It was a little touch and go there for a bit but my friend is a wizard and helped this vision become real. Still works great several years later! Thanks for watching.
Great video guys. I built mine very similar to yours. I tried it a few times with warm water and it worked perfect sucked it right through. I used it today with hot syrup did not work very good at all. Any suggestions? Fred
Thank you! A few things that I do and have worked for me are to wet the filters slightly with warm water before putting the syrup through. Also I have the syrup 190-195 degrees F. I’ll use a rubber spatula to move the sand around so the syrup can run into fresh areas of the filter. Also I’ve found a batch size of about two gallons is max for this style.
@@CSXOhioRailFanPlus752 I didn’t put anything on to the fittings on the inside. I thought about it for the vacuum valve but no syrup has ever gotten into the shop vac I use. The shop vac is only for this purpose though and I have another one in the wood shop.
Thank you. For the filter/prefilter I ordered the orlon? flat sheets. I got mine online at SugarbushSupplies.com I usually use one layer main filter and two layers prefilter.
I didn't have the vacuum source correct on version one. It worked great on the first boil of the season but not so much after that as the syrup got thicker with more sand, etc... I simply didn't have time to experiment. So I went back to gravity filtering. Others figured out the now obvious shop vac trick for the following season... Including CDL. ;-) So, I took last season off from sugaring due to work and other commitments and recently made my version 2. Should have a demo vid up in the next week or so. Are you in New England or Mid West?
Thanks for the insight! I do like the idea of the vacuum pump and reservoir tank but the shop vac seemed a simpler way to go. I’m in northern Ohio and have tapped between 1/28-2/5 over the last five years. My seasons get cut short artificially by commitments so I’m likely going to tap around that time again this season. Best of luck to you as you get going again! I really enjoy your videos.
What did you use to drill the stainless pots. I just used cheap Walmart pots for my prototype and the only way I could drill was by beat a punch thru the pot first?
In that case I can’t say why they’d have a hard time drilling through the pan. We just center punched to mark the spot, and so the bit didn’t wander then went at it.
I thought about that, but wanted to expose as much filter as possible. And like Norm Abrams used to say “I’ve got the tools, and I’ve got the time” Thanks for watching!
Love the angle grinder
It was a little touch and go there for a bit but my friend is a wizard and helped this vision become real. Still works great several years later! Thanks for watching.
Update 2/28/2021: I used this on a three gallon batch and it filtered it all in one pass, in only a few minutes. It was amazing!
Great video guys. I built mine very similar to yours. I tried it a few times with warm water and it worked perfect sucked it right through. I used it today with hot syrup did not work very good at all. Any suggestions?
Fred
Thank you! A few things that I do and have worked for me are to wet the filters slightly with warm water before putting the syrup through. Also I have the syrup 190-195 degrees F. I’ll use a rubber spatula to move the sand around so the syrup can run into fresh areas of the filter. Also I’ve found a batch size of about two gallons is max for this style.
How did you hooked up the Vacuum hose to the Ball Valve
The vacuum hose just slides over the end of the valve. Thanks for watching!
@@scottthornandhisbeesandtrees did you had to add a 90 to the valve on the inside of the pot
@@CSXOhioRailFanPlus752 I didn’t put anything on to the fittings on the inside. I thought about it for the vacuum valve but no syrup has ever gotten into the shop vac I use. The shop vac is only for this purpose though and I have another one in the wood shop.
@@scottthornandhisbeesandtrees You would think that the syrup would get suck down and vacuum
@@CSXOhioRailFanPlus752 I had that concern but found that it does not. It wouldn’t hurt anything if you chose to go that route though.
What size was the fitting you used to attach the shop vac hosr to and how did you attach it?
The vacuum valve is a 1/2” ball valve. I think it’s called a bulkhead fitting that you can thread onto a nipple after you drill the hole in the pan.
Nice job on the filter unit. What did you use for a filter?
Thank you. For the filter/prefilter I ordered the orlon? flat sheets. I got mine online at SugarbushSupplies.com
I usually use one layer main filter and two layers prefilter.
Aluminum pots or stainless ?
These are stainless. I believe aluminum would work just fine if that’s what you have.
Have you used any filtering aid with this?
I have not used any additional filter aid. It’s just a few pre-filters and one regular filter.
Looking good.
Thank you!
I used your video as the inspiration for mine, thank you for making yours first!
I didn't have the vacuum source correct on version one. It worked great on the first boil of the season but not so much after that as the syrup got thicker with more sand, etc... I simply didn't have time to experiment. So I went back to gravity filtering. Others figured out the now obvious shop vac trick for the following season... Including CDL. ;-) So, I took last season off from sugaring due to work and other commitments and recently made my version 2. Should have a demo vid up in the next week or so. Are you in New England or Mid West?
Thanks for the insight! I do like the idea of the vacuum pump and reservoir tank but the shop vac seemed a simpler way to go. I’m in northern Ohio and have tapped between 1/28-2/5 over the last five years. My seasons get cut short artificially by commitments so I’m likely going to tap around that time again this season. Best of luck to you as you get going again! I really enjoy your videos.
Can you please give us the item description and where you ordered the parts from?
I updated the description to include all the major component pieces, all were ordered off Amazon Amazon. Thanks for watching!
What did you use to drill the stainless pots. I just used cheap Walmart pots for my prototype and the only way I could drill was by beat a punch thru the pot first?
As far as I know these were just typical HSS drill bits. It could be that your bits were dull? Thanks for watching!
@@scottthornandhisbeesandtrees Hmm, they were brand new??
In that case I can’t say why they’d have a hard time drilling through the pan. We just center punched to mark the spot, and so the bit didn’t wander then went at it.
@@scottthornandhisbeesandtrees Maybe need a different angle on the bits? thx
I was thinking that or changing the speed on your drill. We used a standard cordless drill for all the holes so nothing fancy.
Instead of cutting the bottom off the pot you could off drilled a series of small holes and set it on top of your filters.
I thought about that, but wanted to expose as much filter as possible. And like Norm Abrams used to say “I’ve got the tools, and I’ve got the time”
Thanks for watching!