How much Diatomaceous to use?

[ldick]

How do I determine the proper amount of Diatomaceous to use with my filter press? I suspect I may not be using enough as I can only get 10-12 gal through before having to change papers.

[JoeJ]

What size is your filter press and how many hollow plates do you have?

[wiam]

And how thick are the hollow plates?

[Sweet Maple Trees]

Generally use 2-3 coffee cups to "charge" the press and 1-2 cups per milk pail of syrup after that. http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/filter_press_brochure.pdf

[ldick]

I have 7 hollow plates. I believe they are about an inch thick.

[maplwrks]

4-6 cups to charge the press will do it.

[JoeJ]

With a 7" press with 7 hollow 1" plates you should charge the press as Mike said, 6 cups. When the 7 hollow plates a full, they hold 23 cups of dry filter aid. Add 3 cups every 2 or 3 gallons to re-coat until you have added 23 cups total including the pre-charge. If your hollow plates are not full of DE when your press stops filtering, you either have 1), not added the DE fast enough or 2) you have syrup that is difficult to filter.

I had a 7" press for 10 years until I added 2,000 taps last year. The 7 hollow plate filter press only has about 280 cu. inches of space to hold DE. I bought a 5 plates 10" filter press last season with 2" thick hollow plates. The 2" thick 5 hollow plates have 855 cu inches of DE space. So instead of filtering 10-15 gallons with my 7" press, the new 10" inch press will do over 100 gallons.

The formula for dry DE to fill your plates is .0819 cups per cu in of the total number of cu inches in all of your plates. My 5 plates 10" press is full of DE at 70 cups. I pre-charge it with 14 cups.

[Sweet Maple Trees]

With a 7" press with 7 hollow 1" plates you should charge the press as Mike said, 6 cups. When the 7 hollow plates a full, they hold 23 cups of dry filter aid. Add 3 cups every 2 or 3 gallons to re-coat until you have added 23 cups total including the pre-charge. If your hollow plates are not full of DE when your press stops filtering, you either have 1), not added the DE fast enough or 2) you have syrup that is difficult to filter.

I had a 7" press for 10 years until I added 2,000 taps last year. The 7 hollow plate filter press only has about 280 cu. inches of space to hold DE. I bought a 5 plates 10" filter press last season with 2" thick hollow plates. The 2" thick 5 hollow plates have 855 cu inches of DE space. So instead of filtering 10-15 gallons with my 7" press, the new 10" inch press will do over 100 gallons.

The formula for dry DE to fill your plates is .0819 cups per cu in of the total number of cu inches in all of your plates. My 5 plates 10" press is full of DE at 70 cups. I pre-charge it with 14 cups.

With my 8 chamber grimm 7" press it would hold 15 cups when packed full. On wood fired evaporator made syrup I would get 30 gals MIN. And upwards to 50+ before changing papers. Oil fired I would get 60+ most of the times. 12-15 gals per packed press must be first boil of the season stuff or end of season Mersh?

[sapman]

With a 7" press with 7 hollow 1" plates you should charge the press as Mike said, 6 cups. When the 7 hollow plates a full, they hold 23 cups of dry filter aid. Add 3 cups every 2 or 3 gallons to re-coat until you have added 23 cups total including the pre-charge. If your hollow plates are not full of DE when your press stops filtering, you either have 1), not added the DE fast enough or 2) you have syrup that is difficult to filter.

I had a 7" press for 10 years until I added 2,000 taps last year. The 7 hollow plate filter press only has about 280 cu. inches of space to hold DE. I bought a 5 plates 10" filter press last season with 2" thick hollow plates. The 2" thick 5 hollow plates have 855 cu inches of DE space. So instead of filtering 10-15 gallons with my 7" press, the new 10" inch press will do over 100 gallons.

The formula for dry DE to fill your plates is .0819 cups per cu in of the total number of cu inches in all of your plates. My 5 plates 10" press is full of DE at 70 cups. I pre-charge it with 14 cups.

Joe,
Thanks for this info! I've been using a 10" press for two seasons, and have always struggled with how much DE to use. This makes good sense and I'm getting more syrup through now.

[highlandcattle]

We have a wes fab 5 plate press. So how much should we be using? Thanks. Always struggling with the right amount.

[JoeJ]

Measure the inside dimension of your hollow plates and find the number of cubic inches of space in each hollow plate. Use the formula I posted in post # 7 to figure out the total DE needed to fill all of the hollow plates.

Do not add too much DE. You will pack the press so full that it will not filter.