DE pool filter

[maplemaker]

I was wondering if any producers were using DE pool filters to filter your sap and how you plumbed them?Do you recerculate the sap when you charge the filter with DE?I know you get some DE in a pool.Would this DE have some effect on my RO or will the 5 micron prefilter catch all the DE.Also do you drain the pool filter every time you use it to keep the bacteria down?Thanks everyone for your advice.

[3rdgen.maple]

My question is why is your sap so unclean that you have to run a big pool filter? I personally think its overkill. I filter sap goining into the head tank with sap filter bag. Also if I dont clean it often like every 2 days it will start to smell of spoiled sap and ruin the next batch entering the tank.

[lew]

Perhaps he has to unload sap quicker than than a sap filter bag can handle. Or he wants his sap to be as clean as it possibly can be before it gets to his RO. Or maybe he wants to do the best possible job that he can do. Or maybe he wants to do something different than you do. Infering that he has poor quality sap is not helping to answer his question.

To answer your question maplemaker, I have run one in the past. It was too small to keep up with the sap being delivered. It did an excellent job and really quieted down the RO (old piston pump style). We ran it like a filter press. Recirculated sap/DE mixture to get a cake on the filter then ran the sap through. Made crystal clear sap. It won't take any color out, just the cloud.

[chipa]

I used a DE pool filter this past season.It worked very well;lots of capacity and clean sap.

[3rdgen.maple]

Perhaps he has to unload sap quicker than than a sap filter bag can handle. Or he wants his sap to be as clean as it possibly can be before it gets to his RO. Or maybe he wants to do the best possible job that he can do. Or maybe he wants to do something different than you do. Infering that he has poor quality sap is not helping to answer his question.

To answer your question maplemaker, I have run one in the past. It was too small to keep up with the sap being delivered. It did an excellent job and really quieted down the RO (old piston pump style). We ran it like a filter press. Recirculated sap/DE mixture to get a cake on the filter then ran the sap through. Made crystal clear sap. It won't take any color out, just the cloud.

I think you misunderstood me Lew. I wasnt inferring anything I was asking why he feels his sap is unclean that he needs the pool filter. Maybe my wording wasnt the best. Me saying it I think its overkill is my opinion thinking that with a closed vac system there would be minimal contamination. So wanting to learn myself I would like to know why he thinks he needs the pool filter. Is running a pool filter for later season sap that maybe cloudy get it to clear up and maybe a grade better? Sorry for my wording previously.

[lew]

3rdgen,
My apologies, the way I read your post it sounded condescending. I guess that's why I don't like texting, I'd rather actually talk the person. It's not what you say but how you say it.

as far as having a closed tubing system and little contamination, not so. there is a lot of crap that comes down the line, especially towards late season that I don't want going through my RO. the cloudier the sap the quicker my prefilters fill up. With my old spiral wound string filters costing $13 apiece, Abag of filter looks pretty cheap. When I tried using a DE filter it was many moons ago and it saved mmy butt. About 1/4 way through season we had a massive heat wave that lasted for way too long, and it never really cooled off. Lots of sunny weather with frosts. All the sap that came in after that wassuper cloudy and many times yellow. Even though we started gathering as soon as there was a load available. Aload being 1,500 gallons. At that time we had 8,000 taps in 6 different woods. So it didn't take long to get a load heading this way after it started to run, in other words no old sap. We ran the sap throung the DE filter and cleared it up then RO'd it and made our syrup. It still made a Grade B, a lot of it, but it had good flavor. Many other producers made a lot of commercial that year and the price difference was big, In the neighborhood of $0.75 per pound. It made me a believer. I still never hooked one up permanently but it still sits in the sugarhouse just in case. I am contemplating adding on a sand filter this year. I have seen a couple in operation and the guys that are using them are reporting excellent results. I am thinking of this for 2 reasons, 1) I need to unload sap faster, right now I can unload at 50 gpm. That means my truck and driver sit for 30 minutes waiting to unload. I would like to get some wheres around 100 gpm. 2) I would like to see all of my sap filtered before it goes into my storage tank, right now the only thing I have filtering my sap is the 5 micron prefilter on the RO.

[3rdgen.maple]

Thanks Lew for the info. Sometimes wording can be confusing especially when it is texting, now see that confusing isnt even the right word misleading maybe, i dont know. Anyhow your reply clears up (pun intended) some things for me. Never crossed my mind about saving on the RO prefilters and not till towards the end of the last post did the cloudy sap come to mind. I have a pool filter thats brand new and empty sitting in the garage I might have to consider putting it to use myself. Again thanks.

[802maple]

I believe in the DE filter process as I have seen it done with a huge filter press also. But having said that, Lew I think you need to get a new supplier for your RO filters, try Dultmeier and compare prices.

[brookledge]

I'm with Jerry, I believe in it since I began using it. I never had a DE filter until I got an RO. It is certainly is good. It allows you to get a lot more through the pre filters on the RO that is for sure. In my case I have a raw storage tank that feeds my DE filter and pumps it into another storage tank that the RO feeds from. I do not constantly run the filter as a recirculation pump but rather run it only when I'm going to boil. Because the DE filter and pump, pump the sap so much faster than the RO can take it is the reason you need a tank for the filtered sap to go until the RO takes it. In my case that tank is not as large as my raw storage tank and it can be used to recirculate your concentrate into if you want to run it through the RO again. I have a float switch set up on that tank so as the RO removes water the pool pump & DE filter come on as necessary.
It is really worth it late in the season as the cartridge filters in the RO would plug up a lot faster
Keith