First time press questions

[Alex Davies]

Hi,

I bought filter press and I will be using it for the first time to filter a barrel of syrup.

I bought it in Quebec from a lad who doesn't speak much English, and my unfortunately my French is no better.

So I've got 4 questions I was hoping for clarification with

1: It's a full bank 10" press with 8 sets of plates (8 spacers and 8 of the honeycomb looking plates). He recommended putting 2 sheets of the filter papers for each plate, but he said that will amount to a total of 16 papers. However, now that I look at it, I don't know which side of the plate to put the papers. If I put them on both sides of each plate then that will amount to a total of 32 papers...
Does it matter what side you put the papers on? Is this correct that you should put 2 sheets together on each plate?

2: I have also gathered that if I don't have a whole lot of syrup to filter than I can use less plates. I was wondering how to do this. The rod that holds the plates is not threaded all the way through, so if I was to only use say 4 of the plates, then I wouldn't be able to tighten the press together because I would have run out of threading... Do folks us bushings for this? Or should I get another set of threaded rods?

3: During the season, how do I put the press to sleep for the night. The fella said that it'll do up to 3 barrels of syrup before you need to change the papers. I'm lucky if I can make a barrel of syrup in a day... Therefore, do I run 5 gal of hot water or hot sap through the press at the end of the night, put that back into the evaporator and start pressing again the next day? OR do I leave syrup in the press overnight?

4: Lastly... at the end of the season, what do folks do? I would suspect that the press would hold a gallon or more syrup, do you discard this syrup after the last pressing? Or run hot water through and re-boil?


THanks for your advice!

[Haynes Forest Products]

OK this is easy

1) Each side of the plate gets a paper. Each separation gets a paper. each opening gets a paper. One each and that's all only one.

2) You can make spacers out of simple black pipe from the hardware storeIf you decide on 4 plates then install them and mesure the space between the end plate surface and to the wing nut and washer and get 2 matching pipe spacers.

3) When your done filtering for the Day, Month or year with the drip tray in place just crack the wing nuts back a few turns and pry the plates apart and go leave it for a few hours and you will get 95% of the hot syrup to drain from the press. YEA you can play around with hot water and do a real good clean up of the last 5% but its time consuming. Just filter till the plates are full of crap and filter aid. Crack the plates and go to bed in the morning you will have a tray full of over density syrup that you can drain into the finisher/reheater. Yes yes you can suck/pump hot water thru the press to get the last little bit out

4) End of year cleaning is just like your end of day cleaning pull all the plates and hose off with hot water and run the pump sucking hot water thru it.............................YOUR DONE.

Now at the end of the year Ill hose the entire housing, pullys and belts to get the sugar and grease crap off it then cover it.

[Alex Davies]

Thanks Haynes!

So, just to clarify: There's 8 plates and 8 spacers. So if I put one on each side of each then that will be 16 papers total

Filter aid is the DE powder?

I'll make the bushing spacer out of pipe as suggested! Thanks

Let's say for example that I do 1 barrel in a day. I crack the plates and drain syrup at the end of the day. If it's not clogged, next day I can just go ahead and run another barrel of syrup through it no cleaning or changing papers necessary?

Ratio for DE is 1lbs/barrel?

Thanks again!
:)

[Haynes Forest Products]

Correct every plate or chamber surface ges a paper (16)

There are to many variables to say how much syrup you will filter on a set of papers. Papers are cheap and DE is cheaper. You will clean the press after every use. You don't restart it cold or after it clogs. Its not worth the pain of cleaning your shack from the syrup mist that will blow all over the place from hydraulic pressure.

If you take the time to heat the syrup be it 10 gallons or 50 you filter till the press slows down and becomes clogged. Then you break it down, clean and reinstall new papers. This process will take you about 10 Min. With the press still hot ro get back to filtering. You don't wait for it to cool

[maple flats]

Figure out how many pairs of plates your existing rods will tighten at, is it 5,6,7? Then make up 2 spacers to equal 2 sets in thickness ( a set being one waffle and one hollow plate). Since you may be doing some small batches you may even want a set of spacers that equal the thickness of 3 or 4 pair too. That way you have lots of ability to shorten the press to fit that day's need. That being said, I started with a 3 bank press and later added 2 more pair of plates (2 waffle plates and 2 hollow plates) so I now have a 5 bank. While I could run it as a 3 bank, especially when I process a barrel of syrup (which was filtered as it filled the barrel) I still use it as a 5 bank. As Haynes said, papers are cheap and DE is cheaper.
With my seasonal production at between 180-350 gal of syrup, a bag of DE still lasts me 3-4 years and a box of papers a little longer. When I buy a new bag of DE I repack it in food grade 5 gal buckets, with a new trash bag liner in it. I use about 1 bucket every 14-16 months or so. I sell everything retail except any commercial I might make. This past season I made no Very Dark or Commercial syrup.

