Orlon filter not working

[Jim Foster]

Brand new, wetted down and using 3 pre filters. Hot syrup straight from the stove. Get a little clean syrup and then it slows way down to the point that it cools enough not to filter through. What's going on? Do I have a lemon? The pre filters are pre wetted and doing their job..... When I pull the last pre filter out, the syrup just stays in the Orlon filter, barely dripping out. Never had this happen this badly before. Unusually high amount of sugar sand this year isn't helping.

Jim

[ecolbeck]

How much is going through before it stops? If sugar sand is heavy you might only get a gallon through before it's time to change the orlon out.

[littleTapper]

More prefilters. Don't be shy. I can get through 8 gallons in cones with using 9-10 pre-filters even with heavy nitre. I end up pulling out ~4 on average during filtering.

[antelope76]

I use 2 orlons with a dozen pre filters in each and do about 10 gallons per orlon

[NhShaun]

What are the filters going in to or suspended from? I found that having them fit snuggly into a container helped keep the heat in which keeps the bottom of the filters hot for better filtering.

[red dorakeen]

I don't even try to filter without decanting. Even letting it sit overnight and then filtering all but the dregs at the bottom is so much easier.

[tcross]

i use 4 or 5 pre filters and an orlon filter. i put them inside a dairy milking can. i fold the top 2" over and it sets in there perfect and keeps everything hot. i filter off the evaporator, but i can put 15 gallons through it without having to change the orlon filter out... just take out pre filters when they clog. been doing it that way for 6-8 years now and never had an issue filtering. the syrup HAS to stay hot to work properly... plain and simple.

[Chickenman]

the syrup HAS to stay hot to work properly... plain and simple.

Yep, filter too, top and bottom side. Once I got my filter to fit tightly around my canner to trap in heat, it is faster than the vacuum filter I built.

Kris

[raptorfan85]

I only use cone filters. I do have an optimizer which helps dramatically. I can put 10+gallons through a cone filter before cleaning easily. I do use lots of pre filters. I never have less than 3 in the filter. I use 2 cones, one to filter right off the evaporator, and a second that is used to finish filter right before bottling. Without the optimizer cone filtering is miserable.

[Sugarmaker]

Jim,
What is the amount of syrup your filtering? Small volumes of syrup are hard to get through the cone type filter system.
Regards,
Chris

[fisheatingbagel]

I don't even try to filter without decanting. Even letting it sit overnight and then filtering all but the dregs at the bottom is so much easier.

I second this. For the small producer decanting is the way to go.

[Z/MAN]

I use one orlon and 3 prefilters. As others have said keeping the heat in is priority! I filter off the evaporator thru one pre filter. (Where most of the niter is removed)I finish and bring the syrup to the correct density and then pour it into my coffee urn canner directly off the stove. I then immediately place a tight-fitting lid on top of the filters. Since adding the lid to my process I have no filtering issues. I can and do run 3 gallons thru without even pulling a prefilter out. My last canning session I ran 5 gallons thru then removed 2 prefilters and filtered 3 more gallons with nothing plugging up and no syrup left in the orlon filter when I was done. I also bottle all my syrup at 200 + degrees according to the thermometer installed in the coffee urn. No, I do not have niter building up at that temperature. THE SYRUP HAS TO GO THRU THE FILTERS AT A VERY HIGH TEMPERATURE.

[Jim Foster]

Hey all, I'm only running half a gallon of syrup a shot and know the smaller the lot, the harder it is to gravity feed through the cone filters. Living in the Great American Desert here in Nebraska you just aren't going to find a lot of good producing trees. Anything in a pasture or on a hill won't get you a drop of sap. Only on the river or along a creek that holds water when it rains will you get any sap. I'm just a hobbiest here. From the replies here I either need to do as one fella mentioned, boil to syrup density, let it set a day and pour carefully so as to leave the major amounts of sediment or wait till I have several batches boiled and pour a couple gallons at once. Even the vacuum set up I made with a 5hp shop vac won't suck most of the syrup through the orlon filter. It plugs up that fast. When I watch videos of you guys doing this, your syrup is WAY clearer and lighter in color/consistency than my Box Elder. I agree with heat being a major factor in filtering but I'm pouring straight from the stove at 119 degrees so that's not the issue. I may be relegated to just pouring through my pre filters, filling up quart jars, letting them seal, letting them settle, opening and siphoning off to clean jars and re sealing at 190 degrees. Uggh........Jim

[Jim Foster]

I second this. For the small producer decanting is the way to go.

That's the way I'm going next year. I've been tapping since Feb 8th and still getting 2% sugar on my Box Elders. Checking tonite. 150 buckets and getting 25-30 gallons of sap every 3 days. We have been in a drought for years here. Only scooped snow once this winter. Not a drop of rain in months. Actually watered my yard Christmas day..... Not like it used to be for ****ed sure!

Jim

[fisheatingbagel]

I made a vacuum filter several years ago, with a 12" filter area, and I could never get it to work very well. Orlon flat sheets worked somewhat ok, but would still clog after a gallon. I also tried filtering with maple grade DE and press papers, but of course with DE you have to recirculate until you build a" cake", and there's no easy way to do this with a vacuum filter. Always used multiple prefilters, syrup hot.

Since then, I have changed to prefiltering off the evaporator into 5 gallon food grade buckets. I let the buckets sit for several weeks, then reheat to 200, then through prefilter and orlon cone into my bottler. I'm careful when pouring out the decanted syrup to keep the dregs in the bucket.

I combine the dregs from multiple 5 gallon buckets into a sap bucket (tall and narrow), and keep that in the garage fridge for our own use.