Struggle with new filter press

[tgormley358]

After last season a 150 taps I started to think I might need to upgrade from flat filtering to a filter press. I read a lot here about it and found a number of others like me with under 300 taps considering it. Everyone seems say it’s one of the best investments you’ve made, So I’ve been looking forward to it. I shopped around and went for a Smokey lake 7” stainless with the hand pump. My experience with it has been less than expected, and I don’t know how much to chalk up to inexperience vs I really and too small for it. This is a report of the headaches I’ve run into and things I apparently haven’t figured out.

With 200 taps this year, a 50gph water removal RO and 2x5 evaporator, I’m drawing an average of 5 gallons a night when sap is running. I have flat filtered that in past years in the same night of boiling, with the only headache the cleaning and drying of the filter materials. And although I have gotten very clear syrup, I have usually seen sediment in the bottom of my glass bottles. So that was my incentive. Since this setup is designed to filter 15-25 gallons on one set of papers, I have saved up my syrup from a few nights to filter all at once. I have gotten very clear syrup the first couple of times, better than my past with flat filters. But the cleanup is still a headache.

The biggest issue I’m having is getting clear syrup quickly during recirculating. The last two times it has taken me 50-100 hand pumps to get clear, and today I only got 5 gallons clear before the pumping got very hard and I had to take the press apart and start over. On the second try I thought maybe the difficulty pumping was because I used too much DE, so I started with 7 cups instead of 8. Much easier, but I gave it maybe 50 pumps and never got clear. So I added more DE, and kept trying for another 1-2 hours before giving up and had to resort to my old flat filter system to finish up, and even that came out poorly which I’m guessing is due to the DE in the syrup. Smokey lake says to use 8 cups of DE, which I mix in my 4.5 gallon warning pan. Smokey Lake says it should only take a few minutes to get
Clear syrup.

I’ll call them tomorrow and see if they have any ideas. Am I making some
Newbie mistakes, from what I’ve shared so far?

[wiam]

There are different grades of DE. Did you get yours from a maple dealer? That seems like a lot for your initial batch. I use about that much to coat the papers on my 10” with 16 papers in about 8 gallons.

[Russell Lampron]

Ahh the plate filter press! The filter press is probably the most frustrating piece of equipment in the sugar house. There isn't much information out there on how to use one and that information is vague at best.

From my experience the most important thing is to only use filter aid from a maple supplier.

The next very important thing is to heat your syrup to 200* or higher. Smoky Lake has a video on YouTube that says not to heat your syrup to more than 190* because nitre will precipitate out if the temperature is over 193*. That info is partly true because nitre will precipitate out if you're heating the syrup but not true when it's cooling. The goal is to have the syrup coming out of the press above 180* so that it sterilizes the container that you're filling.

The third thing is properly charging the press with the right amount of filter aid. For a 7" short bank press that should be 2 or 3 cups mixed into 2 gallons of syrup. Pump the syrup and filter aid mixture through the press and back into the container that the mixture was in until all of the syrup in the container is clean. Return the remaining syrup to the batch to be filtered to get it back up to temperature.

Now reheat the syrup to be filtered to 200* or higher and add the filter aid to it that will be required for the amount of syrup to be filtered. The amount needed will be about 1/3 of a cup per gallon. That amount will vary depending on how dirty the syrup is. Use more for dirtier syrup. If you're unsure how much filter aid to use it's better to use more than less.

[DrTimPerkins]

In addition to Dave's excellent (as usual) advice, when the pumping became difficult and you broke down the press was the press full or was there still lots of space left for more DE? That'll help to diagnose your DE addition rate. MOST often people do not use enough DE and need to add more.

