CDL fat 7" press plates- pros/cons?

[tuckermtn]

we ordered some additional waffle and cake plates for our 7-8 year old CDL short bank press. despite giving the dimensions of our existing plates to CDL rep, they sent us the newer, fatter waffle and cake press plates. we managed to get the two different plate sizes to actually line up (hash mark on new plates go on opposite side of press than existing tabs, go figure...)

does anyone have experience with new fatter press plates and can compare them to the earlier, narrow plates? i get that the fatter plates hold more DE, but is there more than that? any downsides?

we plan on using our Franken-press till the end of the season and then decide to go full bank all skinny plates or all fat ones.

[sapman]

Hi Eric,
Just noticed this old post while looking back a ways. I got the fat CDL press a few years ago. Have had lots of frustration with it. It seems to bust papers pretty easily, so I'm not sure if the gear pump is almost too strong for the press or what. My biggest problem was not realizing what large amounts of DE is needed to charge it. Also, a lot of my sap is from soft maples, which I'm told filters hard. I'm a lot more successful with it now, but it still breaks papers seemingly prematurely.

I'd say I get about 2 40 gal barrels through one set of papers. With my old press, if I got enough DE in, I couldn't break papers. Hence my thinking this pump does higher pressure/volume.

[mellondome]

It is probably the papers. Are you wetting them before using?
Could also be the waffle plate. Are there any high or sharp spots? Or warping?