Keeping your filter press hot between filtering cycles?

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Wanted to see if anyone has considered the benefits, if any, of keeping the filter press hot between filtering cycles that could be from minutes to hours?? Considering this for the next batches of syrup made in our sugarhouse. Just wanted to get others thoughts, ideas / suggestions, and possibly disadvantages?
Regards,
Chris

[PerryFamily]

I built a cover, so to speak, for my press out of 2" blue board screwed together
I think it helps considerably

[Russell Lampron]

I tried to keep my press hot between draw offs and filter by the draw off but found it to be to frustrating. I tried putting a stack of towels over it to keep it hot but with too much time between draw offs that didn't help much. I had a 22 gallon finisher pan made for me and built a burner and frame out of an old Weber grille. I fill the pan with the the entire boiling sessions draws and heat it up, correct the density as needed and filter it all at once now and it works great.

[Sugarmaker]

I tried to keep my press hot between draw offs and filter by the draw off but found it to be to frustrating. I tried putting a stack of towels over it to keep it hot but with too much time between draw offs that didn't help much. I had a 22 gallon finisher pan made for me and built a burner and frame out of an old Weber grille. I fill the pan with the the entire boiling sessions draws and heat it up, correct the density as needed and filter it all at once now and it works great.

Thanks Guys,
Russ That is probably the way i should be doing it to. Just have been trying to avoid another step in the process. But I have been having some problems with getting the density right off the rig. I didn't really want to build another monument in the sugar house either. I do have a large deep stainless pan that would work as the warming pan. I don't have a burner setup built for under it. I do have my 9 gallon canner that is heated by propane.
My goal was to try to get the density very close coming off the rig, and filtering while it was still hot. But boiling raw sap the filter press may set there for 4-5 hours with small batches being put through it.

Basic question is does a hot press say 200 F allow for syrup to be filtered easier near the end of a days boiling?

I think I have a method to heat my press canister pretty easy. So I will try it for a while.

Still thinking on the finishing pan. What temp do you bring your syrup to in the finishing pan? What tool/ methods do you use to adjust the density?
Regards,
Chris

[lpakiz]

Concerning keeping the press hot....i have filtered a partial batch thru in the evening and just started another batch the next morning. As long as you can get a little hot syrup to start flowing thru, it will heat itself up. Sure, it drops the canning temp a bit, but if you go into a water or steam heated canner, then no problem.
If it absolutely will not start to flow, a cup of water as a chaser the night before will ensure the press is clean enough to start flowing the next day, and a cup isn't much in a canner full of syrup.
But back before I discovered this, I laid a 500 watt halogen light right on the press plates.
I suppose you could put a shield (tin or aluminum foil) over the light to retain heat.

[Sugarmaker]

Ok I am still learning a bunch about filter presses. So assume I have filtered 10 gallons of syrup through the press and stop for the night.

Should I just leave it set with DE and syrup in it and then start up the next afternoon with another 10 gallons of hot syrup? Guess I have not tried this.

What I have been doing is running hot sap from the evaporator through the press at the end of the night and then opening the press and cleaning out all the DE and getting it ready for the next run.

Regards,
Chris

[lpakiz]

Try that. You might be pleasantly surprised! If it doesn't go, try a cupful of water as a chase the night before. Pretty sure it will go the next day. Hard at first, but as the syrup heats the press, it will go as the night before.

The procedure some of us have is to first determine how much new, dry DE your press holds when chuck full. Then I premeasure this amount out, like into an ice cream pail. I now know that when this amount of DE is in the press, it is FULL and done for until it is cleaned and reassembled. This procedure ensures that I can predict when the press is full and needing service. I never end up with 3 quarts of syrup left and the press is full and needs servicing.
THEN, figure out how much syrup I have and how much DE it needs for the dirt load I want to remove. If real dirty or late season stringy, I might dump the whole pail of DE in. If I think I can make 2 or 3 batches of syrup with the pailful of DE, I put a little more than 1/3 of the pail in the first batch, 1/3 in the second batch and the rest in the last batch. When the last of the syrup has run thru, the press is full, with very little syrup left in the plates. I also will chase the last batch with a cup or so of water, to push any syrup out of the plates and into the canner.
If I am bottling a barrel of filtered syrup, the same pailful of DE will probably filter 50 gallons, because there isn't hardly anything to plug the DE, so it needs very little DE per gallon. Probably doesn't even need that much, but I want the press plumb full of DE when the last tablespoon of syrup goes into the press.

[JoeJ]

Chris,

What type of a WRU do you have? I have a steamaway that puts out 1 gallon a minute of 195* water. I have a 10" filter press and I keep track of the number of cups of DE added to coat the papers. It takes 70 cups to fill all of my plates. At the end of the days boil, if I have only added 35 cups, I just leave the press alone until the next boil. As the steamaway start producing 195* water, I let that hot water run over the top of the press for 10 or so minutes until the press and the syrup inside the press is very hot. I then start filtering syrup just like I had left the press after the last boil. Works every time and it saves throwing away a lot of DE and filter papers that might not even be dirty.

