount. This required that the bracket be narrowed and mounted with (2) 10mm x 75mm bolts.

Spare Parts - work in progress. . .

GWKent will try to maintain a stock of spare parts for this machine.
This list will contain information on parts available from other locations.

The o-ring that holds the black bottle guide in place in the filler.
o-ring dash # -223 - Grainger part # 1RHH6

The tapered roller bearing at the top and bottom of the filler column are 180x120x38 Model 32024.
The thrust bearing Model 51126
Bearing for the transfer star - SFK Ball&roller bearings, part # 61908 2RS
From Motion Industries.

Filler Assembly spread sheet.  This document had links to the drawings.
Their are multiple tabs that cover various parts of the machine.

The o-rings and seals in the Fill Valve Assembly drawings.

The back of this catalog has a nice bunch of o-ring drawings - to help you determine the size of the o-ring you need.

Beer Level Float

The Beer Level Float can be seen through the site glass in the side of the beer bowl.
When the float, in the beer bowl, is sitting on the bottom - with no beer in the bowl - the input on Siemens S7 processor - I0.0 should be lit.
I have seen cases when the float is at the bottom - and the input I0.0 was not lit.
A smack with a rubber hammer - on top of the bowl will cause the switch to close and the I0.0 light to come on.
We have ordered and received replacement floats to solve this problem.
Contact G.W.Kent at: info@gwkent.com - to order a replacement.

Ladder logic for the Siemens S7 processor

Screen shots from the Step 7 software of the ladder logic.

Ladder logic program for the Siemens S7 plc in the beer bottling line 1plc.mwp

To open this file you need to use the Demo version of the Siemens STEP 7-Micro/WIN software which will only work with Windows XP and Windows 2000 (it does not work with Windows 7)

Fill head does not move up and down smoothly

If the the fill heads do not drop down smoothly.

It may be that the guide block is loose.

If the block that guides the fill head moves up and down (see photo) - it can cause the fill head to not drop smoothly.

You can tighten this block by removing the V-handle and tighten the retaing nut.

Wiring the Beer In Valve for CIP

The Beer in Valve is controlled by the float valve. Once the float says that the bowl is full the Beer in Valve is closed.

To keep the valve open while running cleaning solution through the machine - you need to keep the Beer in Valve open.

The beer valve is tied to the Siemens processor through o1.0. You will find o1.0 (or 1.0) down on the terminal strip in the bottom of the control cabinet.

For the switch I used a SPDT switch with (3) terminals. Mounting it in the wire tray cover on the far right (doesn't show up in the picture)

Move the wire coming in from the beer valve at o1.0 - over two places to an empty terminal.

Connect the center terminal of the switch - to the new Beer in Valve terminal.

Connect one of the other switch terminals to the original o1.0 terminal that goes to the processor.

The third switch terminal is connected to the +24VDC supply.

In one position the Beer in Valve would be tied the usual circuitry and be controlled by the float switch.

In the other position the Beer in Valve is 'tied high' causing the beer valve to be open for CIP cleaning.