[UB29]

I purchased the same 7" SL press 2 years ago. I did however, get it with the air diaphragm pump (arm saver).
Had very similar clarity issues to yours initially; but stumbled across one very simple problem and an easy solution. When you load the papers, plate by plate....peek into the two plate windows as you load and make sure the hole in the papers are perfectly aligned with the window holes. Also sticking a finger into the hole helps with alignment. It is possible, as I found out, to have a paper pushed off to one side just a touch, enabling a leak to bypass that plate. And there's your cloudy syrup.
On DE quantity. We usually hold syrup until we have 10-15 gal. batches for bottling. Initially charge the press with 4 cups for the first 5 gallons or so. Next 5 gal. we add 2 more cups DE...and so on. That press is rated for 9 cups max. of DE.
After sorting out my alignment issue, and fine tuning the DE, we see crystal clear syrup every time and love the Smoky Lake press.
Hope the above helps.

Thanks, Bill

[NhShaun]

It sounds like you are using a little too much DE but if that's what the manufacturer suggests then there may be another problem. I have a wesfab filter press with the guzzler hand pump. I had already purchased a different hand pump from another project that had the upgraded pump handle and cage to keep the stroke straight, especially under pressure. i swapped it out and noticed it made it a lot easier to pump syrup through the press, saving my arm and the diaphragm from wearing out when pump under a lot of pressure.
That extra expense may not be justified or necessary since you just bought this unit. Perhaps you may end up with an electric or gear pump and can jump right out of the hand pump options.

Here is the pump
https://thebosworthco.com/products/productp.php?baseid=GH-0400N-5

[Russell Lampron]

Another thing that I didn't mention is that you need to know how many cups of filter aid your press will hold. To calculate that, measure the length, the width and the depth of the inside of a frame to find how many cubic inches it will hold (L x W x D = CI). One cup equals 14.438 cubic inches. Divide the cubic inches of one frame by 14.438 then multiply that by the number of frames to find the number of cups to fill it. The 10" press that I used this season had frames that measured 9" long, 9" wide and 2" deep, 9x9x2 which equals 162 cubic inches. Divide that by 14.438, 162÷14.438 which equals 11.22 cups. The press had 7 frames so the capacity was 78.5 cups.

I used 9 cups to charge the 10" press which left 69.5 cups capacity of usable space in the press. I used 3 cups of filter aid per approximately 10 gallons of syrup and was able to get about 200 gallons through the press on a set of papers. On one boil I filled 4 "He Man" 55 gallon barrels and when I broke the press down I found that I may have been able to get another 20 gallons through it.

The way to see how you're doing with filter aid usage is to examine the filter aid cakes when you break the press down. If the cakes are slimy and thin you're not using enough. If you're filling the frames before you get the capacity of the press through it you're using too much. Using the above formulas you can figure the capacity of your press out how many gallons of syrup you should be able to get through it on a set of papers.

[RC Maple]

I was reading old posts looking for info on this press. I also have the same 7" SL press with a hand pump. I have gotten to run 6 batches of syrup through it, so I'm pretty new at it. The first 5 batches were between 2 and 5 gallons. Since the book that comes with the press says you should be able to get between 5 and 8 gallons filtered per frame, I had been using one frame with the shortener plate. I made very clear syrup each time but the pumping was hard for each batch - too hard. Since those frames are said to hold 3.25 cups of DE, I had used between 2.5 and 3.25 cups per batch. I had gotten some good advice to go ahead and use 2 frames on all but the smallest of batches. The last batch I did was 3 gallons. I used 2 frames with the shortener plate and 6.5 cups of DE in the batch. I made great looking syrup and that was the easiest 3 gallons of syrup I have filtered. I did think that the second frame only had a 1/4" layer on each side and could hold more DE.

It seems everyone posting about DE usage has their own formula that works for them. The recommendation for the press is to use 3.25 cups of DE per frame. Does anyone just take that number and go with it? I think that's what I will do when I do my first batch next year.

[shedhunter]

Suspended niter was terrible this year and after struggling with cone filter again, I gave up and bought SL hand pump press as well. I agree it was kind of hard to pump but I think it was just the syrup. My biggest struggle was having only 3 gallon pot, so by the time I finished next 3 gallons to density, the press had cooled off. Second pass was way harder until about 2/3 way through. Thinking I need canner/bottler now so I can do several batches and then check density before bottling. I went with 1/2 cup of DE per gallon and that seemed to be working ok. Getting expensive to give syrup away.

