REVIEW: *Whole House Wine Filtering*

[freqflyer]

Will the whole house filter work by gravity alone?

 

[dralarms]

No it will not.

 

[Boyd]

Yes,a whole house filter works fine with just gravity. I have done it a number of times.

After posting this I noticed that someone disagrees.

A vacuum pump displaces air causing atmospheric pressure (air pressure) pressing on the top of the liquid to cause it to flow. If the container of liquid is not open to the atmosphere the liquid will not flow. Same with siphoning, the liquid flowing thru the siphon tube cause a partial vacuum in the tube.

Liquids will tend to seek its own level . If you have a pail of liquid with a valve you can open the valve and the weight of the liquid will cause it to flow.

It will flow thru the filter. No problem unless the filter is plugged.

 

[ibglowin]

Will the whole house filter work by gravity alone?

How much time do you have………

 

[Boyd]

How much time do you have………

I do not understand the question. Perhaps I should have gone further than 9th grade.

Depending of the height of the liquid to be siphoned thru a filter in relation the receiving container it can be as fast as using a vacuum pump.

I do have a vacuum pump. I find it does not hook it self up. Takes time, so I do not always use it.

A cheap compressor also works. Just hook into the intake side. Did that for a couple years before getting a vacuum pump.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I do not understand the question. Perhaps I should have gone further than 9th grade.

Depending of the height of the liquid to be siphoned thru a filter in relation the receiving container it can be as fast as using a vacuum pump.

Boyd -
I must question on your statement that gravity can be as fast as using a vacuum while pulling thru a filter ?
Typical filters that we use are 1 and 5 micron filters for winemaking.
It takes about 4 minutes using the Allinone to filter 5 gallons or so - once the filter gets a little plugged it will really reduce any flow thru the filter.

If your wine level is 15 feet above grade, you will have 6.5 psi.

 

[plowboy]

I will be putting the gravity method to the test soon. It worked well with water 1 story up so we shall see how it goes with something a little more viscose.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Let me know your results Plowboy -

I was able to find 1 other persons results -Chiumanfu

On a side note. I've done some more testing and the 1 micron filter flows way too slow for a pure gravity feed. I've decided on a standard practice of filtering during a vacuum racking as shown by Steve

 

[freqflyer]

Perhaps I should clarify my question. If you can do 5 gallons in 4 minutes under vacuum, can you do 5 gallons in say 40 minutes using gravity and say a six foot drop? Also what micron filter do you recommend? I have a batch of DB, Island Mist, and WE Zinfandel Blush to do.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

You then would have approx 3 psi of pressure and I would recommened using the 1 micron for DB.

I am not sure of how long it will take ??
But there will be alot more exposure time to oxygen -

 

[richmke]

You have to have a pressure differential in order to flow the wine through the filter. The pressure differential can be caused by vacuum pulling the air/wine, or pump pushing the wine.

You can also use gravity to create the pressure differential. I believe the vacuum pump can create a pressure differential of about 10 psi. A column of water (wine) 6 feet high is about 2 psi.

Note 1: The tubing will cause pressure loss, so use the largest tubing you can find.
Note 2: The height of the column of water is calculated from the top of the wine in the carboy, and the top of the wine in the receiving carboy. So, as you filter, the height differential decreases, and thus the pressure differential.
Note 3: The filter will also introduce pressure loss (pressure differential needs to be at least X psi in order for any flow to occur), and the pressure loss increases as the filter becomes clogged.

 

[ibglowin]

The problem with using gravity is if you have ANY sediment, even a small amount of dusty fines on the bottom and you stir that up your toast. You will plug whatever filter you are using and your wine will cease to flow. If you want to use gravity to filter your wine they sell a solution off the shelf called the Vinbrite. Doesn't work very well…..

 

[plowboy]

Challenge accepted. Hopefully I get to it on Saturday and add my nickels worth of experience.

 

[Boyd]

Boyd -
I must question on your statement that gravity can be as fast as using a vacuum while pulling thru a filter ?
Typical filters that we use are 1 and 5 micron filters for winemaking
It takes about 4 minutes using the Allinone to filter 5 gallons or so - once the filter gets a little plugged it will really reduce any flow thru the filter.

If your wine level is 15 feet above grade, you will have 6.5 psi.

That also holds true with an vacuum pump in that the flow thru the filter slows as the filter gets plugged.

I have never timed using a vacuum pump or siphoning thru a filter and could really care less. Usually doing other things at the same time anyway.

