Hi Guys,

finally getting round to start my truffle grow, only a couple of years in the making

Question is, has anyone ever taken apart a syringe filter and used the membrane filter from one?

Reason for asking is i have a 90mm SFD which i will need to cut following Violets Tek over at the Shroomery and being a lazy UK so and so thought taking a syringe filter apart would be easier and cheaper for me in the long run.

I know that using them as is does not provide enough FAE for this Tek however the membrane diameter can be 13mm and even 25mm which is more than big enough to prepare my lids.

If no one has tried this or has a link to some info regarding someone who has tried (i couldn't find any info on this) i will buy a couple and give it a go.

Thank you for looking.

Kerberos

I've used replacement HEPA filter units, for air purifyers or vacuum cleaners. It performed well. You can cut many filter patches out of one HEPA unit. If you are going to make more than a few filter lids, this may be a cheaper option than disemboweling syringe filters.

I was going to gently coax them out!

HEPA filters seem to be a pain to work with according to other forums pitubo, how do you prepare/use yours?

Kerberos

I cut circles out of the filter that fit a metal O ring with an 8 mm hole. Then I glue the filter circle onto the ring with high temperature resistant silicone based glue. Perhaps ordinary silicone sealant would work equally well. The ring with HEPA patch is then glued onto a jar lid, so that it covers the hole drilled through the lid. The filter sits between the ring and the lid. Another ring and filter can be glued onto the inside of the lid in similar fashion.

In order to make sure that the glue holds well, it is somewhat important to brush the part of the lid that gets glue applied with a metal brush or steel wool. Remove all the paint and coating before applying glue.

I know other growers who simply use adhesive tape to fix the filter material to the lid. That seems to work as well. I personally like my system with the rings because it works as a guard to the filter material, protecting it from accidental rupture caused by rough handling.

Thank you for the reply pitubo, the biggest concern i have is how well the HEPA holds up to PC'ing?

Is there any special treatment for them or do i just treat them like a SFD?

I really appreciate you help in this as i am about to prepare my jars and get this grow going!

Kerberos

In my experience, the HEPA fabric withstands pressure cooking just fine. AFAIK it is made from PP or PTFE (not sure about that).

The biggest issues are:
- the lids rusting, compromizing the glue and thereby the seal of the filter;
- dirt getting into the filter fabric, allowing contamination growing into and through the filter;

The latter can be mitigated by using three layers of filter (separated by the rings), the former is harder to prevent; probably accepting a limited life span for lids is inevitable. I've noticed that the foamy inside of jar lids tends to not hold up well to repeated pressure cooking treatments anyway, that is another cause of limited re-usability.