Rebottled IBC totes

What rebottling replaces and what it keeps

The bottle is new, so nothing the last owner stored is in the wall of the plastic. The cage is used and was inspected and certified before the new bottle went in. The valve, the lid and the base come with the cage unless the grade says otherwise, which is why a rebottled tote should still be checked for a clean valve and a cap that seals.

That makes rebottled the usual answer for a tote with a good cage and a tired bottle. It is also the usual grade for buyers who need a clean interior without paying for a new cage.

Who buys rebottled totes in the Inland Empire

Blenders and beverage plants in Corona and Chino use them for repeat fills where a new tote every time is more than the job needs. Chemical blenders choose them when a reconditioned bottle could carry a trace of an earlier product. Growers and nurseries sometimes pick them for irrigation water because a new bottle has no chemical past; food-grade claims still need paperwork, covered on the food-grade page.

Rebottling also explains the grade named on the sell side. A seller with a chalky or cracked bottle in a good cage is holding a rebottling candidate. Their loss of a bottle is a buyer's gain of a cage.

Checks before you accept a rebottled tote

• Look at the plate for the month and year of the last leak test and inspection. A retest date matters for hazmat shipping.
• Read the bars and welds. A cage that carried a wrecked bottle may have a bent bar.
• Open the valve and close it. Check the cap and the gasket.
• Confirm the base footprint is 48 by 40 inches if your racks expect it.

What you are really buying

A rebottled tote is a cage with a history and a bottle without one. You are paying for the new bottle and for the checking of the cage. The cage may be years old, and a good rebottler will say so, with the plate date on show.

Ask which maker supplied the bottle, whether the valve is new and whether the cage was straightened or just inspected. A cage straightened after a hit should be rechecked for cracked welds, which a new bottle can hide.

Ask also for a photograph of the plate and of the bottle's own mark. The mark proves the bottle is new and not a washed original.

How a cage gets a second bottle

The old bottle is lifted out through the top of the cage, usually after the valve is removed and the bars are checked. The cage is cleaned, inspected and, where a bar is slightly bent, sometimes straightened. The new bottle is lowered in, the valve and cap fitted, and the whole assembly leak-tested.

The process is simple, but the judgment is in what to keep. A cage with fatigue near the base welds should not go back into service. A cage with a faded plate may need a replacement plate and a record of why.

Who tends to buy rebottled

Blenders who fill the same product every week, growers who want a clean water tank, and small food makers who need a bottle without history. They are not looking for the lowest price; they are looking for an easy question to answer when the customer asks what the tote held before.

If that is you, say what the tote will hold and how often you will fill it. The answer may be a rebottled tote, or it may be a reconditioned one with records, and you will be told which.

A rebottled tote beside a reconditioned one

Place the two on a dock and the difference is visible: one bottle is bright and unmarked, the other is the original, washed, with its heel line faintly showing. Both are certified; only one has a past. Choose by what your product can tolerate.

The comparison guide goes further, but a quick rule holds: if you would be worried to hear what the bottle once held, buy rebottled.

Caring for a rebottled tote

Keep the new bottle clean, capped and out of the sun. Fill it with the product it was bought for. Avoid switching products without a thorough clean, since even a new bottle remembers its first fill.

Inspect the cage each season for rust at the feet and around the welds. Touch up small spots with a zinc paint. A rebottled tote in good care can last through several more bottles.

Matching the valve to your system

Rebottled totes can be fitted with a valve that suits your connection: a ball valve for fine control, a butterfly for fast drain, a hose adapter for irrigation. Tell the supplier what you plan to connect, and the tote can arrive ready to use.

Specifying the valve at the start saves a trip to a hardware store, and a leak on the first day.

Questions people ask