[Pdiamond]

I have the SL hand pump filter press and the steam bottler/filter canner. I don't remember the book saying that, but when I add my DE to the syrup to be filtered I usually add about 3/4 to a cup per gallon. I have found that if I have multiple batches to do right away place a towel over the filter press to help it stay warm. If there is going to be any kind of a time lapse I run hot water thru the filter press and get out any remaining syrup. Then I have another bucket to catch the water syrup mixture, which I will boil off later. Once you start getting clear water you are good to go for the next batch, just reverse the cleaning steps when you start filtering syrup/

[Pdiamond]

I forgot to mention that I use my canner on my stove, I have never used the propane base. To me it is easier to control the temperature and it's warmer canning in the house,

[maple flats]

After reading or scanning the responses I have what I think is an easier way. First off, is the amount od maple grade DE, I have an air diaphragm pump powered 7" filter press with 5 sets of plates. (10 papers). I make my initial batch by pulling about 3 gal of syrup off, at 200-210F into my mixing tank. I then mix in 2-2.5 cups of DE (2 in early season 2.5 or maybe 3 late season depending on past history that season) in until it seems to be well mixed. Then my filter has 2 valves, a recirculation valve and a filter valve. I recirculate a minute or more to help mix the DE in, then I open the filter valve and slowly close the recirculation valve until fully closed, all while the pump is running. at that point I have 2 hoses aimed into the mixing tank. I at that point only have flow from the filtered hose. I let it run until the syrup coming out "sparkles" meaning it's super clean. I then open the recirculate valve, close the filter valve and move the filtered hose to either a barrel to be filled or into the bottler, all while the pump is running. As the last of that batch flows into the filtered syrup barrel or bottler, I shut off the pump. I then draw off 6-6.5 gal of more syrup, mix in 1.25 cups DE, mix and recirculate for maybe 40-60 seconds, then I open the filter valve (the hose is still in where I was sending the syrup) and I slowly close the recirculation valve. That repeats until the barrel is full, or the bottler is full or I run out of syrup. That last one only happens if I pumping into the bottler, I never start filling a barrel unless I have enough to fill the barrel. If too little, I let it set in the 2x6 finisher until I have enough to completely fill a barrel.
Sorry for making this so long, but that will work well for all who try it, regardless of the type or size of pump. You only need to adjust DE to filter the amount of syrup being done.
With your hand pump filter you should still be able to pretty much follow this way, but you might need to adjust the amounts of DE. The basic point is that the first pumping on clean papers will coat the surface of the papers with a blend of niter and DE, mostly DE. once the papers are coated and you are sending the syrup to a container from which you will be bottling your sparkly syrup. Additional batches can get less DE mixed in, because the filter cake has coated the papers, note that my added batches only got about 1/2 the DE in 2x the syrup. If you try this I think your experience will prove to work far better.

[JoeJ]

If I understand you correctly, you put all the DE in the syrup at once. Your should start your filtering with a precharge with a gallon of syrup with 1/3 of your total DE (2 1/4 cups for 2 plates which hold 6 1/2 cups of DE). You need to build up new additional layers of DE as you go is to build up clean filtering layers. If you are adding all the DE in one batch, then you are not building up any real layer of DE to filter through and the DE will get plugged and stop the filtering.

[maple flats]

In my case, as I described 2 posts above, I use the most DE on a new set of papers, then I use about 1/4 tah much per gallon on all following batches. If following batches are not soon after the initial, sometimes the next day, I use a little extra on the first filtering session of the day, but not as much as I would on a new set of papers.
I only do a followup filtering on the same papers the next day or two. Longer than that, I clean the filter press and start fresh with new papers.
JoeJ is correct, don't just start with all of the DE in the mix at the start, and add more syrup to it, each new batch needs it's own DE added. I do however as I am finishing the final batch to be filtered, if I'm finishing up all of the syrup in the finisher, to be filtered, I add slightly more DE in that batch, and I raise the off end of the finisher and open both valves to let it drain the finisher while the pump and filter press are working (my finisher, 2x6, has one divider, with a cross over on the end opposite the draw offs, thus I open 2 valves).

