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.

4) I made a plastic shield to protect the main circuit board of the FDer. it simply slides into place and protects the top and both sides of the board from condensation.

Looking at the picture you can see the water drops on the insulation and where the water had flowed down the back of the front panel.

I have one of those hand held heat guns (inexpensive from HF), but I was afraid of accidently burning the insulation. My gun gets very hot! I do the same technique with a fan, shock the ice and listen for the cracks as it separates from the chamber wall.

Michelle Dubrule I recently received my new freeze dryer in a timely manner and I was pleased with the excellent service. The company kept me informed about any expected delays during transport, which I greatly appreciated.

•The shelf heaters can be set to automatically control the rate of sublimation during the primary drying cycle. Through this process, the unit has control of the attendant vacuum pressure.

I did wonder though, since this is gravity flow and not pressure driven as on a car, if having the filter mounted horizontally might result in using only "half" the filter, as the oil would tend to travel through the low side of the filter -- although in practice, I suppose, as website the filter material gets plugged it would force the fluid level higher.

The system records and maintains a log of the pressure and temperature during all parts of the freeze-dry cycle.

We're passionate about helping Canadians experience the incredible benefits of freeze drying with Harvest Right. Our team is dedicated to providing you with a world-class experience from start to finish.

This is the case with meats as well. The trick with meats is to cook out as much fat as possible, then run it under water to remove even more fat. However, you can also freeze dry raw meat as well.

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 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 Know More 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 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.

Back from our trip I turned the unit on and to my dismay found that the display was missing the middle two lines.

I started by removing the 3 grocery bags that were holding the 2 thick bags that had at one time held the berries. Struck by how much it looked like a placenta - bag and all!