Clogged up filters

[u01dtj6]

Hello all,

Could someone help me understand how to use the Mini Jet filter properly.

A few days ago I filtered a 5 gallon Elderberry wine carboy that I thought was clear enough to filter. When I pushed the on button, the wine started coming through and doing its job. Five minutes later, hardly any wine was coming through to the new carboy and it seemed really gassy as it was coming through the tubing. There was also A LOT off leakage from the pads and wine was filling up to the tob of the leakage tray. I removed the pads and they looked very clogged up. So, I got through about 4 sets of pads for only half the carboy!

This of course, sounds to me that the wine didn't clear away from all the sediment properly, but if anyone could offer any advice, that would be great.

In the racking stages, would the addition of Chitosan and Kiesesol help me in clearing the wine greatly prior to running it through the Mini Jet filter?

Many thanks from one stressed hobbyist!

 

[grapeman]

If it clogged up like that then it was nowhere near cleared. Is this a kit wine or otherwise? Did you add any clarifier? Filters aren't for filtering out an unclear wine, they just make a clear wine sparkle. Was there any lees in the bottom of the carboy when filtering. If so it should be transfered to a clean carboy first to avoid sucking some up and plugging the filters. Also start with a course filtr and then do your finish filtering.

 

[u01dtj6]

Appleman,

Thanks for that. I did, in fact, use the #1 pads first!

but still not good enough. I made the wine from dried elderberries I got from the homebrew store and so I made the wine from scratch.

What do you mean about a clarifier? I didn't use any finings before I tried, no. With a red that colour, it was very hard to tell whether it was clear enough. Possibly a massive mistake - but yesterday I put in both Chitosan and Kieselsol and hopefully that should make it a lot clearer - in fact, this morning there is another huge amount of lees at the bottom of the carboy. Doh.

 

[grapeman]

The clarifier is a fining agent like you just added. As you see now, it wasn't clear enough. With a dark red wine it can be difficult to see if it is getting clear. Try shining a flashlight throught it. Put the light right up to the carboy. If the light beam passes through in a fairly tight beam , it is clear enough. If it still has suspended solids, it disperses the light and a beam doesn't shine through.

 

[u01dtj6]

That does sound like a good tip there appleman, I will do that next time. Note to self: Buy a torch!

 

[Wade E]

Did you degas this wine when it finished fermenting? If not, this may be why it didnt clear more on its own as trapped C02 in the wine keeps the lees in suspension preventing it from clearing properly. Next time try pulling asample out to check it for clarity in a glass as its much easier to see through in small quantities, just take that glass full and hold that in front of a light to see if you can see particles. If you sanitize that glass first you can add the sample back. And by the way, wipe that lipstick off your face and stop rubbing it in that you had some action!

 

[u01dtj6]

I will do that wade. Definately!

Well, I thought I had degassed it properly, but obviously not. I had to do it by hand for AGES because I didn't have a degasser long enough to attach to my drill to fit in the new 5 gallon glass carboy. It's all properly degassed now, but I'm going to get a vacuvin next week to make sure it is fully degassed.

I guess it not being fully degassed would also explain why the wine was really fizzy coming through the tubing on the attempted filtering.

I will sure learn by these mistakes next time!