[JoeJ]

Alex,
Here is the formula that I figured out for the DE.

The formula for dry DE to fill your plates is .0819 cups per cu in of the total number of cu inches in all of your hollow plates. My 5 plates 10" press is full of DE at 70 cups. I pre-charge it with 14 cups. I then add about 2 cups to each new 5 gallon batch until a total of 70 cups had been put in. If you over fill the plates with DE, the press will stop working

This formula works for Dicalite DE which is a finer grade of DE. I use Celite DE which is coarser and use 30% less DE. 56 cups fill all my plates using Celite.

Joe

[Haynes Forest Products]

OK this is crazy I had to get up early to get the wife from the airport. My alarm wakes me up and I have this stupid revelation that with a full bank press you have 8 plates you share every plate with a paper so you only have 5 papers but Holly molly you have chambers that can't be right.....................Dang Chuck get up and think man did you just give out the wrong info for all to see? Wait that cant be right OK OK use your fingers and do the counting you still groggy 12345678910111213141516 OK got it it ain't 16 papers its 17 you end plates! OK OK get to the computer before someone yells at me. quick :emb: OH crap there is one less plate because of the end plate being waffled so that cant be right so were back to 16...................right? now I'm late for the airport............................SEE YA I need new fingers these are screwing me up:mad:

[Alex Davies]

Alex,
Here is the formula that I figured out for the DE.

The formula for dry DE to fill your plates is .0819 cups per cu in of the total number of cu inches in all of your hollow plates. My 5 plates 10" press is full of DE at 70 cups. I pre-charge it with 14 cups. I then add about 2 cups to each new 5 gallon batch until a total of 70 cups had been put in. If you over fill the plates with DE, the press will stop working

This formula works for Dicalite DE which is a finer grade of DE. I use Celite DE which is coarser and use 30% less DE. 56 cups fill all my plates using Celite.

Joe

Wait a second,
So, that's 70 cups of the dry DE powder each time I press? Seems like too much no? I was thinking it'd be more like 2 cups or so or 1 lbs /barrel of syrup?

Confused...

[Alex Davies]

I'm at 2000 taps now, so it seems like 8 bank is a little overkill for me... Especially if I have to replace papers and DE everytime I press.

I can usually draw off around 6 gal of syrup per hour off the evaporator... When do folks usually do the pressing? Wait until the end of the day boiling, and press the whole batch at once? Or press as it comes off the evaporator (around 6 gal/hr)? If I wait until the end of the day, then the syrup, having sat for hours, will likely be under 180 degrees. Is the press able to process syrup at say 100 - 150 degrees?

[Alex Davies]

OK this is crazy I had to get up early to get the wife from the airport. My alarm wakes me up and I have this stupid revelation that with a full bank press you have 8 plates you share every plate with a paper so you only have 5 papers but Holly molly you have chambers that can't be right.....................Dang Chuck get up and think man did you just give out the wrong info for all to see? Wait that cant be right OK OK use your fingers and do the counting you still groggy 12345678910111213141516 OK got it it ain't 16 papers its 17 you end plates! OK OK get to the computer before someone yells at me. quick :emb: OH crap there is one less plate because of the end plate being waffled so that cant be right so were back to 16...................right? now I'm late for the airport............................SEE YA I need new fingers these are screwing me up:mad:

Hehe,
I think it's 16 papers... Though now I have to run down to the sugar shack and confirm...

[Super Sapper]

You can run the syrup through your press whenever you have time, it will just need to be heated to about 200 degrees. The amount of DE is determined by the amount of syrup and how it is filtering. You will use the same amount of DE with 3 or 5 sections if you only needed 3 sections. It just won't be full with 5 sections. You will just use more papers and as said they are cheap. It really sucks when your press is full and you still have about 1 gallon left to filter.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Once you own a press and run it you will find its idiosyncrasies and will invent new ways to run it. When you get a bag of DE yes a big bag from whoever you will realize that it will last a season and it was the cheapest supply you will get. I know guys that filter off the press by mixing DE in the draw off tank and filtering into their finisher/reheater and then once they have a set amount they heat to filtering temp and then filter once more into the bottler.

Now if you were to stack all your chambers on end on a cookie sheet and fill with DE keeping track of how much it takes to fill 1/2 the plates that will give you what you should use to mix in your syrup for a smaller amount (1/2 bank) and then double it for the full bank. DO NOT pack it in the plates just like your mom did when sifting flower. Because the DE packs down under pressure the sugar sand and niter will have room in the plates. Run the press until pressures build and the plates clog up. When they fill 100% with cake you wont have much syrup loss when cleaning or switching out the papers mid filtering.

