Christopher N.

finishman2000, thanks for your input as well regarding the oil changes. I find it easy to believe that less moisture will enter the pump when one starts with less moist foods. I'm afraid, however, that most of the foods I will FD will be quite wet to start with. I am not sure I understand the compressor dryer concept, but I did find (on line search) some in-line, general purpose filters that remove harmful water condensate and dirt from compressed air systems. A single stage ($50) up to many stage systems ($600) are available, but I think that might be overkill and I would just be better off changing the oil more frequently. I totally agree, however, that it would sure be nice to have a chamber or filter, pre-pump that could collect the pump damaging moisture, perhaps even installed by HR. Thanks again, and let us know if you find any solutions. FYI... If anyone tries FD'ing peeled garlic, I highly suggest either slicing or chopping it first, as the whole peeled cloves took 3 cycles and still, not all were fully done.

peggy w, thank you for your input. I sure am curious now about "removing the water" from the oil between FD cycles. Section 9 - Troubleshooting (in supplied HR owners manual) says to drain about a tablespoon of used oil before beginning a new batch of food in order to drain any water that has accumulated in the vacuum pump. It is my understanding that water would sink to the bottom, as oil floats on water, but does that mean it sinks down to the drain valve or perhaps in a back chamber?? If it is indeed the case that I would need to run the pump to flush out a bit of oil due to the water and dirt being back in the chamber, as you suggest, I'm afraid I'd blow out more oil than intended and would just be better off not doing that between each cycle, but rather change all the oil more frequently. Perhaps every 5-8 cycles instead?? I'd love to hear from others as well regarding their oil changing experiences. Thanks again, peggy w.

I have been wondering if anyone is able to share their experience with changing the oil in their HR FD vacuum pump. Mine is the JB Industries Eliminator DV-6E model. I just did my first oil change today after having run through 10 FD cycles. A picture I've tried to include shows what my used oil looked like. file:///Users/christopher/Desktop/used%20FD%20oil.jpg Based on the brown color of the oil, I think I will change it more frequently. I tried draining about 1/8 cup after each FD cycle and replacing it with fresh oil, but only did it for the first 5 cycles as I couldn't see any evidence of water in the oil. When the pump was still warm I drained the oil from the bottom into a little pan. With the FD drain tube valve open to air, I placed a paper towel over the vacuum pump exhaust and covered it tightly. I then turned on the vacuum pump by plugging it directly into an outlet for about 40 seconds (against my better judgement, as I always thought you shouldn't run any motor without oil in it). It did, however, evacuate about an additional 1/3 cup of oil. After I turned it off again, I then tilted the pump forward up on the end with the glass window for about a minute or so, then back flat again. I repeated this tilt one more time. Only a little more oil came out after doing that twice. I closed the drain valve and refilled the pump with a little more than 3/4 of a quart (almost 800 ml) of clean oil. After having read the two instruction manuals that came with the pump I should have probably considered flushing the pump (pouring 1/3 - 1/2 cup oil into the pump as it is running) as it directs if the oil is badly contaminated. I think I will do that for the next oil change. I suppose this is to be done with the drain valve open?? It says to repeat as required until contamination is removed, then dispose of that oil. I know that the vacuum pump is one of the most important parts of the FD system. I want to make sure I'm taking care of it properly. Has anyone had experience with removing the pump cover, the oil deflector, and the cover seal for a deeper cleaning of the inside of the pump? I'd appreciate hearing from anyone about their oil changing experiences.

