Home built filter press

[Foremaple]

I was talking to a guy the other day who told of a neighbor who built his own Plastic filter press. Sounded similar to the Leader one but without the stainless screen. He milled the plates out of poly carbonate stock. The guy is a millwright or something. what would the advantages of a plastic filter press be?

[Dennis H.]

Sucking heat out of the syrup for the press to warm up.
Beyond that the only other thing would be being able to see how full the plates are getting with DE.

[mellondome]

Probably Making it himself was the biggest advantage.

[Cedar Eater]

I would like to see a design for that. Home built equipment just impresses me.

[NH Maplemaker]

The other thing with Leaders new plastic press is if one of the hollow sections get plugged it will bye pass it and still keep filtering! At least that is what the Leader salesman told me!

[Dennis H.]

I think all filter presses will bypass a full/plugged plate.
Each plate is in parallel to one another so the flow of liquid should be evenly spread among all the plates.
So not sure how one will fill/plug before another. I guess maybe the 1st plate may see more flow since liquid will want to find the path of least resistant so there may be a little less for the 1st plate then the second plate, but I think that the difference between the different plates would be kind of small.

Sounds like a line of bull that the sales rep was telling you about the new presses. For what I can see there is absolutely no difference in concept from the new plastic and the "old" cast presses.

[Daryl]

There is very little difference between the plate as they fill. The reason that people like the Leader press is that it stays cool to touch and they can see when it is full of DE and niter.
I question if the normal person can find the correct material that will stand up to the heat of the syrup and not blow out. The plastic is mixed to create the correct properties.

[sugarsand]

The other thing with Leaders new plastic press is if one of the hollow sections get plugged it will bye pass it and still keep filtering! At least that is what the Leader salesman told me!
Isn't that how they all work?