Filter Press Question

[Talcott Family Maple]

I just purchased a 7" D&G filter press. Has anyone modified the press so as to use only one bank? I am a small producer boiling on a 30x8 leader Inferno with a MAX pan we draw off about 2-2.5 gallons of syrup per/hr. I was thinking of removing the existing studs and replacing them with shorter ones to reduce the # of banks to maybe one.This reduce the amount of syrup trapped in the filter press and allow me to filter after every draw whithout reheating. Any Thoughts?

[maplwrks]

I have a set of pipes that I put over the rods to shorten up the press to a half bank( 4 plates) I do this when I don't need a full press to get all of my syrup through. I think the pipes are 4 1/2" or so long.

[ToadHill]

We used to filter after every drawoff and then we switched to a batch operation where we only filter when we have enough to fill a barrel. We composite in our finishing rig, check the density, heat it to 200 degrees, add 8 cups of filter aid and pump it through the filter press directly to the barrel. We found that we get substantially more syrup through each set of filters and we use a lot less filter aid. Saves a lot of time and money. Filtering each drawoff allows the filter to cool to much and you end up having to change filters more frequently and use more filter aid.

That said, when we package syrup that has already been filtered we use a short press to refilter and make sure that we got everything the first time. We do the short press the same way Maplewrks described it, by sliding pipe over the rods. We have two different lengths depending on how many plates we need to use.

[spud]

Do you draw off a little less then syrup grade and then heat it up to 200 degrees to make syrup? Do you keep constant heat in your finishing pan or wait until it is full and then turn on the heat to the whole batch before pumping it through the filter press? I see they sell 39 gallon finishing units and i was thinking that i could buy two of them so when one is full i could filter that while i am filling the other one. Thanks

Mike

[ToadHill]

We have an automatic drawoff on our evaporator and try as we might we rarely can get the density exactly right. If anything we tend to go to a slightly higher density. There is a simple calculation you can do that tells you how much water to add to bring it back to the correct density. Usually only takes about a Qt. to a 1/2 gallon to get a barrel full to the exact density. Drawing it off lite and trying to finish it takes to much time. It's faster to go heavy. We don't turn the heat on until we have almost enough to fill a barrel. We keep pumping syrup into it the whole time and draw out when it reaches 200-210 degrees. Our finishing rig is a 2x6 and it will hold up to 2 barrels, although we rarely let it get that full. The only drawback that I can see to this system and using only one finisher is that you end up mixing different grades sometimes.