cartridge filters

[foxenburg]

Hello

Some years ago I bought a couple of stainless steel filter houses and was recommended to buy a 5 micron and a 10 micron filter. I was told that the 10 was good for red...and the 5 for white. I use these things in conjunction with a sturdy impeller pump.
1. photo of one of the filter houses
2. photo of the pump and associated pipes/tubes
3. photo of filter cartridge

None of this stuff has ever worked. The 10 micron pumps well for ten minutes...say 100 litres...then clogs up. We wash, backwash, warm, cold water...but with each successive attempt the amount of wine filtering gets less. We are gentle with the pump...then apply a bit more juice...but it makes no difference.

I have never heard anymore from the people who sold me the equipment, so am unable to find out more. I think we do a fair job of racking. All I can think of is that I need to "pre-filter", starting perhaps with a 50 micron filter. Does anyone have any clues? As it is, I've just given up on filtering...wine is OK, but could do with a bit more polish.

Thank you for reading,

Guy

 

[Christopher Anderson]

Did you try filtering during your first rack into a carboy? that is a no no. to much junk comes out. Even during the 2nd or 3rd racking some leeds can still clog up the filter. Some winemakers I have talked with only filter when bottling when the wine is very clear.

 

[back2it]

Some winemakers I have talked with only filter when bottling when the wine is very clear.

Yep, last thing I do before bottling, just a polish.

 

[BarrelMonkey]

It sounds as if you're overloading the filters... is the wine visually clear when you start filtration? What total volume are you trying to filter?

This is a useful guide from Scott Labs regarding what filter to use when. Of course, this assumes you have access to turbidometry to assess the particle load in your wine. Even if the wine is visually clear, you may still need two or more filtration passes to get it really clean (though it sounds as if you're not concerned with absolute sterile filtration?)

 

[Rice_Guy]

* filters are operated with a pressure drop over the membrane. You will get the best volume capacity with a low through put. This may seem slow when you start, but we force dirt in the pores by pushing.
* how clean is your starting tank? As Christopher notes above, racking time isn’t good.
* I will guess you have absolute 10 micron cartridges? A filter pad would let some very large particles through but does better capacity. This might be put in line before the cartridge. Polysulfone cartridge?
* there is filtering for different purposes. Sterile takes an absolute cartridge vs clean to appearance a 50 micron might be enough. What is your goal?

There are a number of vendors. You should be able to test filtering wine at the vendor’s pilot facility. Boucher Vaseline in France might be good to talk to and visit.

 

[foxenburg]

* filters are operated with a pressure drop over the membrane. You will get the best volume capacity with a low through put. This may seem slow when you start, but we force dirt in the pores by pushing.
* how clean is your starting tank? As Christopher notes above, racking time isn’t good.
* I will guess you have absolute 10 micron cartridges? A filter pad would let some very large particles through but does better capacity. This might be put in line before the cartridge. Polysulfone cartridge?
* there is filtering for different purposes. Sterile takes an absolute cartridge vs clean to appearance a 50 micron might be enough. What is your goal?

There are a number of vendors. You should be able to test filtering wine at the vendor’s pilot facility. Boucher Vaseline

* filters are operated with a pressure drop over the membrane. You will get the best volume capacity with a low through put. This may seem slow when you start, but we force dirt in the pores by pushing.
* how clean is your starting tank? As Christopher notes above, racking time isn’t good.
* I will guess you have absolute 10 micron cartridges? A filter pad would let some very large particles through but does better capacity. This might be put in line before the cartridge. Polysulfone cartridge?
* there is filtering for different purposes. Sterile takes an absolute cartridge vs clean to appearance a 50 micron might be enough. What is your goal?

There are a number of vendors. You should be able to test filtering wine at the vendor’s pilot facility. Boucher Vaseline in France might be good to talk to and visit.

* filters are operated with a pressure drop over the membrane. You will get the best volume capacity with a low through put. This may seem slow when you start, but we force dirt in the pores by pushing.
* how clean is your starting tank? As Christopher notes above, racking time isn’t good.
* I will guess you have absolute 10 micron cartridges? A filter pad would let some very large particles through but does better capacity. This might be put in line before the cartridge. Polysulfone cartridge?
* there is filtering for different purposes. Sterile takes an absolute cartridge vs clean to appearance a 50 micron might be enough. What is your goal?

There are a number of vendors. You should be able to test filtering wine at the vendor’s pilot facility. Boucher Vaseline in France might be good to talk to and visit.

* filters are operated with a pressure drop over the membrane. You will get the best volume capacity with a low through put. This may seem slow when you start, but we force dirt in the pores by pushing.
* how clean is your starting tank? As Christopher notes above, racking time isn’t good.
* I will guess you have absolute 10 micron cartridges? A filter pad would let some very large particles through but does better capacity. This might be put in line before the cartridge. Polysulfone cartridge?
* there is filtering for different purposes. Sterile takes an absolute cartridge vs clean to appearance a 50 micron might be enough. What is your goal?

There are a number of vendors. You should be able to test filtering wine at the vendor’s pilot facility. Boucher Vaseline in France might be good to talk to and visit.

I do start the filtering very slow, but short of filtering at a bottle a minute...I do try to speed up...and come undone. I think the 50 micron filter might be a start. And thank you for obvious and clever solution...which had not crossed my mind...of giving BV a buzz and perhaps sending them a few litres to see if they can give me a heads up on what micron-age I need to start.

Everyone here has been very helpful...I do appreciate it.