I f I could filter 2-3 drums per filter change using a full bank 10 inch I would be buying one tomorrow. I'm skeptical of the figures the guy gave you. Its like saying I can feed my entire family with X amount of food.........YEA right send me a photo of the whole family and not from the neck up:lol:

[Maple Man 85]

I f I could filter 2-3 drums per filter change using a full bank 10 inch I would be buying one tomorrow. I'm skeptical of the figures the guy gave you. Its like saying I can feed my entire family with X amount of food.........YEA right send me a photo of the whole family and not from the neck up:lol:[/QUOTE]

I own a full bank 10" press, there are times when I can get 2 barrels through and there are times when I struggled to get a barrel. It all depends on the niter, how the press was charged and how you mix DE as you continue to filter. I do filter straight from the draw tank off the evaporator. the trick is keeping the press hot. I like to put something over the press to keep it hot so the plates are exposed to as little cool air a possible. I do agree that papers and DE are cheap but I also don't like to change papers on the fly so I push as much through the press as I can without blowing papers.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Instead of cutting spacers(been there, done that) for your press when you don't have enough syrup to utilize the full capacity, I would recommend purchasing a ss plate to slip in like the one pictured. They work great. Just slip in after the last plate you want to use and tighten the press like normal. This acts as a dead end and you can use whatever number of plates you want.
As far as de goes, it is helpful to know how much your press holds, but amount of de will change a lot throughout the season depending how much sugar sand is in the syrup(usually early season there is less sugar sand so it takes more de and as the season progresses and trees thaw out there is more sugar sand so it will take less de. With normal syrup, we generally filter about 500 gallons with one bag of de.
I have an extended 10" press(10frames). After every boil, hot condensate water from the preheater is run through the press, then dumped back into flue pan. This saves sweet from press and makes it easier to clean. Picture keeps loading upside down. Can't figure out on phone. If an admin could fix it, that would be great
Neil18776

[Alex Davies]

Instead of cutting spacers(been there, done that) for your press when you don't have enough syrup to utilize the full capacity, I would recommend purchasing a ss plate to slip in like the one pictured. They work great. Just slip in after the last plate you want to use and tighten the press like normal. This acts as a dead end and you can use whatever number of plates you want.
As far as de goes, it is helpful to know how much your press holds, but amount of de will change a lot throughout the season depending how much sugar sand is in the syrup(usually early season there is less sugar sand so it takes more de and as the season progresses and trees thaw out there is more sugar sand so it will take less de. With normal syrup, we generally filter about 500 gallons with one bag of de.
I have an extended 10" press(10frames). After every boil, hot condensate water from the preheater is run through the press, then dumped back into flue pan. This saves sweet from press and makes it easier to clean. Picture keeps loading upside down. Can't figure out on phone. If an admin could fix it, that would be great
Neil18776

Thanks Walling's.

I like the SS plate idea.

I'm curious how much your 10", 10 frame press can hold? Mine looks fairly similar to yours... Only it has 8 frames... How much DE do you generally have to put for a batch?

Thanks everyone for all of the advice and info!
:)

[maple flats]

I can only speak for how much my 5 bank 7" press uses. Early in the season I pre-charge with about 1.5 cups DE (later in the season I may need to use 2 cups) in about 3 gal of 200+ F syrup. That coats the papers. Then I draw about 6-6.5 gal from my finisher and add about 1.5 cups DE, when that syrup has been filtered, I draw another 6-6.5 gal and do the same. I repeat until the finisher is empty. I do any where from 16 gal for my bottler up to 26.5 gal into a drum, or 26.5 x 2 into drums or some combination. That all depends on how much I had in my 2x6 finisher.
Then as I pack retail containers from a barrel I filter again but only if the syrup does not look perfectly clear. My exception is when I bottle bourbon barrel aged syrup. That always needs filtering again because bits of the char in the oak barrel get mixed in the syrup.
The amount of DE you need varies with the season, and year to year.
You do not fill the hollow plates to filter the syrup. You start with a precharge amount to coat the papers , then you use less/gal after that, each time blending the DE into the syrup and then pumping it thru the press. It may seem confusing but after you use it 2-3 times you will wonder how you ever got by without a filter press. The only time the hollow plates get full is when it is time to change the papers if you have more syrup to filter.
Look in the Proctor Maple Research site, they list a whole bunch of publications there, look for nd print out the one about "using a Filter Press", it will explain the procedure to you. In my early years I printed it out and made up a folder with the procedure in it. I used it 3 maybe 4 times, then I only used it when I was filtering after a few months of no filtering. I have not needed to refer to it at all after 5 or so years.
Some producers count how many cups it takes to fill the hollow plates, I have never done that. If the press gets full (all hollow plates are full) the pump will not move more syrup. At that point either clean the press and start over or save the rest of the syrup if you can until a future filtering session. If you are filling a barrel and have more syrup, you should clean the press and start fresh, if you are just sending it to your bottler, you may chose to hold off until you again have lots of syrup to filter. You are just over thinking this.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