Cowboyartist, keep in mind that I am very new to all of this FD'ing stuff and I have only done pears once, but here's my experience. I cored the pears and sliced them to about 3/8"-1/2" thick, leaving the skins on. I ended up having to run them through twice as they were still wet on the skin end. To do it again... I would certainly increase the time on the drying/cooling cycle, as I only used the preset 7 hour cycle. I would also slice them a bit thinner, but I still don't think I'd peel the pears. I would also dip them in an acidulated wash prior to FD'ing. I would put 2 tsp. of Fruit Fresh powder in 1/4 cup water to have a slurry to dip the fruit in. If you don't have Fruit Fresh, you can use ground up vitamin C, or a diluted lemon juice wash. This will help prevent the pear flesh from turning brown. I only had one tray of pears and got them into the FD right away and they still turned a little brown. 40 lbs of pears is a lot and will take quite some time to FD. As Mr. Mike has mentioned in the past, don't overload the FD, using a max of 5 lbs per load. He says even that can take up to 36 hours to FD. If they are getting too ripe before you can FD them all, slice them up, dip in the acidulated wash and put them in a freezer (spread out on trays to keep them separated until frozen, then bag if necessary) until you are able to get them into the FD.

I, like most of you, purchased a HR FD. HR introduced me to this forum, which I have read through several times. There is so much useful information here! A big thank you to those that have contributed their experiences!! I have completed a few cycles now, with some minor hiccups. My first issue was with the vacuum pumps cord plugging into the back of the FD. It just wasn't working consistently without manual manipulation. To make a long story short, I widened the prongs on the plug a lot and now it seems to be able to work if I don’t move things around. I’m still evaluating that situation (I have been in contact with HR and they will address it if it remains an issue). Upon closing, the acrylic door doesn’t make good contact with the rubber seal on my FD unless I pull the seal away from the machine a bit after each time I open the door. Only then will a sheet of paper not slide through. As long as I address that with each batch it isn’t a problem. For those that are new, when closing the acrylic door, make sure the handle latches, then turn the handle an additional 1/4 turn to fully complete the seal. Like Tim P., Tango Charlie, and some others have done, I put a paper towel over the vacuum pump de-mister using a rubber band to secure it, and change it as needed. I have noticed that each batch is a trial and error process unless I have previously done those same ingredients before. Everything matters… the size of food pieces, the starting temperature of the food, the moisture content, the density of the cellular structure, the quantity placed in the FD, including the amount layered on each tray, etc. I have started to error on the side of slightly longer freeze times and longer cooling/drying cycles (increasing each by 1-2 hours). I love reading about and seeing pictures of what others have done. They are extremely useful. I won’t post my pictures (unless asked for) as they are the mostly the same items others have done. Certain food items seem to be very popular, where as others aren’t as much. I had some extra cooked chickpeas and steamed and cubed sweet potato (about 3/4” cubes) that I put in. FYI, the sweet potato had to go in twice, as the skin seemed to cause a delay in drying (I would recommend either peeling, cubing smaller, slicing, or just set a longer cooling/drying cycle). Has anyone tried FD’ing fish or shellfish? Deryn asked about using acidulated water to dip certain foods in prior to FD’ing to prevent oxidation (browning or discoloring). I put 2 tsp. of Fruit Fresh powder in 1/4 cup water to have a slurry to dip the fruit in. It worked great for the apples, and I certainly should have used it for the pears. I like a good sale and tend to stock up when I find one. I will primarily use my FD for shorter term storage (1-5 years) of items that I have an abundance of, or other items that be can hard to come by at times (especially perfectly ripe), and also to thin out my many freezers (is that even possible?). We eat out very seldom and I am the cook. We eat a very diversified menu and I love to have items on hand from many different cultures at all times (which can be very difficult). I harvest our garden and some fruit trees throughout the summer and autumn, so this will be a nice addition to my dehydrator and canning processes, perhaps even replacing them in many cases. I have started storing my FD items in half gallon and quart sized mason jars and use our Food Saver to vacuum seal them. I am, however, very intrigued by JimR’s process of sealing the jars by using the vacuum pump. I will probably be using most of my items dry, as snacks or just to put into wet meals. However, does anyone have a chart of how much water (by volume) they use for rehydrating various foods (by weight)? I found this one (http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/assets/images/default/PDFs/rehydrate_chart.pdf) but I don’t have any experience rehydrating yet, and I would be interested in seeing a reference guide that others prefer to use. Thanks again for the useful information you have all contributed!! I look forward to learning so much more.