5" filter press upgrade

[Dennis H.]

Well, the time has come to upgrade my handpump style filter press to one that requires a little less effort.

I have spent a lot of time and effort this year to more stream line my operation and be able to get more sleep!!
And this was the last piece that needed to be done for my plans.

I am using a 1/3HP motor that I picked up at Surplus Center. I have a 2" pulley on the motor and a 6" pulley on the Oberdorfer N4000L gear pump. I got those from Tractor Supply. The gear pump came from Central Equipment out of NY. Very good prices.

10075100761007710078

[KV Sappers]

Sweet. Should help you a lot. Hope we have a good season this year.

[sweetwater sugar shack]

I have the same press what was the cost to convert it thanks dave

[maple flats]

Maybe I'm not seeing some plumbing, but do you have a bypass? When you start circulating hot syrup you first want to fully blend the filter aid (FA) and the hot syrup in your mix tank and then you want to precharge the papers with a cake of FA. While you can mix well by hand, final blend will be more uniform if run thru the pump and returned to the mix tank for a short while. Then you want to close the bypass valve and send the syrup thru the pump and back to the mix tank until the discharged syrup appears to sparkle (crystal clear). Then I find it best not to shut off the pump, I get best results from opening the bypass valve, move the syrup discharge hose to your canner or where ever you are moving the filtered syrup to, and with the hose in the destination container, open that valve and slowly close the bypass valve.
Also, as your filter papers start to get filled, you can still get more syrup filtered by slowly opening the bypass to hold the pressure just below the max. recommended for your press.
If you have provisions for this that I missed, sorry. You will really like the improvement you made. For bypass, don't just connect back into the pump infeed or you won't be able to blend the product well in the mix tank, a slug of FA that gets into the suction could cause an issue.
Have fun!

[Dennis H.]

10102 10103

Yes I have a bypass built into it, That is what the ball valve is for, you just can't see the inlet in the pics because of the motor.

You can also see the braided high pressure hose that leads back to a T fitting on the inlet side of the gearpump.

As for cost. The total came in right at $469.
The single most expensive part was the gear pump. It took a little while to find the best place to get it from and it is from Central Equipment out of NY. Great price, $262 including shipping. It showed up in like 2 days! Really great people to deal with.
So with $262 for the gear pump that leaves $200 for everything else.

[sweetwater sugar shack]

Thanks looks like a new project

[lpakiz]

I don't mean to be too critical, but your belt looks a bit misaligned. Maybe it is just the angle of the camera. If it is actually misaligned, I would like to suggest that you flip the big pulley around, to put the belt (and the side pressure on the pump bearing) as near to the pump bearing as possible.

[Dennis H.]

Thanks for the heads up ipakiz, but it is aligned OK. It is funny how that one pic does make it look way off.

[Sugarmaker]

Dennis,
Very nice work on the filter press upgrade! Looks awesome! Nice details. We are only a couple months away.
Regards,
Chris

[nymapleguy607]

Looks Good Dennis, I have the same press and I want to convert it as well. How are you connecting the pump to the press? Looks like cam locks but what are you using for hose? I like how the pump can be separated from the press so it can be used for moving bulk syrup. Nice Job

[Dennis H.]

That is the exact reason why I made it this way. I can now use it for other stuff.

I am using 1/2" SS camlocks. The hoses I am going to stick with what I have for now, reinforced braided clear hose. The only hose that will see any higher pressure will be the one between the pump and filter press. So if that one blows I will replace it with a SS braided hose.
But I'm going to try it this way first, I might regret it though.