Crazy TBC

kevthegaff

Hi lads, feckin depressed as hell. My tbc read out at 343 today, what's going on? It started 4 months ago before drying the cows up. A friend was milking and kept letting the receiver jar full up. I cleaned the vacuum line still high, changed the liners and tubing still high. Have tried every detergent. I cleaned it every day for a week before stArting milking this year. Milk sick isn't dirty either! Anyone have any idea before I go cuckoo!

5live

kevthegaff wrote: »

Hi lads, feckin depressed as hell. My tbc read out at 343 today, what's going on? It started 4 months ago before drying the cows up. A friend was milking and kept letting the receiver jar full up. I cleaned the vacuum line still high, changed the liners and tubing still high. Have tried every detergent. I cleaned it every day for a week before stArting milking this year. Milk sick isn't dirty either! Anyone have any idea before I go cuckoo!

You may have sour milk in the vaccum pumps and line. Happened me a few years ago. You may have to rip and wash the pumps out and purge the vaccum lines with hot water. If you give a sniff at the pumps you should get sour milk smell. Annoying job if thats the cause:(

sh1tstirrer

You should also take the milk line apart and check to see if there is any scum in it as even descaler won't shift it. You will have to take the line apart and brush it out and also the milk pump.

blue5000

Hi OP I see you are in tipp, try getting an independent test done first before ripping the machine apart, it could be the co-op lab, not the milking machine;)

If you do go cleaning;

Don't forget the plate cooler as eddie o'callaghan would say, 'there's a bit of muck in her somewhere'

whelan1

IN PLATE COOLER OR IS EVERY JAR WASHING PROPERLY... milk tank ... total pain in the butt, hate those texts to tell ya theres a problem

whelan1

whats the thermoduric like ? have you been on to the dairies ? Also is the water the right temperature for the wash and have you taken the top off the receiver jar?

kevthegaff

I just opened all the lines, all clean except from the vacuum line over the receiver jar to the vacuum pump. Would that be the problem?

whelan1

i asked the dairy guy this evening, he said to take a series of tests, test the milk before it goes through where you think the problem area is and then take a sample after the problem area, iykwim, that way you should pick up a picture of where the problem is

Injuryprone

kevthegaff wrote: »

I just opened all the lines, all clean except from the vacuum line over the receiver jar to the vacuum pump. Would that be the problem?

More than likely because the crud can fall back into the receiving jar and go off with the milk to the tank. Been there. But the only way you'll know if it is your only problem is if the results go back to normal now.

5live

kevthegaff wrote: »

I just opened all the lines, all clean except from the vacuum line over the receiver jar to the vacuum pump. Would that be the problem?

If you have crap in the vaccum line then any air being drawn out across that to form the vaccum for milking will be dirty and will contaminate any surface or milk it comes across. When the milk overflowed in my plant, the ball to stop it going up into the vaccuum line from the sanitary trap wasnt working properly(wasnt put in properly) so all the vaccuum line and all the way to the pumps were covered in a lovely rotten crust of dried sh***y yogurt. It took about 2 days to wash it out properly:(. Hopefully yours isnt as bad and as Blue5000 said, the plate cooler is nearly always a problem so it might be worth while to rip that up too and give a good clean.

Let us know what you did to fix the problem anyway

PMU

get into the tank with the powerwasher!I had a problem with white spots in the tank that I couldnt see from outside

bbam

5live wrote: »

If you have crap in the vaccum line then any air being drawn out across that to form the vaccum for milking will be dirty and will contaminate any surface or milk it comes across. When the milk overflowed in my plant, the ball to stop it going up into the vaccuum line from the sanitary trap wasnt working properly(wasnt put in properly) so all the vaccuum line and all the way to the pumps were covered in a lovely rotten crust of dried sh***y yogurt. It took about 2 days to wash it out properly:(. Hopefully yours isnt as bad and as Blue5000 said, the plate cooler is nearly always a problem so it might be worth while to rip that up too and give a good clean.

Let us know what you did to fix the problem anyway

OP didn't mention having a sanitary jar ??
Presuming he has one this is a shocking problem when milk overflows.. It needs to be rinsed out immediatly, the more time goes by the worse it will get..

Strip down the sanitary jar, line across to the receiver jar and the lid of the receiver jar..
Clean throughly with as hot as water as you can manage.. .. It should help..
Be careful stripping the jars as this is a common time to brake them :rolleyes:

This was a routine point to be cleaned when I was on the road servicing, not nice either.. Even the steam from fresh milk will condense on these lines and leave a scum on all plants..

Someone mentioned flushing back the vacuum lines to the pump.. It may need doing but I'd urge caution, if done incorrectly you'll dump the pump and cause a whole lot of heartache and cash..If you are attempting it NEVER EVER lift more then half the volume of your sanitary bucket ito the vacuum line... If it needs doing get a technician to do it.. And of course nothing only a half pint of diesel should ever go into the vacuum pump..

As with anytime you open any milk contact surface, do a good hot wash on the whole plant to clear out any crap you've disturbed..
This should also be done after changing rubber tubing and liners to clean off the residue on them before use..

Plate cooler??
Jebus I hated opening them... If your running tap water an occasional opening is fine, I found if your running water from an ice bank they need much more maintenance as more fat seems to solidify thus creating more gunk to go bad..

mattthetrasher

also try detergent and water connections to tank

blue5000

Hi Kevthegaff,

what's your wash routine like? How often do you do a hot wash and are you in a hardwater area?

vinne

every couple of weeks while washing milk tank add a half a point of acid into the hot water as its filling depending on make of tank add in at program 6 and leave it circulate

sh1tstirrer

Op did you solve the problem yet?

kevthegaff

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

Op did you solve the problem yet?

I haven't got the results yet but my scc has gone down from 500 to 170. I duno maybe just coincidence

feckin day gone again!!

kevthegaff wrote: »

Hi lads, feckin depressed as hell. My tbc read out at 343 today, what's going on? It started 4 months ago before drying the cows up. A friend was milking and kept letting the receiver jar full up. I cleaned the vacuum line still high, changed the liners and tubing still high. Have tried every detergent. I cleaned it every day for a week before stArting milking this year. Milk sick isn't dirty either! Anyone have any idea before I go cuckoo!

Its a horrible, time consuming job but u need to set aside a half a day and dismantle sections of ur milk line. Get some pipe cleaning brushes and gallons of piping hot water. There's milkstone/fatty diposits/limescale etc caked to the wall of the milk line. Sales reps will boast about the great detergent they have that'l shift mountains but they are 'full of milkstone'!!!... it needs elbow grease from time to time. Also, check temp on ur hot wash... if u can hold the milk line during washing for more than 7 seconds its not hot enough!! let me know how u get on

dar31

I use this stuff if there is a problem for a while, and normal routine isnt working
http://www.greggcare.ie/emags/pageflip.html
its not a miracle cure but i do find it effective, its meant for herds that shut down the plant for the winter, and use it as first and last wash of the season.

edit: page 10 graderite

red bull

Can that be bought from gregg care .ie ?

milkprofit

greggcare supply direct

kevthegaff

Girl from the creamery checked everything with a tester. The bulktank she reckons is the problem, hopefully she's right. I have a new one coming in three weeks. Have trouble getting into the old one to clean it properly. Thanks for the help girls and boys. Let ye know how the next test goes!