Smokey Lake Flat Pre-Filters

[wnybassman]

Has anyone else in the last year or so experienced anything different with Smokey Lakes pre filters? I used to filter until things slowed, pull a filter and filtering would resume until the next one clogs. There would also be noticeable crud on each filter as well. Now it seems I filter until things slow, pull a filter, and nothing seems to change. No crud on the filters either. It really seems the pre filters are allowing sediment to pass through and the heavy filter is catching everything. I filter coming off the evaporator also, so the syrup going into the flat filter as I am bottling is pretty clean as well.

Just curious if anyone else is experiencing something similar, or if I have a different issue going on. Very aggravating. Might be time to get a press.......

[johnallin]

It's more than likely the filters...not too many moving parts there to go wrong and not many ways you can mess up that procedure.
Possibly try another brand to see what's going on.
A good filter press will be a huge improvement in your process though.
Leader makes a really good Clear Press. :cool:

[wnybassman]

I heard back from Smokey Lake, their product has not changed over time. Doesn't mean whoever they get from didn't change though I guess.

I seem good up to about 9 or 10 gallons, maybe I just need to keep bottling sessions less than that.

[ebliese]

So I'm going to ask a silly question...are you rinsing your main filter off every so often?

We have used a Smoky Lake steam bottler for a few years now. We haven't noticed any difference in the pre-filters. The only thing we did is add one or two more (just so we don't have to run up to the house and quick rinse them off and dash back to the shack).

[wnybassman]

So I'm going to ask a silly question...are you rinsing your main filter off every so often?

We have used a Smoky Lake steam bottler for a few years now. We haven't noticed any difference in the pre-filters. The only thing we did is add one or two more (just so we don't have to run up to the house and quick rinse them off and dash back to the shack).

I do not rinse main filter during a filtering session, but thoroughly rinse and dry between sessions. I first noticed this problem last season when I ordered the large 36" sheets from SL and cut them down. Had a problem right away, so in my mind I thought their big sheets might have been a different manufacturer than their precut sheets in the filter sets. So yesterday I broke open a new SL filter set hoping my theory was true. I used the included 4 pre filters as well as 2 older ones on top for a total of 6. I filtered about 12 gallons of syrup yesterday. The first 5 gallons went through without even getting the entire surface of the filter wet. I do a really good job of filtering off the evaporator, so when I reheat to correct density the syrup is really clean, all the major gunk is already out of the syrup. The next 5 gallons (fresh and piping hot) starts to back up a little as expected. By the end of that it is an inch or so in the filter and going slowly. This is when I pull a filter to get flow going good again. Except now it doesn't. The filters do not look fouled at all. My only conclusion at this point is whatever the main filter is catching, the pre filters are not. Maybe I can only get 10 gallons out of a session? Past years have typically been less than 10 per session, this crazy year I have had to do more per session. Maybe I just never noticed it in the past?

I have extra main filters. Maybe I do 8 or so gallons and change everything out before I do more?

How many gallons at a time do you run through the canner each session?

[DRoseum]

How long is it between the two 5 gallon batches?

[dcast99]

This used to happen to us before we got the press. We concluded that the main filter was getting too cold and sugaring up. If it was the filter set that we were drawing off into we would just pour some near sweet onto it to thin the sugar in the filter out. If it was in the filter set on top of the canner we would pull the filter rack off the canner and put it over the front pan to steam heat it and thin the sugar out of it. It is also recommended to wet the filters before using them.

[wnybassman]

How long is it between the two 5 gallon batches?

About as soon as the first 4 or 5 gallons gets put in, the next is right ready to go.

[wnybassman]

This used to happen to us before we got the press. We concluded that the main filter was getting too cold and sugaring up. If it was the filter set that we were drawing off into we would just pour some near sweet onto it to thin the sugar in the filter out. If it was in the filter set on top of the canner we would pull the filter rack off the canner and put it over the front pan to steam heat it and thin the sugar out of it. It is also recommended to wet the filters before using them.

Yeah, I wet all the filters with piping hot permeate before use. With the canner half full of 188 degree syrup, do you think the filters still get too cold? With the lid on? I mean, that's exactly what the filters look like when I'm done, just full of syrup.

[johnallin]

Noel,
You're making a lot of syrup to not be using a filter press.
60+ gallons warrants the time savings and improvement in quality IMO.
I run from my press right into the canner.

[wnybassman]

Noel,
You're making a lot of syrup to not be using a filter press.
60+ gallons warrants the time savings and improvement in quality IMO.
I run from my press right into the canner.

Yeah, I know. I've been eyeballin' them for a couple years now.

[ebliese]

How many gallons at a time do you run through the canner each session?

We have bottled anywhere from 1 gallon (surprise end of season stuff) to 6.7 gallons in a session.

We also are using the large 36" sheets cut down to size this year. The past few years we used the pre-cut filters. We have noticed we seem to have way more niter this year and have had to rinse all the filters more often.

Actually, now that I think about it, we did have one instance this year of syrup not filtering. We had bottled 6.7 gallons of syrup and then reheated some heavy syrup to filter, adjust density, and bottle. The heavy syrup would not filter. It just sat there, lid on, filters wet, everything. So we decided to pour it off, rinse the filters, and see if that fixed the problem. As I started rinsing the main filter, I could clearly see what areas had been rinsed and what hadn't. I put the filters back on and the heavy syrup went right through. So maybe these filters can only take so much syrup before they start to slow down and clog?

[wnybassman]

We have bottled anywhere from 1 gallon (surprise end of season stuff) to 6.7 gallons in a session.

We also are using the large 36" sheets cut down to size this year. The past few years we used the pre-cut filters. We have noticed we seem to have way more niter this year and have had to rinse all the filters more often.

Actually, now that I think about it, we did have one instance this year of syrup not filtering. We had bottled 6.7 gallons of syrup and then reheated some heavy syrup to filter, adjust density, and bottle. The heavy syrup would not filter. It just sat there, lid on, filters wet, everything. So we decided to pour it off, rinse the filters, and see if that fixed the problem. As I started rinsing the main filter, I could clearly see what areas had been rinsed and what hadn't. I put the filters back on and the heavy syrup went right through. So maybe these filters can only take so much syrup before they start to slow down and clog?

I'm starting to think after filtering a decent amount of syrup then allowing it to sit for a short period of time, the syrup in the filter must "set up" to a certain degree not allowing more syrup to go through. I've always thought the heat of the already filtered syrup was enough to keep the filter loose and ready to filter more, but maybe that isn't the case?

[wnybassman]

Tonight I bottled 9 gallons. Ran it into the filter a lot faster from my transfer pot and things went very well. Had 6 pre filters on top on the heavy filter, but never had to pull one. I might have been trying to run the syrup into the filter tray too slowly before.

[ebliese]

I'm glad you found something to work for you!

[wnybassman]

Bottled 20 gallons today. Was cruising along pretty good up to about 16 gallons then it just stalled. Had a second set of filters ready to go so swapped them out to finish. A press might be in my future.