Press by Daryl

Another quick question about Daryl's press. Lately as the pumping get harder I can push through a pumps worth but then it will not suck more in. As it sucks more into the line on the downstroke it will push it right back out of the hose. I thought it was the flapper valve but it seems okay. It always works well to start with but then starts doing this as it gets harder to pump. Has anyone else experienced this? It's like the pump needs primed but it can not get enough suction to prime itself. Maybe it is because the cavities are clogged and not enough is being pushed out to draw enough in.

I just pressed through between 3 1/2 and 4 gallons of late season syrup -- not the almost-syrup that I've been pressing. And it worked great! I did my usual recipe, but with a few small differences:

1. Instead of using sap for my charging fluid, I used permeate (i.e., water) from my $1,000 reverse osmosis machine. After pressing the boiling-hot charging fluid (with 1/2 cup of D.E) through once, I reheated it (this time without the D.E., of course) and pressed it again to get the press extra hot.

2. I let the syrup cool to about 200, and then I added the 3.5 cups of D.E.. The syrup was 192 degrees when I pressed it through with my wife stirring constantly while I pressed. I used slow steady up and down strokes. The longer handle and straight up-and-down motion of the new pump made it possible to do those long steady strokes with lots of volume of syrup in each stroke. I heard a little popping from the black diaphragm on the uptake for the last gallon or so, but other than that, nothing that slowed me down. It took me about 8 minutes to press it through.

3. After I finished pressing, I put the charging fluid through to clean the remaining syrup out of the press. This time I kept that half gallon of half syrup separate to be thrown into my last batch of the year, which I will make tomorrow.

4. At this point the temperature of the syrup was 170 degrees. I rigged up a double boiler by putting the syrup pot into a larger pot with about 2 inches of water boiling on the bottom, and room for steam to escape. In this way, I heated it up to 195-200 and my wife put it into jars.

My conclusion is that this new hand pump works great with pressing syrup. I pressed almost 4 gallons of late-season syrup without approaching the limit of how much it could press.

beltechc,

The flapper valve must be deteriorating, despite its appearance. You shouldn't be getting any air pumping backwards through it.

It's just a small flat piece of silicon, cut to the right shape and it isn't supposed to last forever. Daryl's invention (the case that holds the flapper valve) helps it last longer than usual, but it is so often replaced that Bosworth normally ships several with each new pump.

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Originally Posted by beltechc

A number of people have posted here about using 4 cups of DE. Is that the maximum that Daryl's press will hold? It seems like there would be an upper limit based on the space in the plates. How much DE do you guys use for 4-5 gallons of syrup. I am having a hard time getting it all through. Should I use more DE, will that help? But there does seem like there would be a max.

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I just cleaned out the filter press after pressing almost 4 gallons using 4 cups of DE. I don't think that the press has room for more than 1/4 to 1/2 cup more. Only one spacer, the furthest from the entrance, was not filled with D.E./sediment. That spacer had room for at least 1/4 cup, but not for much more than that.

Most of the spacers could possibly squeeze more DE in. They basically had two layers of DE in them, one lining each of the filters, and there was a narrow channel through the middle that was clear.

As far as the amount of DE that you actually need (I use more than I need), that actually depends upon the total amount of sediment, not the total amount of syrup. Late season syrup has more sediment in it, so it requires more DE. If I understand it correctly, the purpose of the DE is to keep the sediment from forming impenetrable barriers. When sediment is mixed with DE, liquid can still flow through the sediment.

Thank you all for your input. Howard, it sounds like you are having some better luck. Charging with water is interesting. Daryl has advised me to do that, which I did when I first starting using the press. He says that charging with syrup that is not fully stirred could clog the papers. My problem with water charging is that it is a pain to get all the water out of the press before switching to syrup. It doesn't take a lot of water in a 3 gallon batch of syrup to lower the density significantly. Since then I have been charging with syrup. Seems to work OK until later in the season. Now I'm having real trouble. I'm also have some problem with the top of the diaphragm leaking at the clevis. I just replaced the diaphragm, so it must be an issue with tightening something.

I talked to Bosworth, the pump company this week. They are nice folks, aware of us maplers and our issues. Unfortunately, buying the upgrade parts is not any cheaper than buying a new pump with the metal parts. Doesn't seem quite right. I just need to find a way to get more syrup through. My batches are usually about 5 gallons or more. Maybe I will trying water charging again. Maybe I need a bigger press.....

Marc

maple marc,

I pressed through a 3 gallon batch of very dark syrup today, again without problem. Although I switched from sap water to permeate water in the charge, I don't think that doing so made much difference. I only did it because RileySugarbush posted that that's what they did and I was no longer planning to throw the charging fluid into the current batch of syrup.

The improvements that I made over the years which enabled me to press through syrup now, whereas I couldn't before when I first tried it were: (1) adding a charging step so that the press would be hot when I started, (2) reducing the D.E. in the charging fluid to a minimum, and (3) stirring the syrup-D.E. mixture constantly while I pressed.

I used to think that the D.E. helped the paper filters keep out the sediment -- WRONG. The paper filters are fully capable of keeping out sediment by themselves. The purpose of the DE is to mix with the sediment so that syrup can flow through it.

One last bit of advice, and this probably applies to everyone using a filter press: When you wash out the filter press, examine the contents. If you are doing it right, the D.E. and sediment should be mixed together forming an evenly colored tan cake. If you are doing it wrong, you'll see white patches (D.E.) and black patches (sediment).

I pressed through 4.5 gallons today of syrup - last batch of the year. I could have pressed more.

I did it without charging first, though I did heat the press by washing the plates with hot water just before I started. I was thinking of Maple Marc's concern that he didn't want to thin the syrup with the water of the charging fluid.

By constantly stirring all 4 cups of D.E. in the syrup, I achieved the most even distribution possible. In the post-mortem, the spacers were evenly filled. Most were a dark tan or a chocolate-brown mixture of D.E. and sediment. Only one spacer had some gooey gunk in it, indicating that it was probably blocked up with sediment. The others still appeared to be porous.

Conclusions:

1. It is possible to press through more than 4.5 gallons of late season syrup if you mix all four cups of D.E. with the syrup and stir constantly while you press. (My wife stirs with a two-foot long stainless steel spoon while I press.)

2. The charge is optional, though heating the plates before you begin may not be optional. If you don't want to thin your syrup with charge water, it is possible to heat your filter press by washing the plates in very hot tap water just before you begin.

3. The new pump and new diaphragm make it possible to pump harder without stressing the diaphragm, provided that the temperature of the syrup is in the 190 to 210 degree range. Temperatures above 212 weaken the diaphragm, so they should be avoided. I pressed 4.5 gallons of late season syrup, and it never slowed to a trickle.

Here are the papers and filter aid from the last batch that I filtered.
Very dirty syrup.

Attachment 11560

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Originally Posted by Dennis H.

Here are the papers and filter aid from the last batch that I filtered.
Very dirty syrup.

Attachment 11560

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Just what I get to look forward to. When you draw off do you use a pre filter before running it through the press? Just curious as your DE/sediment looks like the color of the crap in my paper filter!

I will be running several gallons (around 40) through the press over the next week - in stages of course, so it was nice having the info above to read ahead of time. I did use sap when chargin the press last year and it worked great. Not sure if I'll have the opportunity to do it again this year as the season up here is just about over. One more day of boiling as they are running a bit today. Otherwise we're done.

Thanks to all for the info!!!

Dennis H.,

That's dark and sticky -- you've clearly reached the limit of what the press can filter. My dark ones are about the same color, but, except for one, were not as sticky looking.

How many gallons of syrup were in that batch that you pressed?