"Tips and tricks to using a whole house filter"

[Thig]

Has anyone tried to microwave one of the filters with the insert? I know some plastics are not microwaveable and get soft really soft when put in there.

 

[cheesehead]

Thig, i havent heard or read of anyone doing that, However i think the whole "boil the ends method" is about softening just the ends for a better seal . In my opinion nuking the whole filter would melt or soften the inner sleeve in its entirety thereby possibly altering the whole shape and fit of the filter. Your best bet is to locate sleeveless filters all together to avoid a future problem, but if you can find a super cheap one with the sleeve and nuke it for ? mins and be the "guinee pig" let us know how that works before you try to filter actual wine with it. I am going to be putting mine together tomorrow morn to filter a chardonnay very soon, but i already purchased Purenex P1 filters from Amazon and P5 filters from filterfast all w/o sleeves and prices were very reasonable, hope this helps, Loddie

 

[Thig]

I tied to nuke over the weekend and it did nothing. Apparently the filters are microwave safe.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

For my very expensive filters 100 dollars or so - they are absolute filters. I rinse them in meta and put them in the microwave to dry and sterilize them. I know it sounds weird and all but a great winemaker showed me that trick

Thanks Steve

 

[GreginND]

Steve, do you back flush those filters when you are done with a batch?

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Yes I do

I only do it to the expensive filters - the nominal filters - cheaper ones - I will do several carboys and pitch them out when done.

Thanks Steve

 

[cheesehead]

Well my fellow winers, I am no longer an AIO virgin, Thanx to vacuumman (that dont sound right ,lol) and his fabulous all in one pump. It arrived yesterday afternoon and came complete with all you need to make our hobbie/ life soooo much easier!!! I also ordered the whole house filter last week but only the filters showed up from amazon 1 day ship so i must now wait to experience the fun of filtering and clearing a batch of chardonnay until later this week or next week. If anyone is in doubt as to buying the AIO , please read these reviews, they arent lying when they say its been a time saver that leaves you wondering what took so long to invest in. And Steves impeccible customer service is by far the best ive ever experienced (Thank you steve, and sorry for bugging you so much on the phone) Aside from the hydrometer,and bottle cleaning /drying tree, this is a must have item. I swear I almost gave this hobbie up because I dreaded degassing and transfering/ carrying heavy carboys, but no more. I racked a 5 gal carboy in under 4 minutes and degassed at the same time, Beautiful pump, Steve !!!! i will quit now but could go on and on, Me so Happy!!!!
side note, added filter inline and worked perfectly !!!!

 

[Putterrr]

How many carboys can you do with the P1 and P5 filters.

thx

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I guess that all depends what is going thru the filters ?
I would guess around 6 carboys - I am sure alot of people would possibly disagree - either + or -
But that is my personal opinion

 

[Stickymatch]

My AIO arrives today and I can't wait to mess with it tonight. I've been reading this thread and I'm probably going to purchase the whole house filter but have a couple of questions:

1. What's the best way to sanitize this setup, including the filter?
2. When should I filter my wine?

 

[vacuumpumpman]

My AIO arrives today and I can't wait to mess with it tonight. I've been reading this thread and I'm probably going to purchase the whole house filter but have a couple of questions:

1. What's the best way to sanitize this setup, including the filter?
2. When should I filter my wine?

Well if this helps at all ?
I will suck meta thru the racking cane assembly - like I am doing a normal transfer. I will then have approx 1 gallon in the carboy , I then use my carboy cleaner ( the drill type ) to sanitize the entire inside of the carboy. Then empty the carboy.
Then I mist anything that did not get touched with meta - like the upper half of the racking cane

If you have a filter - put it inline and empty it prior to transferring any wine.

I like to filter my wine approx 1 week prior to bottling or when ever a transfer id close to the bottling time

 

[LoneStarLori]

Stickymatch, you are in for a real thrill. This AIO is the best thing invented since wine.

I have a question about the filter setup for those who have had good luck. First of all, I am using the latest version as recommended on Steves site. I am having trouble with it sucking air and not filling the filter housing completely. I'm 99% sure the air is coming from the intake valve and not the O-ring seal.

If it's getting air, would that cause the housing to not fill all the way? (there is about an inch of headspace when filtering) or is that the way it's supposed to work. Minus the air of course.

 

[Stickymatch]

Steve...thanks, that's what I wanted to know.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Stickymatch, you are in for a real thrill. This AIO is the best thing invented since wine.

I have a question about the filter setup for those who have had good luck. First of all, I am using the latest version as recommended on Steves site. I am having trouble with it sucking air and not filling the filter housing completely. I'm 99% sure the air is coming from the intake valve and not the O-ring seal.

If it's getting air, would that cause the housing to not fill all the way? (there is about an inch of headspace when filtering) or is that the way it's supposed to work. Minus the air of course.

Lori
Did you mark the filter as talked about in this link ?
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f71/tips-tricks-using-whole-house-filter-37737/

Yes you may have to put teflon tape on the threads of the barbs

How young is the wine ?
Sucking wine thru a filter will really remove any remaining CO2 from the wine

I hope this helps

 

[wildvines]

I used no tape and worked fine. I just made sure I screwed the top down really right. At first wasn't going through the filter but after a nice tight seal it worked great


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[LoneStarLori]

Lori
Did you mark the filter as talked about in this link ?
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f71/tips-tricks-using-whole-house-filter-37737/

Yes you may have to put teflon tape on the threads of the barbs

How young is the wine ?
Sucking wine thru a filter will really remove any remaining CO2 from the wine

I hope this helps

No, I did not mark the housing. I read that tutorial and to be honest, I couldn't see why it was necessary. If I could hand tighten it once, I could do it twice.

I kind of remember using Teflon tape. But that was back in October and I could be wrong.
The wine was kind of young. As were the previous ones. I will try doing just water and see if it still does it. If it does, I'll replace the barb adapters and make sure I use teflon tape. I am almost positive it is coming in at the intake area and not the o-ring.

 

[JetJockey]

No, I did not mark the housing. I read that tutorial and to be honest, I couldn't see why it was necessary. If I could hand tighten it once, I could do it twice.

I kind of remember using Teflon tape. But that was back in October and I could be wrong.
The wine was kind of young. As were the previous ones. I will try doing just water and see if it still does it. If it does, I'll replace the barb adapters and make sure I use teflon tape. I am almost positive it is coming in at the intake area and not the o-ring.

Lori,
While you have it apart, just tighten it up without a filter in it an use a sharpie to mark the housing and canister (clear filter housing) in two places. I't reassuring to see that you get it tight when the filter is installed and the two lines on the housing (lid) align perfectly with the two lines on the canister! Just another variable eliminated. After some time, I had to use some teflon tape on my inlet barb because i was getting a slight air leak. At least I knew it wasn't the filter housing/canister o-ring seal because my wittness marks were aligned! BTW, I use two lines about 1/3 to 1/4 of the circle apart because it's easier to see if two are aligned than just one.

 

[beggarsu]

This seems interesting - i had given up on filter systems seeing how the one at the wine store is so expensive and has to use and replace expensive filters every time it is used and even seems messy - simply seemed not worth it.

I just learned to let wine settle and take off the top.

If I can ask about this system - what is the initial cost? - does it work well? Does it waste any wine in spillage? Is there any ongoing cost in replacing filters?

 

[GreginND]

vacuum pump prices vary. The whole house filter canisters run $20-30. The filters are $3-5.

 

[wildvines]

Cheap. Or I thought it was


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