Dave Klish, I recently ordered a 2x6 wood fired evaporator from A&A Sheet Metal which I will be converting to oil fired
Now have solar, 2x6 finish pan, 5 bank 7x7 filter press, large water jacketed bottler, and tankless water heater.
Recently bought another Gingerich RO, this one was a 125, but a second membrane was added thus is a 250, like I had.
After running a 2x3, a 2x6, 3x8 tapping from 79 taps up to 1320 all woodfired, now I'm going to a 2x6 oil fired and a 200-425 taps.
Been tapping since 2008.
2018 - 17 taps/7 trees...819l sap, approx 28l syrup
2019 - 18 taps/8 trees...585l sap, 28l syrup...21:1 ratio
2020 - 18 taps/8 trees...890.04l sap...gave away about 170l, 30l snafu'd....23l total for me from approx 690l
2021 - 18 taps/8 trees...395l sap, 12 l syrup
2022 - 18 taps/8 trees....7 sugars 1 red due to #2 having surgery so had the season off....582l sap, 18.5l syrup
2023 - 18 taps/8 trees...all sugars again. 807l sap, so far approx 14l syrup
DE is inert silica and doesn't add or subtract chemically from syrup or have any chemical effect on niter. Niter doesn't "stick" to it, but rather gets trapped in it. DE forms a "cake" of particles which liquid can pass through, but niter will get trapped in (kind of like a rabbit won't get caught in the briar patch, but the fox does). Like any liquid, syrup will coat the particles to some degree. DE generally requires a continuous formation of the cake to trap the niter as it builds...otherwise niter will build up near the surface and clog up the process. As the cake of DE builds, the niter is trapped within it.
In pressure press operations, it is customary to run hot water through afterwards to "desugar" the press and recapture the sugar to recirculate back to the pans or a sap tank. Very little loss of sugar that way. You should be able to do the same with your coffee filters. Just add some hot water and add the filtrate back to your sap tank. Since you don't have any pressure like we use in a plate or cannister press (or vacuum in a vacuum filter), DE might help a tiny bit with gravity filtering, but not much.
The following might be useful. https://mapleresearch.org/pub/m1017insert/
Dr. Tim Perkins
UVM Proctor Maple Research Ctr
http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc
https://mapleresearch.org
Timothy.Perkins@uvm.edu
Is it possible to add too much DE? I made a homemade filter press and use a 5 HP shop vac, I then tried to filter 4 gallons of syrup which I added 1/4 cup DE for each gallon and I'm having a terrible time filtering.
Thanks everyone for the info. I bought some DE today and I'm going to try heating, re-filtering and re-bottling a half gallon tonight. If it works I'll re-do the other 3 gals I've made this year. If not I guess I'm just stuck with cloudy syrup this time around.
So I am assuming that rather than a filter press (which uses plates and PRESSURE) that you built a vacuum canister filter (which uses suction). You may not need to use DE at all, but generally your filter media (prefilter + filter pack) and suction level determines how well and how much you filter. Adding a little DE may help, but may not. Four gallons is probably a bit too much to expect from the filter depending on its size and those other factors. HOT syrup is key to most types of filtering.
Dr. Tim Perkins
UVM Proctor Maple Research Ctr
http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc
https://mapleresearch.org
Timothy.Perkins@uvm.edu
Well the DE didn't help me at all... I took 2 quarts and heated it up to 185, mixed in 2 TB's of food grade DE and sent it back through my cone filter set up (5 micron Orlon cone lined with 3 paper pre filters). I'm pretty sure its worse now... Looks like I'll have to live with it this year, or bring my entire batch to one of the bigger shops around here and see if I can get them to filter it for me
Sugaring for 45+ years
New Sugarhouse 14'x32'
New to Me Algier 2'x8' wood fired evaporator
2022 added a used RB25 RO Bucket
250 mostly Sugar Maples, 15% Soft Maples. Currently,(110on 3/16" and 125 on Shurflo 4008 vacuum, 15 gravity), (16,000 before being disabled)
1947 Farmall H and Wagon with gathering tank
2012 Kubota with forks to move wood around
WOW Really!!! that much. Do I stir it in real good? Or just let it clump up on the top?
Stir it in really good, ideally it would be the first through the filter.
Not sure how it would work with a vacuum press, as you only get one pass through the filter and it takes 3-5 minutes to happen on a filter press, but you want the DE in suspension in the syrup and build up on the filter.
One solution may be to mix DE with hot water, pull that through first to build a "cake", empty the water and then pull syrup through?
John Allin
14x18 Hemlock Timber Frame Sugar House 2009
Leader 2x6 w/Patriot Raised Flue Pan 2009
Leader Steam Hood 2014 - Clear Filter Press 2015
Leader Revolution Pan and SS Pre-Heater 2016
CDL Hobby RO & Air Tech L25 Hi Vac Pump 2019
06' Gator HPX to collect wood & sap
14' Ski-Doo Tundra for winter work in the woods
Great Family 3 grown kids+spouses and 7 grand kids who like the woods
7th Gen Born in Canada - Raised in Chardon Ohio - Maple Capital of the World..<grin>.