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mapleman3
03-10-2009, 12:13 PM
Hey a question for all you diehard filter press users.
Last year was my first year with a press, ran 100 gals syrup though. each day I would totally clean it hoses and all. I had the time to... this season I don't want to get that crazy... do you guys rip it down and rinse all the plates and hoses? or do you leave syrup in the hoses till the next filtering? and do you just pull the papers and add new and run through with the next batch of syrup/DE ??
just looking for tips on how I can be more time spent doing the boiling filtering than tearing down and cleaning if it's not necessary.

Homestead Maple
03-10-2009, 12:57 PM
If I have to break it down because the pressure has gotten to high because of dirty papers, I break it down saving the syrup that drains off to be put back in the rear pan of the evaporator, remove plates, strip papers and old DE, soak the plates in hot water off the Steamaway, (5 minutes or so),reassemble with new papers and add more DE to do the next batch. I only run hot water to flush the lines if the press is going to set over night or for total clean up.

Dropflue
03-10-2009, 03:10 PM
Jim,
I break down and clean my press after each use. I have a sink in the sugarhouse with hotwater, so it's easy for me to just clean it each time. I'm also a bit of a clean freak, I cant stand sticky sugar coated equipment.

That said, I would do a quick rinse through the pump and hoses if anything.

WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER
03-11-2009, 10:25 AM
I break mine down and clean it after every canning as I usually can 12 to 14 gallons with each canning. After running the syrup thru, I then run about 1 gallon of distilled water off of the evaporator thru it and I catch all of this and then drain all of the hoses out and let them gravity drain as I can and then drain the remainder by hand when I am done canning. This creates aprox a gallon of very light syrup which I use to dilute the next batch of syrup as I draw off a little heavy and this works out perfect.

After draining the press this way, you lose ZERO ounces of syrup and then only thing left in it is a slightly dampened DE cake. Pop the cakes out in the trash and a little swishing of each cake and waffle plate in the distilled water and they are perfectly clean and ready to go. I tear the press apart aprox 30 minutes after running the distilled water thru it, but I wouldn't have to wait this long.

No reason to flush the hoses as this cleans them up plenty and when you are charging the press the next time if there would be anything in them which is very unlikely, this would take care of it. I know this will work for Jim(mapleman3) as he has a Lappierre press just like mine except mine has an extra set of plates.