Running sap thru a water filter

[Mark K]

Has anyone tried running sap thru a whole house water filter to filter out some niter or sugar sand before boiling?

[KevinsHope]

I wondered about this too, but I concluded that it might remove too much of the natural sugars in the sap.

[David in MI]

I did last year but used a filter that would only pick up larger items in the sap not the fine charcoal/etc style filters. I wound up removing it as it was mounted in my supply line between the head tank and the evaporator and too difficult to clean after each boil. I now am using a y-strainer at the outlet of my sap pump so every time I move sap it goes through the screen. This has really done a nice job of removing the debris we got in our sap from the bags.

[BSD]

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I use one to capture misc debris that ends up in the tank. i started with a 50 micron and it worked great for about 400 gallons but then it plugged up slowly and i didn't notice it was restricting the flow into the pan, almost burnt my pan up at draw off time because of the restriction. I now run a 5 micron and it's much better. The only problem is if i don't boil every day you have to rinse it extremely well, or the clear housing heats up like a green house effect (mine is in indirect sun) and it warms up the sap and makes it a little funky. I'm undecided if i will run it next season. I'm thinking not, as i'd like to get get into the RO game, and just do my filtering on that end.

[Sugarmaker]

I dont think your going to get any of the niter out. As other said it may become a restriction.
Regards,
Chris

[DrTimPerkins]

Has anyone tried running sap thru a whole house water filter to filter out some niter or sugar sand before boiling?

There is no niter in the sap before it is heated. There are plenty of dissolved materials in sap, in particular the pre-cursors to niter, being malic acid and calcium/magnesium salts. These become concentrated and combine during boiling until they reach saturation, at which point they deposit onto pan surfaces (forming scale) and these break/flake off into small particles (sugar sand). Therefore, filtering sap prior to boiling will not help reduce niter. Filtering sap is good for reducing microbes however, which will help preserve sap quality during storage before it is boiled. Filtering might also help slightly in reducing the sludge-type scale that forms near the inlet float box (which is basically just dead microbe sludge).

[Mark K]

Thanks to all. I just learned a lot. And as of this learning will not attempt this idea. Thanks again to all.

[wiam]

RO machines run a filter similar to what you are talking about on the feed side.

[BSD]

well, i'm pretty sure i ruined about 15 gallons of syrup using my household filter. the syrup is cloudy and has a weird after taste. I'm 95% sure the filter element got tainted despite freezing temperatures in between boils and ruined the sap as it passed through.

The worst part is the trees ran today and should run tomorrow but i wont collect anywhere near enough to sweeten the pan again. what a ****ty way to end the season.

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[maple maniac65]

I use a brand new whole house filter every day I boil. They cost $2.87 apiece bought 50 at a time on ebay. Sometimes late in the season I need to use more than one when the sap is slimy.

[ka9bxg]

We might be done for the year .But we might try a milk sock used for pipeline milk .They are only a few dollars each.So we plan to put it on the line going into the storage tank . We will see next year.

[BAP]

I have a 4"x10" house hold water filter in the line from my storage tank to the head tank. After each day I take the filter out and rinse it out with water. I replace it after a few days of use when it doesn't clean up anymore. It catches all the stuff that gets in the sap from having open top tanks.

[DrTimPerkins]

The worst part is the trees ran today and should run tomorrow but i wont collect anywhere near enough to sweeten the pan again. what a ****ty way to end the season.

Collect just a bit of that sap in a 1 gal saucepan (without filtering) and boil it. What does it smell like boiling? What does it taste like when it gets to (or close to) syrup? It is possible in your area the sap may have already gone buddy, and that might be what you're experiencing.

[DrTimPerkins]

I use a brand new whole house filter every day I boil. They cost $2.87 apiece bought 50 at a time on ebay. Sometimes late in the season I need to use more than one when the sap is slimy.

These house filters are very often washed with a soap/sanitizing solution. You should rinse them out very well before using them if at all possible. They should also be replaced fairly regularly, particularly if it's been warm and the sap quality is not so good. Best to filter the sap going into the tank rather than going from the head tank to the evaporator. Helps lower the microbe level during storage and slow sap spoilage.

[BSD]

Collect just a bit of that sap in a 1 gal saucepan (without filtering) and boil it. What does it smell like boiling? What does it taste like when it gets to (or close to) syrup? It is possible in your area the sap may have already gone buddy, and that might be what you're experiencing.I'm going to pull a gallon out of the pans and another gallon from my head tank and see what the difference is.

I tap all sugar maples and they're not out yet, the reds have been out for a few weeks now, but the sugars are still holding on due to the real cold snap we got a week or so ago. Today will likely be the last run of the season for me.

[BSD]

So just to document what i'm doing.

I went and checked the sap direct from the lines, and it's crystal clear, tastes perfect, although low 1.6% SC.
I pulled a gallon from my transfer tank in the truck and there is definitely some haze to the sap, but not bad IMO. I noticed a few little gelatinous, stringy blobs in the gallon i pulled off. maybe 4 floating at the top of the pot of a gallon sample.
I pulled a gallon of syrup/sap from my finishing pan which i flooded the last time i drew off and shut down. so it's much closer to syrup than the gallon i've started boiling from the transfer tank.

Both are boiling away on my deck right now.

DrTim, can i send you or someone else a sample to help ID what happened if this all comes back inconclusive?

[DrTimPerkins]

DrTim, can i send you or someone else a sample to help ID what happened if this all comes back inconclusive?

Let me know what you find after you've boiled the sap from before/after your filter. I'm not real keen on tasting nasty syrup, although we do end up doing that fairly frequently (not one of the fun parts of this job).

