Technology

Piston vs Peristaltic vs Gravity Filling: Choosing the Right Liquid Filler

How piston, peristaltic, gravity and magnetic-pump fillers work, their accuracy and which products and bottle sizes each one suits.

By Filling Machine Factory application engineering teamPublished Updated 7 min read
Piston vs Peristaltic vs Gravity Filling: Choosing the Right Liquid Filler
Short answer

Use a piston filler for viscous products and sauces, a peristaltic filler for small volumes, essential oils and products that must not touch metal, a gravity or overflow filler for thin, free-flowing liquids, and a magnetic or gear pump for low-cost small-volume filling. Accuracy is typically ±0.5–1% across all four when correctly sized.

Piston fillers

A piston draws a fixed volume from the hopper and pushes it through a valve into the container. Volume is set by stroke length, so it does not change with viscosity — ideal for creams, honey, sauces and oils. Our linear piston filler runs 2 to 12 nozzles for 50–2000 ml bottles at 99.8% accuracy.

Peristaltic fillers

Rollers squeeze a flexible tube to move liquid. The product only touches the tube, so changeover is fast and cross-contamination is eliminated — the standard for essential oils, serums, eye drops and e-liquids in 1–100 ml bottles.

Gravity and overflow fillers

Thin liquids flow from an elevated tank; overflow nozzles fill to a consistent level, which looks uniform in clear bottles. They are economical for water, juice and cleaning liquids, but not suitable for viscous products.

Magnetic and gear pumps

Compact pumps controlled by time or flow are perfect for desktop and start-up filling, such as our desktop magnetic pump filler.

Quick selection table

ProductVolumeRecommended filler
Cream, paste, honey10–2000 mlPiston
Essential oil, serum1–100 mlPeristaltic
Water, juice200–2000 mlGravity / overflow
Nail polish5–15 mlAnti-drip piston or peristaltic
Perfume5–200 mlVacuum level or peristaltic

Not sure? Send us a sample — we run free filling tests and send you the video. See all bottle filling and capping machines.

Keep reading

Related articles

Get a quotation

Tell us what you fill. We'll engineer the machine.

Send your product, container and target speed. You receive a written proposal with machine configuration, layout and price — and, if you like, a free filling test with your samples.

Request a quotation

Tell us about your product and target output. An engineer replies within 24 hours with a configuration and price.