So I've been playing with filtration. I've been using a 1 micron absolute rated ceramic cartridge, and a 5 micron pleated polypropylene cartridge. Here's what I've noticed:
-The pleated polypropylene filter works fine.
-The ceramic filter is inconsistent. It clogs...but I don't think it's the sediment that's clogging it! Here's my reasoning:
Experiment 1: dunkelweizen (40% wheat malt). Pushed with CO2 at 5 (then, later, 10) psi. Flow was a trickle and it took 5-10 minutes to see ANY flow, but it worked. took 6 hours to push 5 gallons. When I cleaned it out, it had a half inch of muck coating! The instructions say to use a toothbrush or stiff bristled plastic brush to scrape off the surface layer of ceramic, exposing a new layer. I did so.
Experiment 2: stout. Tried pushing at 25-30PSI and left it for several hours. Noticed later that night that it wasn't flowing, and then turned off the gas and left everything connected overnight in my keezer. Next morning, I tried cleaning out the filter and noticed there wasn't much sediment on it! Also, the damn thing was hissing at me! Tons of CO2 was coming out of solution. I ended up soaking it in hot water for a while and hooking it up again at high PSI - same problem. After an hour or so, flow stopped despite very little sediment building up.
So...I'm suspecting one of two things: A: scraping away a new layer didn't actually "clear" the filter and it's basically clogged now, or B: that the filter very much hates carbon dioxide. When I let it off-gas, it starts working again. I'm going to try a few more experiments tonight:
-push water through it @ 5psi, and 20psi
-push carbonated water through it @ 5psi, and 20psi
-push beer through it @ 5psi, and 20psi.
-push carbonated beer through it @ 5/20.
-The pleated polypropylene filter works fine.
-The ceramic filter is inconsistent. It clogs...but I don't think it's the sediment that's clogging it! Here's my reasoning:
Experiment 1: dunkelweizen (40% wheat malt). Pushed with CO2 at 5 (then, later, 10) psi. Flow was a trickle and it took 5-10 minutes to see ANY flow, but it worked. took 6 hours to push 5 gallons. When I cleaned it out, it had a half inch of muck coating! The instructions say to use a toothbrush or stiff bristled plastic brush to scrape off the surface layer of ceramic, exposing a new layer. I did so.
Experiment 2: stout. Tried pushing at 25-30PSI and left it for several hours. Noticed later that night that it wasn't flowing, and then turned off the gas and left everything connected overnight in my keezer. Next morning, I tried cleaning out the filter and noticed there wasn't much sediment on it! Also, the damn thing was hissing at me! Tons of CO2 was coming out of solution. I ended up soaking it in hot water for a while and hooking it up again at high PSI - same problem. After an hour or so, flow stopped despite very little sediment building up.
So...I'm suspecting one of two things: A: scraping away a new layer didn't actually "clear" the filter and it's basically clogged now, or B: that the filter very much hates carbon dioxide. When I let it off-gas, it starts working again. I'm going to try a few more experiments tonight:
-push water through it @ 5psi, and 20psi
-push carbonated water through it @ 5psi, and 20psi
-push beer through it @ 5psi, and 20psi.
-push carbonated beer through it @ 5/20.
