craptacular end to my season.

[BSD]

What a crap way to end the season, I ruined the last 15 gallons of syrup i drew off. apparently my filter out of the head tank got contaminated and was ruining the sap as it passed through, as i was finishing it over the last few days i could tell there was something a little off. i have 10 gallons finished inside and another 4-5 gallons of nearup out in the pans. The syrup is cloudy despite my usual filtering method and has a weird after taste.

Tomorrow i'm going to dump the pans and scrub them, and rip the **** filter housing out, set it on fire, smash it with a hammer and maybe use it for target practice for good measure.

Very doubtful i'll make much more syrup this year unless they run like they did at the start of the season (not very likely). this sucks. so much for selling any real amount of product to put towards next years upgrades.

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[DrTimPerkins]

What was your filter contaminated with? How do you know it was your filter?

[BSD]

What was your filter contaminated with? How do you know it was your filter?

i believe the filter housing was heating up in the sunlight and causing the filter to taint the sap as it passed through. it was cold, but i believe it heats up like a greenhouse effect. when i checked it today, there was a definite aroma coming from the housing and the sap looked like soapy dishwater after it thawed.

[Spanielslovesappin]

I have been noticing a bunch of references to filters between head tanks and evaporators. This practice kind of surprises me as i feel that adding any potential clog point between the two is asking for burnt pans.

We always just filter as it transfers in to the sugar house storage with a course suction y strainer on the transfer pump inlet and a washable bag filter where it enters the storage tank. I have never had any issues with debris, quality or filters imparting a taste as bag filters are cheap as well as easy to clean and dry.

I fully understand and endorse the need to use a micron rated cartridge style water filter in advance of an RO to protect the membrane from debris but think that at any other point it's probably overkill and in the case of mounting it in the evaporators gravity feed line down right risky.

[DrTimPerkins]

I have been noticing a bunch of references to filters between head tanks and evaporators. This practice kind of surprises me as i feel that adding any potential clog point between the two is asking for burnt pans.

We always just filter as it transfers in to the sugar house storage with a course suction y strainer on the transfer pump inlet and a washable bag filter where it enters the storage tank. I have never had any issues with debris, quality or filters imparting a taste as bag filters are cheap as well as easy to clean and dry.

This is the common approach. Most people don't filter between the head/feed tank and evaporator for exactly the reason you mentioned.

[jmayerl]

That sounds unrealistic unless you never changed the filter in the housing all year. I assume you are referring to a filter like a whole house filter.

[BSD]

That sounds unrealistic unless you never changed the filter in the housing all year. I assume you are referring to a filter like a whole house filter.

i've changed it a few times and washed in between runs, but i'm still quite certain that's the source of my problem. i'm going to test boil a gallon direct from the head tank and another gallon direct from the pans (which as been run through the filter already) and see where the problem is.

[motowbrowne]

I'm sorry about the craptacular situation. Two things, though. One, I'm with these guys about a filter between your head tank and cooker. Just seems like you're asking for trouble. I don't want anything that can interfere with that flow rate between the tank and the float. No way, no hoe. Second, I really just can't see how if you're running at 70gph that the sap has enough time in the filter to be contaminated with bacteria. How long would it be in there, a minute? Less? Then how long until it's boiling, another minute? Just doesn't seem like a likely culprit to me,i guess.

[BreezyHill]

We have filter for many years prior to the releaser to eliminate anything getting stuck in a flapper valve. With the current system I have to much flow even for a sock filter from the electric releaser. after blowing out a dozen I gave up and just use the filter prior to the RO. I am often surprised what you see on the media.

I totally agree if you have to have a filter of some sort prior to the evap then a screen is the only style as if you slow the flow to much you risk a pan failure due to low level of sap.

If you had to run one I would only run a clear globe unit and a clear feeder line for a distance and check it every time you fuel the rig just to be safer...still would worry me.

Best of Luck!

[BSD]

If you had to run one I would only run a clear globe unit and a clear feeder line for a distance and check it every time you fuel the rig just to be safer...still would worry me.

I'm still working on my hypothesis that the clear housing is creating a magnifying glass effect and making all sorts of bacteria growth, even in freezing temps while exposed to brief morning sun and indirect light the rest of the day.

With my 5 micron filter i estimated I could run at 70+ GPH flow, my arch won't run that fast until i get a blower on it. i never had this one show any signs of plugging up, putting as much as 600 gallons through per filter
with the 30 micron i used it seems like it'll top out at around 50 GPH flow rate. this one could get me into trouble if it plugs up too much on me.
i did use a 50 micron one time and that one was trouble, after 300 gallons it plugged slowly on me and i almost had a burnt pan do to that.

Going forward next year i will switch to filtering before it hits the head tank. this year I was using my transfer tank from the truck as my head tank by pulling it out and putting it up on a pallet rack in my building, then hooking up the plumbing and going into the evaporator.