Gelatinous blobs = not good. Generally that'll make stringy syrup, by which time you need to stop collecting and do a thorough cleaning of EVERYTHING in the system to get rid of that particular microbe.

If the red maples budded out a few weeks ago, the sugars aren't real far behind. You may be tasting pre-bud, "or bud lite" as some people like to call it. "Buddy" off-flavor can start to appear as soon as the buds start to swell. Have other maple producers around you stopped?

[DrTimPerkins]

I went and checked the sap direct from the lines, and it's crystal clear, tastes perfect, although low 1.6% SC.
I pulled a gallon from my transfer tank in the truck and there is definitely some haze to the sap, but not bad IMO. I noticed a few little gelatinous, stringy blobs in the gallon i pulled off. maybe 4 floating at the top of the pot of a gallon sample.
I pulled a gallon of syrup/sap from my finishing pan which i flooded the last time i drew off and shut down. so it's much closer to syrup than the gallon i've started boiling from the transfer tank.


If you want to check to determine whether it is the filter, then you would fill your head tank with sap, take a gallon off of that tank (that did NOT run through the filter), then run a few gallons through the filter and collect a gallon of it. Boil each of those separately.

[BSD]

Let me know what you find after you've boiled the sap from before/after your filter. I'm not real keen on tasting nasty syrup, although we do end up doing that fairly frequently (not one of the fun parts of this job).

Gelatinous blobs = not good. Generally that'll make stringy syrup, by which time you need to stop collecting and do a thorough cleaning of EVERYTHING in the system to get rid of that particular microbe.

If the red maples budded out a few weeks ago, the sugars aren't real far behind. You may be tasting pre-bud, "or bud lite" as some people like to call it. "Buddy" off-flavor can start to appear as soon as the buds start to swell. Have other maple producers around you stopped?other guys are still running, today and tomorrow will likely be it. 7 day forecast doesn't look good for sap after today.

i went and pulled another gallon off to check from transfer tank and there are no blobs in this one. the ones in the first sample were very small, maybe half a CM by half a CM at the largest.

stringy syrup will filter out though, right?

[DrTimPerkins]

other guys are still running, today and tomorrow will likely be it. 7 day forecast doesn't look good for sap after today.

i went and pulled another gallon off to check from transfer tank and there are no blobs in this one. the ones in the first sample were very small, maybe half a CM by half a CM at the largest.

stringy syrup will filter out though, right?

To TRULY isolate whether it is the filter, you will want a sample of the sap from the tank, and another from immediately after the filter from the same batch of sap. Taking from new sap versus old sweet from the pan mixes several variables into the comparison.

Stringy syrup does not filter well and is hard to get proper density on. Packers won't take it typically. Generally it is tossed.

[BSD]

To TRULY isolate whether it is the filter, you will want a sample of the sap from the tank, and another from immediately after the filter from the same batch of sap. Taking from new sap versus old sweet from the pan mixes several variables into the comparison.unfortunately the filter is gone in the household trash, i disposed of it in my disgust of discovery of the wasted syrup. this is as close as i can get to replicate the result.

just for clarification my transfer tank and head tank are the same tank, i simply move it from the truck to a pallet rack in my garage where it's hooked to the plumbing to the pans.

I boiled down a sample 1 gal from the transfer tank and didn't note any off-flavor, the sample was too small to filter so it is hazy.
I'm boiling another batch from the pans as i over cooked the first sample messing around with the first sample.

[BSD]

OK, so i boiled down a sample from the pan and there is a definite sharp taste, i could almost describe it as metallic. it doesn't quite burn your mouth, but it's definitely there. So it's either something from the filter or possible contamination from the pans. i cleaned them with hydrogen peroxide and a good water rinse afterwards after the last warm spell we had before i fired up again.

[BSD]

just as a follow up to this thread i'm now certain it was the filter that contributed to my bad batch of syrup, the other contributing factor is ever-so-slightly buddy sap. The sugar maples are not budded out yet here, but I believe, after comparing samples with another sugar maker that the trees are putting out slightly buddy sap. it's undectable in the sap in my opinion, and you only start to get a very slight smell of it just before it becomes syrup. the syrup has a very slight tinge to it, i don't believe 99% of people would even pick up on it. but both of us agreed that there is _something_ there in both our samples.

Back to the filter. Saturday 3/25 i ran the last of my sap, freshly collected 200 gallons. rather than change up the plumbing for one last boil i decided to run one last filter. it was a pleated 30 micron. i boiled it for 20 minutes and flushed it before use. it ran 200 gallons and just at the end of the evening it was starting to slow down in flow rate. still putting out over 40 GPH flow though. I cooled down the evaporator and finished up at 830pm the temperature was around 40 degrees with an overnight low of 35. I figured that since it would be 35 degrees the filter would be fine. the next morning i found a surprise 40 gallons in the tank in the woods of crystal clear sap. picked it up and went back to boil it. after hooking up the head tank to the plumbing i opened the valve and went to open the gate into the pan. There was no flow... i double checked to confirm the valves were all open, finally after a minute it trickled out (onto the ground). i opened the filter housing and the filter smelled sour and it was plugged up. i cleaned the housing and flushed the line,and boiled the last 40 gallons sans filter.

I was floored that the filter could go bad, overnight, with temps around 35 degrees. that's the temperature of your refrigerator for crying out loud. i saved the filter in a plastic bag and put it in the fridge and the smell is unmistakeable now.

Chaulk this one up as another lesson learned in 2017 for me.