filtering.

[MS1605]

So first brew went ridiculously smooth. It was just test E but I had to start off somewhere. Where it got to be a pain in the ass was filtering. I bought everything I needed to filter about 10 months ago which included a hand pump and a stericup. Then I was reading a thread and someone brought up a good point I never thought of. After you filter through a stericup and you unscrep the top filter part you are exposing the test to air/dust and particles. Well that put a damper on my plans. So I bought the usual whattmans and filtered through the stericup first just because I had it and wanted to see how it worked. Then Filtered straight into the vials with the whattman and calk gun.

let me tell you this is a HUGE pain in the ass. Maybe Im half restarted but I lost about a CC of test on my table. I read a whole bunch about a "flowhood" you can make for the stericup to keep the air away from it but I cant find out exactly what that is or how to make it.

So how the hell do you filter using a stericup and keep it sterile?

 

[prettyrick]

im interested in this also

 

[RJ]

So first brew went ridiculously smooth. It was just test E but I had to start off somewhere. Where it got to be a pain in the ass was filtering. I bought everything I needed to filter about 10 months ago which included a hand pump and a stericup. Then I was reading a thread and someone brought up a good point I never thought of. After you filter through a stericup and you unscrep the top filter part you are exposing the test to air/dust and particles. Well that put a damper on my plans. So I bought the usual whattmans and filtered through the stericup first just because I had it and wanted to see how it worked. Then Filtered straight into the vials with the whattman and calk gun.

let me tell you this is a HUGE pain in the ass. Maybe Im half restarted but I lost about a CC of test on my table. I read a whole bunch about a "flowhood" you can make for the stericup to keep the air away from it but I cant find out exactly what that is or how to make it.

So how the hell do you filter using a stericup and keep it sterile?

ok, a couple things.

1. A brief second or two open to the elements is not gonna contaminate your solution.

2. If you're using stericups, I'm assuming your doing more than just a few 10ml vials.

If so, I would look into something like this:

Nalgene® MF75***8482; Sterile Bottle-Top Filters|Daigger

They work great and fit on top of a glass media bottle like this:

Pyrex® Media Bottles|Daigger

once your done, remove the filter an screw the cap on the bottle. Now you got 100-500ml of solution sitting around the house.

Then if you wanna get fancy, you can get a repipet to put it into vials to draw from like this:

Amazon.com: Repipet II Dispenser - 10 mL (): Industrial & Scientific

or if you wanna go cheap with something that works as well just not as accurate, draw out of the media bottle with a 10ml syringe and add it to a sterile vial.

Believe me, you're overthinking it.

 

[Ken]

ok, a couple things.

1. A brief second or two open to the elements is not gonna contaminate your solution.

Believe me, you're overthinking it.

RJ,

While what you are suggesting isn't untrue, I just disagree with it on every level...

All it takes is as brief second or two for 1 un- sterile contaminate to ruin an entire mixture.. You make an entire batch and a person gets a nasty infection due to that one contaminate it makes you wonder,,, "Is transfering in a non- sterile environment actually ok?" Why not be 100% sure while working in a sterile environment....?

If you are handy with some tools, flow-hoods are $400 with 6 hours of work... Small price to pay for piece of mind..

Here's a link to make a flowhood.. This is not what I would use, but will give you the idea for you to come up with your own......

Flowhood Example
Better Example

1 More tip, if you are going to make one, dont make it out of wood.....!

 

[RJ]

RJ,

While what you are suggesting isn't untrue, I just disagree with it on every level...

All it takes is as brief second or two for 1 un- sterile contaminate to ruin an entire mixture.. You make an entire batch and a person gets a nasty infection due to that one contaminate it makes you wonder,,, "Is transfering in a non- sterile environment actually ok?" Why not be 100% sure while working in a sterile environment....?

If you are handy with some tools, flow-hoods are $400 with 6 hours of work... Small price to pay for piece of mind..

Here's a link to make a flowhood.. This is not what I would use, but will give you the idea for you to come up with your own......

Flowhood Example

So what I am saying isn't untrue, but you disagree? lol Sorry, that sounded funny.

Well, i brewed for years and never had it happen once. And we're talking thousands of mls. Not saying it couldn't, but I wouldn't spend $400 or 6 hours on the off chance that something MAY fall into my mix. We're talking about a 33mm neck size opening in a clean environment. This is my experience I share, it doesn't have to be utilized.

With that being said, to the OP, if you're making 100ml or less per run, you should use a brake bleeder setup with a whatman. Hands free and filters it "sterile" in less than 15 minutes.

 

[Greazy-Pickle]

most ppl draw air into a syringe and inject it into there vials.. i dont feel the flow hood is needed,, and im sure most ugl's dont use 1 either.. as long as your enviroment isnt dusty or kids arent running around like maniacs i think being "clean an careful" is good enough..

 

[Ken]

and im sure most ugl's dont use 1 either..

When you provide Gear for many, many clients, it's imperative... Trust me... One negative comment about an UGL's gear could hurt you.. TSA is a good example..

If you're brewing for yourself then a flowhood 'probably' isnt necessary...

