DIY Fry Oil Filter Ideas

Hi.  I have a 40 lb fryer and I currently filter the oil about daily with the cone filters.  I think I could get even more life out of my oil if I could filter it better.  I've read up here in the past, and a few people mentioned diatomaceous (DE) earth.  I checked into it, and it isn't recommended for gravity filtration.  I have some background in engineering and I had an idea to build a simple filtration device to use the DE.  I don't want to spend $2000 on a large unit to do the same thing.  I'm posting here to see if anybody has any experience with this before I go ahead and try to build something.  I was thinking to do something with packing 4" PVC piping, maybe 2 foot long sections, with DE.  I would pick up an inexpensive pump somewhere and try to push the oil through the PVC filter.  I could hook up more than one pipe in series or parallel depending on how the oil was looking.  Anyway, there are other factors to consider, but again I'm wondering if anybody has done something like this.
 
Thanks for any comments!
 
Dan

I have not attempted this type of thing but as a former engineer too you need to consider whether you will filter the oil hot or cold. It always flows through the filters easier hot but you have to watch your temps on the pump and the piping. PVC is processed at 350 degrees and that is what the oil should be frying at so with a pvc system you would have some pretty nasty stuff coming out. Now that I think about it  pvc is not food safe either.

Are you both on drugs? LMAO
 
WHY Make an easy job difficult and more time consuming?

 
God Why reinvent the wheel.

Chicnscoop


I have not attempted this type of thing but as a former engineer too you need to consider whether you will filter the oil hot or cold. It always flows through the filters easier hot but you have to watch your temps on the pump and the piping. PVC is processed at 350 degrees and that is what the oil should be frying at so with a pvc system you would have some pretty nasty stuff coming out. Now that I think about it  pvc is not food safe either.

 
I know, there are some things to consider.  I figured to try and filter cold for the reasons you state.  PVC you get at Home Depot is also not supposed to be used under pressure, but depending on the pump head and the pressure drop from the DE, that might be OK.  I didn't want to go too far down this road without seeing if someone else had success doing it.  Thanks for your reply!
 
Dan

since when is pvc not supposed to be used under pressure or heat ?
 
i understand the heat issue with hot fryer oil...... but every single in ground pool in America is plumbed with sch40 pvc..... and that includes the heated ones, in fact, the heat pumps come from the factory with pvc slip connectors to glue the plumbing to....
 
how much pressure is needed to pump oil through DE ? why couldnt it be built using galvanized pipe instead ?
 

Yes, half the plumbing in my house is PVC, but that is all on the sewer (no pressure) side.  I have PEX tubing and copper on the pressure side.  If you go to Home Depot and look at some sched 40 4" pipe it says "not for use under pressure."  I can't speak to swimming pool systems, but obviously it can withstand some low pressure over time, but why use it if it isn't really designed for pressure?  I have no idea how porous DE is, and trying to pump through 2 feet of DE might be the same as trying to pump through solid concrete.  Maybe 2 inches is more appropriate.  I just don't know enough details yet so thought some people here might have experience with the stuff.
 
Thanks!

a homemade filter is a really, really, really stupid idea...........
 
ok, i'll say it again............ a homemade filter is a really, really, really stupid idea.............
 
why? because you can purchase a half-micron filter element and housing for what it would cost you to build a homebrew diatom-dirt filter that would never work as well as you imagine it would. maybe if you smoke enough pot you might think you'll see some good results..............
 
better to use your filter cones properly. always use at least 2 inside-out filter cones with the seams tuned 180-degrees. better, use 4 cones with the seams all turned 180...
 
if you are frying meat, your oil life is going to be short no matter what you do. .......

OK, thanks so much for your helpful post!  I'm glad you replied because I can't find a filter media anywhere that will filter 0.5 microns with a gravity cone filter type set up.  I'm all ears if you can tell me how to do that.  Thanks in advance!
 

marzsit

better to use your filter cones properly. always use at least 2 inside-out filter cones with the seams tuned 180-degrees. better, use 4 cones with the seams all turned 180...

 
Yes, that's exactly what I've been doing for about a year now (with two Royal Paper filters) .  It gets me down to maybe 5 or 10 microns, probably larger though.  You've can save me a lot of time and stupidity if you can help me find a 0.5 micron gravity filter.
 
Thanks again!

why couldnt it be built using galvanized pipe instead ? Are you kidding and are you trying to kill off all the Geeddoes in  the hood or what? And really you claim to an engineer of what? Toothpicks... lead lined for easy meat removeall. PVC pipe ? HOt OIL!!! It will work.... Don't ever work on anything I might use PLEASE..

Barbeque barn


why couldnt it be built using galvanized pipe instead ? Are you kidding and are you trying to kill off all the Geeddoes in  the hood or what? And really you claim to an engineer of what? Toothpicks... lead lined for easy meat removeall. PVC pipe ? HOt OIL!!! It will work.... Don't ever work on anything I might use PLEASE..

 
First of all, work on your reading comprehension.  Nobody but you is talking about filtering hot oil.  I'm talking about building a simple prototype.
 