The question was will a whole house filter work with gravity, and the answer is hell yes, it will.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

That also holds true with an vacuum pump in that the flow thru the filter slows as the filter gets plugged.

I have never timed using a vacuum pump or siphoning thru a filter and could really care less. Usually doing other things at the same time anyway.

The question was will a whole house filter work with gravity, and the answer is hell yes, it will.

Please let us know your results - using a 1 micron filter -

The whole house filter may or not work with a gravity system - all depending on how much sediment may plug up the filter as vacuum will be able to pull alot more due to a partial filter that is plugged.

Please let us know of your results using gravity using a 1 micron filter and how long it takes as well.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Boyd -
I look back at some last posts and I came up with this one that you left -

I am not knocking vacuum pumps. I have one, and use it on my larger carboys, and for degassing.

As far as contact with air I use a low vacuum to control the speed the wine goes around in the carboy. Takes awhile longer but that is ok. Might try a racking wand in the receiving carboy and see it that makes a difference.

I don't have a vacuum set up for bottling and filtering yet. I filter and bottle with my mini filter. Just put the discharge tube in the bottle and let her rip. Works fine for now. Probably a little slower but I am retired and have the time.

The mini filter loses a little wine so I am going to try a vise grip clamp and a couple of pieces of steel between the clamps. Seems to me the leakage may be caused by the pressure applied by the screw on the outside of the filter may cause the center to bow some.

The vacuum setup is on my wish list along with a lot of other things.

As far as the smaller carboys are concerned I like to lift them. My back is in good shape and I think the exercise might even be good for me as long as I lift properly.




So I take it that you still use the mini jet for filtering ?

 

[Boyd]

Boyd -
I look back at some last posts and I came up with this one that you left -

I am not knocking vacuum pumps. I have one, and use it on my larger carboys, and for degassing.

As far as contact with air I use a low vacuum to control the speed the wine goes around in the carboy. Takes awhile longer but that is ok. Might try a racking wand in the receiving carboy and see it that makes a difference.

I don't have a vacuum set up for bottling and filtering yet. I filter and bottle with my mini filter. Just put the discharge tube in the bottle and let her rip. Works fine for now. Probably a little slower but I am retired and have the time.

The mini filter loses a little wine so I am going to try a vise grip clamp and a couple of pieces of steel between the clamps. Seems to me the leakage may be caused by the pressure applied by the screw on the outside of the filter may cause the center to bow some.

The vacuum setup is on my wish list along with a lot of other things.

As far as the smaller carboys are concerned I like to lift them. My back is in good shape and I think the exercise might even be good for me as long as I lift properly.




So I take it that you still use the mini jet for filtering ?

Nope, I use a whole house filter as recommend on this site, either with a vacuum pump on my larger carboys of a siphon with the smaller ones. I filter as the last racking step before bottling. The wine is already clear before filtering. Got 2 of the Mini filters. Offered a man $50.00 for a near new one and he accepted. Must be like guns, more is better.

I still use the pump only on the mini filter for bottling.

On a side note I rinse and freeze my filters after use. One micron is all I use.

Given that they are damp when frozen I would guess that they are now a somewhat larger micron value due to the expansion of the moisture they contain when frozen.

As far as sanitation I boil the filters before use.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I personally would not freeze them as the water will expand making the filter porous holes much larger !!

I would recommend doing multiple batches and discarding the 3 dollar filter to be on the safe side - otherwise put it in a meta solution with a lid or a ziploc bag if needed.

 

[plowboy]

So finally gave the gravity powered filter a go today. It was a compleat success. Total hight difference was in and around 10 feet.

The air bleed button was actually handy rather than a problem. Bled a big air bubble right out. Between setup, filtering and clean up it took less than a hour. Odds are I could do it faster now that I've already done it once.

I have learned the hard way that if you need to turn you back from the hose, keep it lashed down. Lol. Dollar store cat litter boxes also make for a cheap catch tray.

I did add in the down tube to move the intake from the top of the filter to the bottom. It worked flawlessly.

[ame]https://vimeo.com/104201199[/ame]

Between what was left in the filter and what was trapped in line sumps I lost a glasses worth. Not too shabby

.


All in all it was a bit of a hassle but it works. I plan on getting a vacuum pump one day so for now it's a stop gap measure. It went far better than I expected so I can't compliance too much.

 

[freqflyer]

Plowboy. What filter and housing are you using? It doesn't look like the one suggested in this thread.