Filter press help?

[NW Ohio]

Using a filter press for the first time. Bought it used.

Heated the syrup to 200. Mixed about 2 1/4 cups DE into 3 gallons of soup. Recirculated to "charge the press". I think the syrup looks pretty good coming out, the problem is it is coming so slow. The pressure reads about 60 psi. Only a trickle coming out of the hose.

How fast should it filter (this is way slower than my come filter)?

I'm a little concerned I may have bought a bad pump and it can't build pressure. Any thoughts?

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Is this a full bank, 7 inch press? You have lots of pressure if your gauge is accurate. Was the syrup filtered at all before this? I would try hotter syrup and more DE.

[mellondome]

Are your plates and papers in correctly? Double check. There should be an indicator on the top of the plates that will all be on one side. If you have a paper blocking the input or output holes you will get very slow flow.

[NW Ohio]

It's a 7" short bank. The syrup was previously unfiltered.

Played around a little... Changed the papers. This allowed the suction line to fill and the pressure went way over 70 psi. It appears to me that the pump is not the problem.

So my next question. What is the consistency of the DE everyone uses. The stuff I got was powder. I thought it looked very very fine, almost like baby powder but a little gritty between my fingers. I expected it to be quite a bit more course. The label clearly stated it was food grade and the company's website said it was suitable for use as filter aid.

The cake it formed on the papers was about 1/8" think and when I peeled it off the paper I could roll it into a ball like clay (although more sticky). Maybe I need different DE?

[markcasper]

What grade of syrup? You will probably only get 15 gallons through on a 3 bank, more if the syrup has settled out already. A worn out pump may be it. When I put a new gear pump on mine you could easily squirt syrup everywhere when it was starting to plug, now not so much.....normal wear. Your filter aid sounds fine (DE in this politically correct society).

[NW Ohio]

Yes to the plates and papers being in correctly. All the 'indicators' in the same side and we pulled all of the plates (minus the first and last) off in one block and could see through the holes. Kind of settling on a DE problem??? Thinking it is to fine??? Sound plausible?

[NW Ohio]

What grade of syrup? You will probly only get 15 gallons through on a 3 bank, more if the syrup has settled out already.

It is dark but has been settling in the freezer for about a month. I only got about 1 1/2 gallons through before it was trickling out.

[mellondome]

Use more de and make sure it is mixed up well. Keep mixing it as you filter.

[wiam]

Did you get the DE from a maple supplier? It is not a pump problem if the pressure went to 70psi. Was there good flow at first?

[NW Ohio]

Did you get the DE from a maple supplier? It is not a pump problem if the pressure went to 70psi. Was there good flow at first?

Yes there was good flow for a short time.

Here is where I am going to get abused... The DE was not from a maple supplier, although it is labelled food grade. Closest supplier is over an hour away and one of the big suppliers quoted $30 just for shipping. Yes... I believe I have seen the error of my ways. Roadtrip!

[jmayerl]

You should get filter aid from a maple supplier. A buddy once brought over his own when he borrowed my press and barely any would go through it. He said it was "food grade" that he bought online

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

You probably lost 30 degrees just running through the press and more with time. That sounds like a good guesstimate of DE. We use 2.5 cups in our short bank. Did you check the temp out of the press? Make sure the DE is mixed in good as others have said.

[lpakiz]

If the syrup was hot (1190-200) and the pressure went to 60 PSI before the window plates were full of DE/dirt, the DE wasnt building out fast enough to keep up with the dirt load. Either not enough DE for the dirt load or possibly the DE was too fine.
There is a differnce in DE even from the maple dealers. You want the coarsest, food-grade DE that a maple dealer can provide.
Very fine DE might be OK for wine or beer or some liquid that doesn't have such a heavy dirt load as your syrup possibly had. Those folks use fine DE to filter out ultra small particles, even bacteria and microbes and such. We don't need to filter that fine to get crystal clear syrup.
You can Google different brands and their grades of DE.

[wiam]

Is there a sugarmaker near you that might sell you a small amount?? No abuse from me.

[maple flats]

It sounds like the DE is wrong or you did not mix it enough or you needed more DE before starting the press. Even on a 7" short bank with fresh papers you should get full hose discharge until the hollow frames start to fill up. On my Lapierre, I have a bypass valve and I need to open the bypass to hold the pressure at 40 psi or below. I don't think I ever got to 40 psi on the first 3 gal, that usually took 10-12 gal thru the press before it climbed to 40, then I cracked the bypass valve to hold it down to 40 or less.
Was this very late season syrup? Sometimes that had enough niter that it needed more DE and plugged (filled the hollow frames) sooner, but never on early to well past mid season syrup.
Only buy DE from a maple supplier. If you don't need a full bag, the Maple Guys (our sponsor) sells smaller bags and that can be shipped, the 40# bags can not be shipped.

[Maplewalnut]

I would guess its the DE. I tried ordering it on line once and it blocked my press after a few liters. Evidently there are different sizes of DE. Order some from Maple Guys and you'll see a world of differnce

[madmapler]

All I can say that we charge our full bank 7"press with about the same amount of DE(2-2.5) to a 5 gallon bucket. Then one cup per 5 gals.after that. More at the end of the season. Is it possible you're using too much DE? Just guess work here.

[lpakiz]

You can never use too much DE. You could mix 20 pounds of DE with 20 gallons of water and it would run the water thru the press without without any appreciable pressure rise until the plates filled up with DE.
By no pressure rise, I mean that the back-pressure would be 0 until the last little space in the window plates were packed full of DE. And water would have full flow until that point also.

[maplenutter butter]

I had the same problem this year. It's the DE. I ran out and my cousin had some and it jammed mine up as well. Mix what you have with the bad DE with more syrup and add the right DE in. Your press will plug faster than normal unit you get all the bad DE out, but will go through.