Filter press intake tubing

[Bricklayer]

Just tried out my new to me 7” wesfab filter press
It has the gear pump on it.
I used high heat silicone food grade tubing. Bought it at CDL.
It’s basically just like milk line hose. Not braided. But very flexible.
It worked good for 20 seconds then the intake hose collapsed from the pump and linked the pipe right off.
Stopped the pump and tried it again. Same thing.
Should I be using a more ridged tube for the intake ?
I am sucking the syrup up maybe 2-3’ from the draw off tank.
Maybe I’m missing a step. Should I be priming it somehow first ?

[JoeJ]

Is the intake tube getting stuck on the bottom of the tank? That would cause the problem. I found that in order to stop intake tube getting stuck, cut an aggressive "V" in the bottom of the tube.

Joe

[Russell Lampron]

I've always used milker hose and never had a problem.

[Bricklayer]

Never checked to see if it was stuck to the bottom. I was actually thinking of putting a stainless T on the intake end to hold it down in the syrup. I’ll give that a try. Need to get something for the end of the discharge hose also to hold it on the side of the bottler.

[maple flats]

What diameter did you use. Years ago I had an issue, I had used a 1/2" high temp silicone hose, with about a 8' length, it flattened from the suction but did not fully collapse. I later changed to 1" high temp silicone hose, with no issues. Both had a 3/8" gear pump, I now have an air diaphragm pump which moves the syrup faster if I open the air supply full open, but I run it on medium flow at about 50 PSI.

[Bricklayer]

Seemed to work a lot better with the stainless T on the end of the suction hose. I used 1” tee with a reducer bushing then a 1/2” barb fitting. The intake tube I have is 1/2” ID silicone tubing.
I plan on getting a threaded nipple welded in the draw off pot then just hook the intake hose up to that.
I was looking at electric diaphragm pumps in CDL’s catalogue. It’s a sureflo pump. Says it’s for filter presses but states it’s good up to 170 F kinda weird as the filtering temp is usually higher then that.
I think I might eventually get an air powered pump. But right now the gear pump will do.

[maple flats]

My air powered diaphragm pump is rated 200F, but I heat my syrup to 205-210F, then draw it off into a SS milk dump station pot (it has a SS nipple out the bottom). I mix in the filter aid then pump it thru the pump and back to the draw off pot to blend it well, then I send it to the filter press. I think by the time it gets to the pump even the first time while blending that it is down to 200 or close to it. I never had an issue. Many others use a diaphragm pump rated for 212 F or more but I've been using the one rated for 200 for 5-6 years.