Joe

[Russell Lampron]

Thanks Guys,
Russ That is probably the way i should be doing it to. Just have been trying to avoid another step in the process. But I have been having some problems with getting the density right off the rig. I didn't really want to build another monument in the sugar house either. I do have a large deep stainless pan that would work as the warming pan. I don't have a burner setup built for under it. I do have my 9 gallon canner that is heated by propane.
My goal was to try to get the density very close coming off the rig, and filtering while it was still hot. But boiling raw sap the filter press may set there for 4-5 hours with small batches being put through it.

Basic question is does a hot press say 200 F allow for syrup to be filtered easier near the end of a days boiling?

I think I have a method to heat my press canister pretty easy. So I will try it for a while.

Still thinking on the finishing pan. What temp do you bring your syrup to in the finishing pan? What tool/ methods do you use to adjust the density?
Regards,
Chris

When I get close enough to running out of sap to boil I light the fire under the finisher to bring it up to temp. I then start testing the density with my accucup, hydrometer and comparison chart. I intentionally draw my syrup off on the heavy side because it is easier to dilute the syrup to the correct density than it is to boil it longer in the finisher. I heat the syrup to a slow boil or close to it and run it through the filter press. It has been my experience that the hotter the syrup is the faster it will go through the press. I can fill a 15 1/2 gallon keg without stopping unless the syrup is extremely dirty.

[Sugarmaker]

Chris,

What type of a WRU do you have? I have a steamaway that puts out 1 gallon a minute of 195* water. I have a 10" filter press and I keep track of the number of cups of DE added to coat the papers. It takes 70 cups to fill all of my plates. At the end of the days boil, if I have only added 35 cups, I just leave the press alone until the next boil. As the steamaway start producing 195* water, I let that hot water run over the top of the press for 10 or so minutes until the press and the syrup inside the press is very hot. I then start filtering syrup just like I had left the press after the last boil. Works every time and it saves throwing away a lot of DE and filter papers that might not even be dirty.

Joe

Joe,
I have a homemade WRU it is similar to a early steamaway. Puts out about the same rate and temp hot water that you get.
I am considering submersing my press (canister) in a bucket and let this hot water surround 90% of the filter.

Guess I still dont have the DE qty figured out. I usually get 15 gallons thru the filter. And it is not full of DE at that point About 1/4 full of DE. i have been adding about 3-4 cups total DE for that much syrup.

Here is the concept in pictures:

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee170/Sugarmaker/froze%20up%20FEB%2012%202016/DSC05139.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee170/Sugarmaker/froze%20up%20FEB%2012%202016/DSC05142.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee170/Sugarmaker/froze%20up%20FEB%2012%202016/DSC05144.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee170/Sugarmaker/froze%20up%20FEB%2012%202016/DSC05141.jpg

The hot condensate from the WRU would run into the pail around the filter canister.

Regards,
Chris

[JoeJ]

Chris, I guess that I should have read your operation description a little closer. I did not see that you had a SIRO filter press. However, IMO, what you are proposing to do to heat the canister should work and allow you to restart filtering the next day without cleaning the press if it is not dirty at the end of each days boil.

Joe

[Sugarmaker]

Joe,
Thanks.
I should have a better idea if this works in April.:)
Regard,
Chris

[unc23win]

What size Siro do you have Chris? I have a 24" The most DE I use is 1 cup for the first 5 gallons of syrup and that is it. I struggled with it the first year I had it too much DE and I would take it apart and it would only look 1/4 to 1/2 way clogged. Started using less DE and it works longer and is way way easier to clean.

[Sugarmaker]

What size Siro do you have Chris? I have a 24" The most DE I use is 1 cup for the first 5 gallons of syrup and that is it. I struggled with it the first year I had it too much DE and I would take it apart and it would only look 1/4 to 1/2 way clogged. Started using less DE and it works longer and is way way easier to clean.

Jared,
Now that's good information for me. I have the 12 inch version. I will try less DE. When I take it I usually have 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick cake and that much gap without DE.
Regards,
Chris

[unc23win]

I draw off into a brew kettle that has gallon marks on it when I get 4-5 gallons I put the DE in and stir it then turn in the pump and run it through back into the kettle 30 seconds or so and then take a quick sample to check clarity (never had it anything but clear) then I start filling a barrel. Remember it is uses the sugar sand to filter as well that's why less DE works it is way way easier to clean with less DE it falls right off. Mine frustrated me quite a bit until I started using less DE. It is another one of the instances where the Mpale industry failed when it came to the instructions.

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
So I have tried this and did filter 20 gallons through over one 5-6 hour boiling session. Doesn't seem to be hurting anything keeping the SIRO hot between draws. I did even try it when I made 5 gallons and then the next day after it heated up again and was able to filter without cleaning it.

Anyone have gray colored DE? What I had before was white and this new stuff is light gray?? I have to do some checking on that.
Regards,
Chris