What is this - junior high school?  I thought this section of the forum was for PROFESSIONALS.  It seems this forum has more jokers and morons than anything else.  Thanks to those of you who made a constructive comment.  To the rest of you - please go to night school and get your GED so you might be able to express yourself like a normal human being.

dwhite
  ....

Yes, that's exactly what I've been doing for about a year now (with two Royal Paper filters) .  It gets me down to maybe 5 or 10 microns, probably larger though.  You've can save me a lot of time and stupidity if you can help me find a 0.5 micron gravity filter.

Thanks again!

 
1/2 micron filter material is available and building a filter system can be simple.   Some larger water filter systems might work well with oil.   Oil recycle plants usually build their own filters using 8 to 12 inch diameter pipe or metal shell and an interior metal basket with filter sock liner.   ... Also, automotive (truck) or large fuel system filter could be bought cheap and used; or reconfigured for your use.
 
... If the oil is not very hot and pumping pressure not very high (<80 psi ???), then PVC can be used as a filter tank shell.   A very simple pumped filter, is to pump through a perforated pipe with a filter sock clamped over the perforations into a bucket (5 gal ??).    .... Stick one end of the pump into the oil (cool or warm); pump though the filter into the bucket; inspect the filtered oil & pour back into the fryer.

Has anyone used Magnesol?
 

dwhite

Barbeque barn
why couldnt it be built using galvanized pipe instead ? Are you kidding and are you trying to kill off all the Geeddoes in  the hood or what? And really you claim to an engineer of what? Toothpicks... lead lined for easy meat removeall. PVC pipe ? HOt OIL!!! It will work.... Don't ever work on anything I might use PLEASE..

First of all, work on your reading comprehension.  Nobody but you is talking about filtering hot oil.  I'm talking about building a simple prototype.
 What is this - junior high school?  I thought this section of the forum was for PROFESSIONALS.  It seems this forum has more jokers and morons than anything else.  Thanks to those of you who made a constructive comment.  To the rest of you - please go to night school and get your GED so you might be able to express yourself like a normal human being.

 
maybe i was in a hurry or really thinking about something else at the time i made that statement....
i would hope, that before any actual building process begins, all the particulars of the materials would be looked at..... your right though, i should have said stainless pipe....
now, about the engineer statement..... i dont recall EVER saying i was an engineer or anything close to the thought.....
and as far as galvanized goes..... the zinc, which is what the galvanizing is supposed to be IS NOT A DEADLY CONCERN, it flushes out of the body through sweat(highly acidic foods will cause formation of zinc salts, they are bad for you)...... they sell zinc supplements in the drug stores for christ sake....
the problem is trace amounts of hexavalent chromium that some lesser manufacturers use in the processing of materials... there is another one, but i cant remember it right now.....
 
..... if you have anything made out of aluminum in your kitchen, for cooking, stirring, mixing, cutting, whatever.... you have a lot of nerve jumping on me about a material that i spoke of in a prototype

BackAlleyBurger

  now, about the engineer statement..... i dont recall EVER saying i was an engineer or anything close to the thought.....

 
I think Barbeque Barn stumbled in here and started posting without thinking.  He combined your galvanized pipe statement with my engineer statement.
 
DWhite

edwmax

1/2 micron filter material is available and building a filter system can be simple.

I liked the idea of DE because it seems to do a great job of filtration, plus I think it would be more forgiving design-wise.  If I needed more or less filtration media I could easily modify the amount of DE and make a simple design work.  I think using half micron filters (which would require a pump for sure) would either work or wouldn't work with whatever design I tried.
 
I mainly wanted to know if anybody has used DE before.  I recall mention of it in this forum a couple of years ago by some old timer so maybe I can do a forum search on that.
 
Thanks.

Uncle Groucho


Has anyone used Magnesol?

Good question.  It looks like a flocculant, which makes the suspended particles large enough to be removed.  You still need a pump to circulate it, which is why I've never tried it.  I bet between using Magnesol and a 0.5 micron filter you'd have some pretty clean oil.

It seems professionalism has gone by the wayside here lately.  A few guys here are not very nice and want to drag others down their level if misery in life.
 
You never know when an experiment may revolutionalize and industry. Never discourage anyone from experimenting. It may make your job easier some day. Then you may have to find something else to be so miserable about.
  
 
Dwhite, if you want to try different different types of filter media there is an industrial supplier in NJ - McMaster-Carr www.mcmaster.com who sell all kinds of filtering materials.

I work with a lot of food grade equipment with my job, not restaurant but industrial.
Check out generalfiltration dot com for some ideas.
You can also check out grainger dot com. Also look at comercial paint filters and strainers.
I also know that i have installed many galvanized water supply pipe in many industrial  food plants, a little rusty water is nothing compared to some of the ingredients in the food.
Good luck with your ideas, if you get rich "YOU OWE ME A BEER!"

Thanks for the comments Chicnscoop and Uncle Groucho.  Those links are good resources to have.  I'll report back if I ever get something done with this.
 
Regards.