We have some really great 'techy' type guys here who are, as they have been exploring the FD mechanics and sharing that in their posts, writing what is turning out to be a 'troubleshooting manual' for us less capable folks.
Removing the ice from between the chamber wall and the insulation (hopefully will never have to do this again)
It makes the processing time faster, which means less wear on the machine. If I am preparing fruit, I typically slice it and put it on a baking sheet.
With the combination of pharmaceutical and food products needing to be more shelf-stable than before, acquiring ideal freeze-drying machinery is crucial. Modern freeze driers have much more sophisticated control of temperature, pressure, and moisture which guarantees the quality of the product as well as meeting regulatory standards.
I removed the side covers and found the water dripping from the chamber insulation. I called up HarvestRight to ask for ideas on how to avoid this in the future.
Odds are the problem is the vacuum hose or its end connections, the drain valve, or the door gasket. Based upon my experience I'd double check the fittings while installed on the FDer.
Automation and control features are equally important in dry freezing machinery. Remote monitoring, remote data access, and real time data tracking automation improves process consistency by reducing manual input.
Take care of it, change the oil regularly, maintain it, and make sure to read the user manual carefully to keep it in good, working order. You might have to change a pump, change freon or general maintenance, but it’s no different than any other major appliance.
14 Posted December 16, 2015 (edited) On 7/31/2015 at 11:12 PM, TonyC said: Somehow this post got posted twice so I'll edit the second one with some more useful information. I remember reading somewhere in this thread where somebody was asking how long you run the freeze cycle with pre-frozen food. I have my chest freezer set to -12F, and I usually let the freeze dryer cool for an hour before I put the frozen food in. After I load the food in I wait another half hour to start the drying process. I've had a lot of cycles that the Completa time between pulling one batch out and starting the drying cycle on the next is around 2 hours. I'm running mine in a cold garage, so it cools down pretty quickly. If you have yours in a warm room it would probably take a little longer.
Pre-frozen food takes less time to process since the machine doesn’t have to completely freeze the food. Your climate (humidity and temperature) can also affect the cycle length. My average load takes around 24 hours, but it can be significantly longer.
Thirdly, I like to know what is in my food. When I process my own food, I know what is going in it. Also, I like to grow my own produce so when I freeze dry that, I know exactly where my food came from and how it was grown. Some commercially freeze dried foods contain preservatives.
The system’s shelf heaters and adjustable vacuum pressure ensure controlled Home Small Pro Freeze Dryer sublimation during the primary drying cycle, preserving your materials at peak quality.
Harvest Right’s lyophilizer/freeze dryer is the perfect addition to any laboratory. The scientific freeze dryer can be completely customized with your preferred processes.
Considering that they don’t blow heated air away from a hole in get more info your property, warmth-pump dryers use about half the Electricity of the vented dryer per cycle.