[Pdiamond]

Thanks for covering that part Dave, I forgot about the recirculating until it sparkles, then into the canner. I do it, just forgot to type it.

[maple flats]

I purchased the same 7" SL press 2 years ago. I did however, get it with the air diaphragm pump (arm saver).
Had very similar clarity issues to yours initially; but stumbled across one very simple problem and an easy solution. When you load the papers, plate by plate....peek into the two plate windows as you load and make sure the hole in the papers are perfectly aligned with the window holes. Also sticking a finger into the hole helps with alignment. It is possible, as I found out, to have a paper pushed off to one side just a touch, enabling a leak to bypass that plate. And there's your cloudy syrup.
On DE quantity. We usually hold syrup until we have 10-15 gal. batches for bottling. Initially charge the press with 4 cups for the first 5 gallons or so. Next 5 gal. we add 2 more cups DE...and so on. That press is rated for 9 cups max. of DE.
After sorting out my alignment issue, and fine tuning the DE, we see crystal clear syrup every time and love the Smoky Lake press.
Hope the above helps.

Thanks, Bill

I'm not sure about alignment of the holes is that important, yes you want to be close but a little off has not shown to slow the press down. I have noticed that any misaligned hole fix themselves. On my filter press, if I'm off a little, the pump makes the hole round where the paper landed. That does not mean you can be far off, because that would make a leak where one hole ended at least partially in line with the window in the hollow plate, resulting in DE in the filtered syrup. Maybe it's just me.

[220 maple]

Watching Nate Bissell videos he asks everyone if they know how a filter press works, no one has expressed that they knew exactly how a filter press works. I know it took myself and my helper about 15 years to finally figure out how much filter aid to use! Take one of the frames that catches the filter aid lay it on a flat surface, fill it up level, then put it in a bowl or scoop that is how much to use times the number of frames on your press. That seemed to work for us.
Mark220maple

[maple flats]

I never try to fill the hollow plates, it's not necessary, when the plates are full is when the pumping gets much harder or impossible and you need to open the press and clean it to start fresh. Unnless I have a lot of syrup to filter, like maybe 2 barrels worth (My barrels are 26.5 gal SS) I rarely ever end up with full hollow plates when I break down the press to clean it. Some of that depends on the season, no two years are the same, most years the amounts I gave work well, some years I need more. That is determined as I run the mixture of DE and hot syrup, if the filtered syrup takes too long to Sparkle as I run it back into my mixing pot, I add more DE, but that is rarely needed. From there, I close the filtered valve after opening the recirculation valve and I move the filtered discharge hose to either a barrel being filled or to my bottler. Then I open the filtered hose valve and close the recircultion hose valve. From there, I keep an eye on the pressure, when the filtering gets harder I slowly open the recirculation valve sending some of the flow back into the mixing tank. If while filtering I need to open that recirculation valve over 1/2 open it tells me, I need to change the papers and stat fresh after cleaning the press. On my press (A Lapierre from about 2007) the pressure should stay below 40psi or I risk bursting a paper catching the DE. That's what I watch. As I understand it, the Smoky Lake press or maybe it was the clear Leader press or others can run at higher pressures, for that consult your press manufacturer's directions. My only experience is with my Lapierre Press, initially with 3 sets of plates, then with 5 sets as it has now. You need to realize the DE amounts I gave are for my press a 7" Lapierre, other sizes will use different amounts of DE. The larger the press the more DE you need, and vise versa. It all depends on how much surface area your press has, both on each plate and times the number of plates. I'd think it would be simple math. If your press has 100 Sq inches per plate, that 2x whay my press has (49 sq "), I have 5 hollow plates, if you have more or fewer just do the math.