cleaning filter press pump? what about water freezing in it?

[markct]

i finaly got tired of hand pumping my filter press and added a motor and gear pump this year, i see many people say clean there pump they pump water thru it, but i am affraid if it dont get all the water out it will of course freeze and damage the pump. so far i have left it full of syrup but not sure what the proper procedure is to prevent damage.

[tuckermtn]

I typically chase the syrup out of the lines with water after I finish filtering. not all of that gets drained out, and I am sure that it has frozen inside the pump head more than a few times. So far, so good. Either I am really lucky or it does not seem to be an issue.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

We leave the syrup and and then run a couple gallons through and then check for clarity before it goes in the canner. The couple of gallons then get fed back through the finisher. At the end of the season we chase with water and take the lines apart so it can drain. Not sure this is the best practice though as we have had pumps fail sooner than I think they should, be very interesting to hear how others do it.

[markct]

yea i kinda figured on leaving it full of syrup since when you filter the syrup wouldnt matter if a touch of mold had grew etc, it will be hot and filtered out anyhow, but was concerned about the times i would like to use the pump for transfering syrup from barrels to be reheated, but maybe then i should just push out the old syrup in the pump into a pail and save to filter later

[Homestead Maple]

I left water in mine the first year and it froze and distorted the end cover so that it leaked. I took the cover off and put a new gasket on it and it tightened down enough so that it didn't leak, so I have stored it in a heated place now.

[DrTimPerkins]

We purge the pump and press with HOT water after filtering the syrup. We collect the hot rinse water in a bucket since it has a lot of sugar in it (20 deg Brix or better typically), and then pour it into the the flue pan. This saves many gallons of syrup over the course of a season, and makes the press much easier to break apart and clean. After that, we simply tip the pump up at an angle to drain. Never had a problem with it. Probably depends partly on the design of your pump and how much water will be left inside.

[Father & Son]

At the end of the night when I'm done filtering I run hot sap from the flue pan through the press to remove the sugar and put it back into the first channel of the syrup pan. I then break the press down, clean and rinse with hot water. Then like Dr. Tim I just tip things back and forth to drain out the water.

Jim

[ennismaple]

Good tip Dr Tim - thanks! I'd never thought about how much syrup gets flushed out and thrown out when we clean the filter press at the end of the day. That should result in a few extra gallons at the end of the year. First beer's on me!

[Russell Lampron]

Like Dr. Tim I rinse my pump with hot water and dump that into the flue pan. I then put the pump in the heated RO room so that any water left in it won't freeze.

[markct]

thanks for all the thoughts and advice, the way i did it during the season is simply leave the pump full of syrup, the hoses couple together, and take the filter bank to the sink to wash it after loosening the plates to drain the syrup, thats worked well, with the hand pump of course, then at the end of the season of course would wash the pump out and drain it. i plan to do simularly during the season with the gear pump but was more worried about in the off season when im using it as a barrel pump, altho i usualy reheat and filter everything after it comes outa the barrel anyhow.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I flush mine with hot distilled water off of the preheater like Dr. Tim and I draw off my syrup a little heavy and use this to thin it to the right consistency.

[Homestead Maple]

thanks for all the thoughts and advice, the way i did it during the season is simply leave the pump full of syrup, the hoses couple together, and take the filter bank to the sink to wash it after loosening the plates to drain the syrup, thats worked well, with the hand pump of course, then at the end of the season of course would wash the pump out and drain it. i plan to do simularly during the season with the gear pump but was more worried about in the off season when im using it as a barrel pump, altho i usualy reheat and filter everything after it comes outa the barrel anyhow.
Ya, if you leave syrup in it, it won't freeze.

[Brian]

We wash the plates every night and leave the pump full of syrup,the next time I boil,I run the by pass to warm up the pump so the syrup in the pump mixes with the new batch in the draw off box,then I send it through the press.

[mapleack]

We flush ours with hot sap that gets returned to flue pan, then rinse with hot water. It stays in the heated kitchen so freezing isnt an issue, but I think that there isnt much liquid left in it to freeze anyway.

[wiam]

We flush ours with hot sap that gets returned to flue pan, then rinse with hot water. It stays in the heated kitchen so freezing isnt an issue, but I think that there isnt much liquid left in it to freeze anyway.

I do similar to this, but not stored where it is warm. I have a t coming off discharge side pump with a valve for a drain.

[Brian]

Ours will freeze tight if you take the syrup out and leave water in it.

[wiam]

I do similar to this, but not stored where it is warm. I have a t coming off discharge side pump with a valve for a drain.

I have never had mine freeze when I open the valve to drain the pump.