captnKB Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Anyone out there using slotted floor drains in their distillery? http://www.slotdrainsystems.com/ Like these? Pros, cons? Id love to hear any input or experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenny Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 We run our 1.5" and 2" hoses directly into our trench drain (with the grate removed) when we're emptying liquid stillage or whatever else -- that slot drain would not allow for that. It looks cool though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silk City Distillers Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 After spending an hour today on my knees scrubbing the floor drains so they were impeccably clean - how exactly do you clean a slot drain? Looking at the site they talk about plumbing in CIP systems or flush lines? Sounds pricey. I'll second Lenny's comment about popping off a grate and dropping in a hose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3d0g Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 3 hours ago, Silk City Distillers said: After spending an hour today on my knees scrubbing the floor drains so they were impeccably clean [...] Uh, why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skaalvenn Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I can't imagine how many tri clamp gaskets I'd lose in a drain like that... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackheart Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Power washers clean every damn thing we have, including furry trench drains. Make the investment and buy a good one. You wont regret it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philstill Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 6 hours ago, Blackheart said: Power washers clean every damn thing we have, including furry trench drains. Make the investment and buy a good one. You wont regret it. +1 on a power washer and detergents, heat, etc. all assist on the cleaning. A concern about the slotted drain is plugging of the slot with solids, semi-solids and slow drainage if a large amount of material needs to be flushed from the floor. The small volume of the evacuation channel will not allow the same drainage as a regular grated channel. They do look nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgumany Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 As someone who is very familiar with Slot Drain Systems product I can say it's one of the best trench drains out there. Sure you could remove grates and use a power washer but the amount of time and money you would lose on continually doing that would end up being way more then if you use one of these drains. There is also catch basins and strainer baskets to catch anything that could fall in so you wouldn't have to worry about losing tri clamp gaskets or anything else. This Blog post will sum up what i said to a much better degree. http://blog.slotdrainsystems.com/how-much-do-you-spend-per-year-cleaning-your-trench-drain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertS Posted September 29, 2017 Share Posted September 29, 2017 Having worked in a food packing plant, I can see the advantage to slot drains for incidental messes and I wish we had them there. But it looks like the way slot drains deal with the concerns brewers/distillers have of not being able to handle dumping tanks is 'do something else with slurries and solids'. http://blog.slotdrainsystems.com/5-issues-brewers-must-consider-about-their-trench-drains Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlickFloss Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 We're thinking of installing a 15 foot section in Jan. to see if we want to convert for our expansion, I'll keep you guys updated on how it goes. I'm sick of power washing trenches, bring on the CIP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlickFloss Posted December 11, 2017 Share Posted December 11, 2017 Update: We have installed a 9 ft 8 in slotdrain in prod area where we had to repour to fix flow issues. After my concrete has cured and we pour flocrete I will update on how I've liked system and wether I recommend for others, so check back in about 1 month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlickFloss Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Hey guys, slot drain is in and I love it.... I'll respond directly to some comments below and then I'll let a sleeping thread lie..... Lenny: The slot drain for sure looks really good. We have hard plumbed drains for most of our tanks/vessels into our trenches so I'm not removing a lot of grates on my standard trenches, but I do see why that would be a concern in other facilities. The slot drain systems have a catch basin with a strainer basket, you can pop the top on there and run the hose straight into the basin to drain just like a standard floor trench, I would remove the strainer basket for that application but who knows, maybe someone is trying to fish a lost hat out of the mash [don't ask ; )]! Silk City: The 9000 model can be hard plumped for CIP or one could affix a nipple for temporary hook up for CIP. Also all models come "flush flow" ready, so you can plumb a line, or rig up your own temporary removable hook up to that line, to help keep things fresh and flushed. The paddle helps as well. I have found that partially blocking the drain into the basin and running weak CIP concentration fluid through there cleans it like a dream! The CIP functionality is really cool though especially if you're doing a range of whacky products (trench drains can sometimes turn into a dunder pit, as you know you cleaned yours all day last month!) The "flush flow" helps not only for cleaning and rinsing the drain, but also can help with getting rid of material that is too hot for your drain system. We haven't done that because our build included cast iron plumbing for this exact reason, but it popped into my head while I was typing this up. Skaalvenn I can imagine, you would probably lose many. But then think of the feeling you'll get when you FOUND THEM ALL IN THE STRAINER BASKET! Philstill- I hear you on that and you are absolutely right on your +1s, but all that equates to time away from product development, distillation and fermenting time, and time to do paper work! As for your other concern, I think depending on ones mash method and dist. style we all have different specific needs. Our mash for instance is essentially homogenous, very thick but virtually no solids and I would rather us flush solids down the toilet, or if they're organic throw them into our compost then send them to water treatment in our regular drain lines. We haven't had any issues with flow rate, and I don't see one arising. We haven't been in the situation where an amount of liquid so great needed to be drained that it would pool and begin filling the room with fluid, which is kind of what I envision from your statement. So at the end of the day, everyones operation is different and so are the needs of those systems, but in our operation the slot drain has thus far been a success! All of our stillage is repurposed though and we do not deal with a lot of solids going down drains so if that is your reality maybe it wouldn't be the best application for you who knows, but if thats not your reality you might really love the slot drain! Cheers y'all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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