 

[Mr. Humdiddly]

So first brew went ridiculously smooth. It was just test E but I had to start off somewhere. Where it got to be a pain in the ass was filtering. I bought everything I needed to filter about 10 months ago which included a hand pump and a stericup. Then I was reading a thread and someone brought up a good point I never thought of. After you filter through a stericup and you unscrep the top filter part you are exposing the test to air/dust and particles. Well that put a damper on my plans. So I bought the usual whattmans and filtered through the stericup first just because I had it and wanted to see how it worked. Then Filtered straight into the vials with the whattman and calk gun.

let me tell you this is a HUGE pain in the ass. Maybe Im half restarted but I lost about a CC of test on my table. I read a whole bunch about a "flowhood" you can make for the stericup to keep the air away from it but I cant find out exactly what that is or how to make it.

So how the hell do you filter using a stericup and keep it sterile?

I have no interest in entering the altercation regarding flowhood necessity for gear sterilty. A viable alternative is stericup systems that filter then deposit filtered compounds directly in sterile vials through a hose attachment with a kill switch. Consensus dictates your using a comparatively ghetto rig.

 

[RJ]

When you provide Gear for many, many clients, it's imperative... Trust me... One negative comment about an UGL's gear could hurt you.. TSA is a good example..

If you're brewing for yourself then a flowhood 'probably' isnt necessary...

So i guess the question is how much is this guy making and is he planning a big sale? lol

i know a few of the UGLs guys and I can almost guarantee a flowhood is not being used. My 'friend' who used to brew and sold to the entire region for two years before Raw Deal never used one. Just kept his area clean like Pickle said, and never had any issues with contamination.

Again, we need to all just agree to disagree on this one. Its like the aspirating threads. lol

 

[Mr. Humdiddly]

So i guess the question is how much is this guy making and is he planning a big sale? lol

i know a few of the UGLs guys and I can almost guarantee a flowhood is not being used. My 'friend' who used to brew and sold to the entire region for two years before Raw Deal never used one. Just kept his area clean like Pickle said, and never had any issues with contamination.

Again, we need to all just agree to disagree on this one. Its like the aspirating threads. lol

Actually i agree with you on this one RJH I just did not want to get into it. Still I suppose it would be of benefit to the community if I voiced an opinion.

The use of filtration membranes remove large growths of bacteria, fungi, and foreign particulates. The use of Benzyl alcohol acts as a preventive measure against the reintroduction of bacteria and fungi. The only real concern would be the introduction of foreign particulates.

The suggestion that bacterial and fungal growth's can enter in the short time associated with transfer is ludicrous to say the least. The prevention of negative pressure balance requires the injection of air into the vial prior to every pull. Yet no one gets infections via this route due to the presence of BA.

BA cannot kill larger bacterial or fungal growths but you remove those prior to transfer. The BA will prevent the growth of any nano-particulate bacterial or fungal agents. If it is larger than a nano-particulate it won't be airborne.

Case closed.

 

[RJ]

Actually i agree with you on this one RJH I just did not want to get into it. Still I suppose it would be of benefit to the community if I voiced an opinion.

The use of filtration membranes remove large growths of bacteria, fungi, and foreign particulates. The use of Benzyl alcohol acts as a preventive measure against the reintroduction of bacteria and fungi. The only real concern would be the introduction of foreign particulates.

The suggestion that bacterial and fungal growth's can enter in the short time associated with transfer is ludicrous to say the least. The prevention of negative pressure balance requires the injection of air into the vial prior to every pull. Yet no one gets infections via this route due to the presence of BA.

BA cannot kill larger bacterial or fungal growths but you remove those prior to transfer. The BA will prevent the growth of any nano-particulate bacterial or fungal agents. If it is larger than a nano-particulate it won't be airborne.

Case closed.

is about time i heard another person say what BA is actually used for. So many people think it is what sterilizes their gear instead of acting as a perservative to protect against future bacteria growth.

God I'm really falling for you. (see how easy that was... now you try with the girl at work. lol)

 

[Ken]

If I'm filtering, capping and crimping, I am using a flowhood.. If I'm filtering straight into a sterile vial, a flowhood is un-necessary, completely agree 110%.

I read a whole bunch about a "flowhood" you can make for the stericup to keep the air away from it but I cant find out exactly what that is or how to make it.

So how the hell do you filter using a stericup and keep it sterile?

The OP asked about a Flowhood.. I gave him the info based on him capping and crimping..

 

[Mr. Humdiddly]

RJ,

While what you are suggesting isn't untrue, I just disagree with it on every level...

All it takes is as brief second or two for 1 un- sterile contaminate to ruin an entire mixture.. You make an entire batch and a person gets a nasty infection due to that one contaminate it makes you wonder,,,

I guess this post where you discussed infections due to contaminants threw me off...

 

[RJ]

me too. I didn't see he mentioned a flow hood.

My bad Ken. Tell Barbie she sucks great cock.

 

[MS1605]

Damn, this thread sits dormant for two whole month then WHAM!

Great info so far.

RJ. I did exactly what you ended up suggesting. Break bleed and filtered into the glass container. I have NOT transfered from glass container to vials yet. I did 50grams and im defiantly not looking to sell.

I think im going to just take RJ's advice and draw from the glass container and go right into the vials.

Thanks for all the great ideas guys.

 

[Ken]

me too. I didn't see he mentioned a flow hood.

My bad Ken. Tell Barbie she sucks great cock.

I forgive you... I'll make sure and let her know..

 

[willshela]

Maybe he forget to mention that thing.Flow hood can be found in some balancing equipment.

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