Cdl hobby 250 pressures and Thanks!!

[butler]

Just a shout out to everyone on the sight who are super helpful!!! Great forum with great people!!
My hobby cdl has been running about 1.3 gpm most of the season... seems low to me...I rinse with 100 gallons... soap wash for 30 mins and rinse with another 150 after everytime I concentrate... any ideas?
I always keep my flow rate and concentrate flows equal accordinging to what they recommend in the msnual

[DrTimPerkins]

What is your max pump flow rate, concentrate flow rate, permeate flow rate, the incoming sap brix, and how high are you trying to concentrate?

[fred]

You should be using a citric acid after saop rinse as well. Ph of 3.

WHAT IS 78 GPH? CONCENTRATE OR TOTAL? IT ONLY DOES 50% REDUCTION

[butler]

My machine is only supposed to remove 50 percent at a time... on avg I’m trying to 2.2 percent sap up to 4.4...didn’t realize I gad to acid wash everytime...

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

like DR T said we need all the numbers he mentioned plus pressure

[n8hutch]

You dont need to acid wash your membranes every time, I have had my R.O. 2 years and have never Acid washed it, honestly I probably should do one but every time is definitely not necessary. I only soap wash every other . I know many producers that don't wash that much, rinse ,rinse ,rinse is what I do.

How cold is your sap? That can have a big effect on flow rates. What kind of pressure are you running at?

[Russell Lampron]

Like Nate said you don't do an acid wash after every use. When you started using your RO you should have set a benchmark. To do that pick a pressure and concentrate flow that you normally concentrate at. Start the RO, adjust the pressure and concentrate flow and let the flows stabilize. When the flows have stabilized tweak your pressure and concentrate flow to your desired settings. Write down what your pressure and concentrate and permeate flows were and the temperature of the sap. Each time that you use the RO set your pressure and concentrate flow to your benchmark pressure and check your permeate flow and temperature. Your permeate flow should be the same as your benchmark. The temperature will have an effect on the reading. Colder sap will produce less permeate and warmer sap will produce more. It's time to do a soap wash when the permeate flow slows down. If doing a soap wash doesn't bring the flow rate back it's time for an acid wash.

As an example I set my pressure to 300 psi and my concentrate flow to 1.5 gpm. At that pressure I get 4 gpm of permeate flow at 11*C. When I get less than the 4 gpm adjusted for temperature I do a soap wash. I do a hot permeate rinse after every use and a soap wash as needed. This season I didn't need to do an acid wash at all.

[butler]

In the manual for the hobby 250 it says to stabilize your permeate flow and concentrate flow to equal each other for best results removing 50 percent... that usually equates to 1.3 gpm and approx... 225 psi in both guages...my sap temp is usually fairly cool around 45-50 degrees... maybe u need to heat sap up or just have more patience...lol... thanks again guys... lots of experience out there!!

[n8hutch]

Is this a new machine? If not how old of a machine? If you are just doubling your sugar content that does seem a bit low , it is really hard to say if you dont have any Benchmark #s, if the membranes are new then perhaps you have them fouled up and it would probably benefit from a good wash maybe a professional cleaning, if they are older membranes I would just replace them and be sure to benchmark your flows when you start next year.

40-45 is fairly warm sap and should flow good, my rig runs up to 10% slower when the sap is in the 33-36° range.

[butler]

Bought the RO used this year... approx 4 years old... I think I will get the membranes professionally cleaned at the end of the season...thanks again guys!