29 MM Red Baron Capper Bell stuck on bottle

[grants]

I just threaded a new 29mm Capper bell onto my Red Baron, put a 29mm gold crown cap on a champagne bottle, and pulled the handles down.

It stuck.

I tried pulling it off handles still attached, no dice.

I unscrewed the Red Baron, and tried to pry up with my thumbs, but the bell is stuck.

Having never closely observed whether the steel jaws on the RB actually crimp the cap bottom, or just grip the glass rim to pull the bell down, I’m not really sure what the issue/point of failure is. Have only bottled once with 40 or so regular beer bottles and nothing stuck.

Any solutions appreciated. Hate to lose such a large capital outlay on the first test production run…

[hd4mark]

A couple of thoughts. Try spraying some cooking spray like Pam up there. WD40 would work too but even though it could not get inside the bottle the idea of it is not tasteful. Heat it up? Use extreme caution there. It would be nice to get it off without breaking the bottle or pulling the cap off.

Good luck with it.

[eichen323]

That’s weird. Not sure how to remove. I do know that when you use the 29mm you have to pull out the metal jaws and reverse them. Not sure if you did that or not or if not doing this would cause the problem.

I have a feeling that you may need to break that bottle to get that off. Be carefull.

Also, double check that it was in fact the 29mm. that look tight to me.

[in_the_basement]

If you have a propane torch try gently heating the metal. Should make it expand just a little and maybe just pop off. Don’t blast it. Gently warm it.

[mullerbrau]

Since it is a tapered design, you will need a slight impact to remove it. Tap the bell with a very small hammer while somebody else pulls slightly with a pair of pliers.