How you want to run your electrical is up to you, but there’s nothing worse than having your freeze dryer trip a breaker switch (especially when you’re not there). Installing or using an extra dedicated 20 amp for this model and the Large Pharmaceutical unit as well is strongly suggested.
Reattached hose and ran another full system test (results, 750 mTorr lowest steady reading - looking through the oil level window, some bubbling seen in oil even after an hour of pumpdown - some "air" noises from pump)
Our electricity was very high when we had it in AK because our electric company charged a lot, but in Texas, it’s very cheap to run. I don’t mind that I can’t freeze dry some things, as most of the things that you can’t freeze dry, you can purchase commercially or they shelf stable as is. For instance, I don’t freeze dry butter, but I do buy powdered butter. Oh, here’s one more potential con:
Harvest Right’s large Pharmaceutical is the solventless’s industry standard freeze dryer for a reason: they’re affordable, can dry a lot of hash in 24 hours, and are easy to set up. We sell more of them than just about anyone else in the industry to hash makers everywhere.
This includes setting as many as five different shelf temperatures, thus allowing the material to dry in phases, at different temperatures. For instance, you might have the material begin drying at 10ºF and increase the temperature in phases until the ultimate final dry temperature is 70ºF.
Allows for up to 10 thermal treatment steps and 12 drying steps, so you can adjust your process for each material with precision. You can control the rate of freezing, the final freeze temperature, and the duration of the freeze cycle.
The longevity of freeze dried food depends on the what the food is and how it is stored. When stored in a mylar bag with an oxygen absorber, many foods can last up to 25 years. If stored in a glass mason jar with an oxygen absorber and a vacuum sealed lid, food can last about 5 years.
So I corrected the oversight - I drilled and tapped the elbow to add the port. Here is a picture. It worked great today when I flushed the pump to clear out the gunk.
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.
The best way to keep tabs on used options that may be available is by joining freeze-drying Facebook Groups, following them on Instagram and TikTok, or checking online self-reliance and preparedness forums.
Posted January 21, 2016 (edited) On 12/1/2015 at 0:16 PM, Jenipher said: Tony, if you see this, I went ahead and purchased the catch can. Do you think it's okay to just purchase a reducer to go from the size of the exhaust to the size of the hose that came website with the can? Hopefully I said that in a way that makes sense! As well, does it matter which port is used as "in" and which as "out"? Thanks so much, Jen Hi Jen, Sorry to be gone so long. I did exactly as you proposed. I purchased a brass reducer and pushed the blue hose over it.
The only way I know to filter the water vapor out would be a cold trap. They usually use liquid nitrogen or dry ice to keep the temperature low enough that all the water condenses out. Obviously you would need a supply of the liquid nitrogen or dry ice that would probably not be cost effective for most of us. The other option to get that cold would be to use a cryocooler and build a cold trap around it. It could be done, but would be pretty expensive. I've been watching some electronics on ebay that Know More have cryocoolers in them, but the cheapest I've seen is around $600. Still not a cheap option, but you wouldn't need dry ice or liquid nitrogen to feed it.
Control of the amount of time a material is held at the ultimate freeze temperature before the drying cycle is started.
The process consists of stages: primary drying, where most of the water is removed, and secondary drying, which removes unfrozen water molecules to preserve the product.