1. Clean the runners, slides, bottleneck clamps, insertion piston, machine compression and jaws to bottle BELTAPPO and remove excess lubricant (paraffin, white oil, etc. used on natural bark cork). It is essential to run a few through the corking mechanism jaws, carefully checking for any grooving of the BELTAPPO membrane. The closure should only be inserted using suitable machinery, which prevents any damage to the surface.
  2. If necessary, position jaws to avoid any hindrance, guaranteeing smooth operation both horizontally and vertically. Check to see that the jaws paired are synchronized to create a concentric hole for the BELTAPPO insertion.
  3. During production BELTAPPO will not break or gather dust inside the machine and can run at a faster speed than natural bark cork. Therefore it will become necessary to make some change in the positioning of the insertion piston. The size of the piston should be as large as the compromise joint can hold.
  4. We recommend an Iris 16mm diameter jaw and a 17mm diameter empty space at the top. Both diameters must be concentric.
  5. When ready for bottling, remove the sealed polyethylene bag from its box, empty the contents into the hopper, making sure corks are handled as little as possible. This will reduce the potential for contamination by microorganisms in the air and on the hand of the operator. We suggest the use of latex gloves to avoid removing the lubricant from the closure surface.
  6. BELTAPPO should not be mixed with natural cork at any stage of bottling or storage. This is important in order to maintain its sterilized features and avoid damaging its performance.
  7. During operations it is important to keep the bottling machine at a temperature between 12 - 15C or 54 - 60F. Free CO2 levels normally should be below 18 parts per million. When inserting the cork, it stretches 2-3 mm longer. Maintain at least 17 mm of air space between the maximum level of the liquid and the closure.
  8. The head space pressure of the bottling machine should be regulated between 0 and 51 mm on the Mercalli scale. Slow insertion will tend to cause space pressure at each end. This is less probable with fast bottling machine operations.
  9. For long term storage, BELTAPPO finished bottles should be maintained at a temperature between 12 - 15C or 54 - 60F, the same as for natural bark cork.
  10. For small scale trials a manual bottling machine will give good results, provided the bottling mouth is cone shaped. However a slight deformation may be noted on the top. This effect is not present in vacuum equipped bottling lines.
  11. To insure a quality seal and to prevent leakage, do not lay the bottles down or, turn them upside down for 24 hours.