I will check my notes when I go to sugarhouse tomorrow and let you know. I filter in 25 gallon batches(about every half hour when boiling). On the first 25 gallon push, I always add half the de I plan on using for that particular boil(usually between 40-50 cups on first batch). After that, I just space out the remaining half for the remainder of the boil (normal boil is around 200 gallons). Another thing I have always done is double up the first 4 paper sets. It seems that most of the time when a paper is blown it is here.

[Alex Davies]

Once again,
Thanks everyone for your input.

I just finished reading the proctor filter press operation pamphlet... should have done that first.

Just a few quick questions in relation to that...
My press doesn't have a pressure gauge installed yet. Is this completely necessary?

Also, it has a ball valve located between the pump and the press, but no bypass route back into the unfiltered syrup tank. Is this completely necessary?

Thanks again!

[Haynes Forest Products]

The gauge can help you decide when enough is enough NOW I run mine till the flow is down to a dribble if its getting to the end and the needle is bouncing of the peg.

The bypass is a nice feature for transferring syrup and I use it when im bottling gallon jugs as a way to slow the flow.

[JoeJ]

I first used my 7" short bank filter press in 2004 and it was mostly a frustrating experience each season. When I expanded to 3,000 taps in 2014, I bought a 5 plate 10" press and decided to figure out how to use it properly. That meant figuring out how to properly add the correct amount of DE and when to add it. I stacked my hollow plates, measured the DE, wet it and filled the plates. The first 14 cup precharge puts a coating on all the papers and each additional 2-3 cups addition adds a new filtering layer. My hollow plates are full after about 70 gallons of syrup. If the syrup is good, meaning not early or late syrup, The press will keep filtering until I have put 100- 120 gallons through it. If the evenings boil has been only 60 - 70 gallons of syrup filtered, I just leave the syrup in the press and before the next days filtering, I put the press under my steamaway drain and heat up the press with the 195 degree water. If I have filtered 80 or 90 gallons of syrup in one boil, I clean the press.

I went to a local kitchen supply store and bought a plastic container that holds about 60 cups of DE. When I start with a clean press, I fill the container with 56 cups of DE and as I filter I know the press plates are full when the container is empty and there is no chance of plugging the press with too much DE.

Joe

[maple flats]

Those methods may help some, but I still think many are over thinking the use of a filter press. Don't worry so much over it.
As far as a bypass, I can't see how one would work well without the bypass. My first circulation thru the pump is 100% back to the mix tank just to be sure I didn't leave any clumps of DE. Then I open the ball valve to the filter and close the valve for recirculate. At this time all filtered syrup is flowing back into the mix tank. When the syrup looks like it sparkles, I open the bypass, close the filter and move my filtered syrup discharge hose to either my bottler or a SS barrel. I have an overflow set up for when a barrel is full, if filling a barrel, that either goes into another barrel or into the bottler. As I filter I watch the pressure gauge, and I keep the pressure at or under 40 psi. As the hollow plates start to get filled up the pressure starts to climb, I then slightly open the bypass valve. I repeat , opening the bypass more as needed (back into the mix tank) until the batch is all filtered or until I need to clean the press and start again, depending on how much I have to filter.
To plumb a gauge and a bypass into your press, at the pump outlet use a SS nipple, then a 4 way cross. You then have 3 ports to plumb, 1 to the filter, 1 to the gauge and 1 to the bypass. The bypass hose can simply be a vinyl braid re-enforced hose. The syrup hose is generally a high temperature silicone hose from the filter to where you will be sending the filtered syrup, and between the pump and the filter press it should be a medium pressure rated food grade hose, even though it should never really see high pressure, if it were to burst it could be very dangerous, spewing 180+F syrup around.
My press came with all of that plumbing (all I had to add was the bypass hose), but you can do it if needed. My press also had a bronze gear pump but after about 10-12 seasons it needed replacing or rebuilding. I chose to switch to an air diaphragm pump instead. Once changed I only wish I had started with an air diaphragm from the start, so much easier. First it does not need babysitting like a gear pump. I can just set the air pressure infeed at about 45 psi and the pressure does not ever exceed 40 out of the pump, so I can be attending the evaporator more. If the pump stops pumping I then go over and slightly open the bypass valve and go back to other chores. So much easier with an air diaphragm, but not absolutely necessary.