BigPapa2600
Member
What's up guys I'm a new member here at Mesorx and also new to homebrewing, long confusing post here so just bare with me if you can.
I've been reading countless threads on here for the past several weeks on homebrewing and have learned lots of very helpful information, but am currently in some confusion about which bottle top filter to use. I will be filtering large amounts of gear once I get the hang of it of course, and want to filter with a bottle top filter, not a syringe filter.
All of the following information I provide is not from personal experience, but from reading countless forums coupled with my own research on the side.
So far it's come to my understanding that using a bottle top filter that has a funnel made of polystyrene housing can result in cloudy gear, since polystyrene is chemically incompatible with Benzyl Alcohol which can actually eat through it and dissolve the polystyrene into the gear thus making it cloudy. There are a couple of threads on here about people complaining about it, (they notice that the gear is cloudy and after the steroid has been filtered, the funnel is sticky to the touch AKA it's partly dissolved into the oil) and I didn't want to risk a polystyrene housed bottle top filter ruining my gear.
"Benzyl alcohol can extract and dissolve polystyrene plastic and may attack other plastics. Incompatible with aluminum, iron, steel"
The plastic housing for a bottle top filter to my understanding needs to be polypropylene, which is a highly chemically resistant plastic, and is tolerable with the solvents needed to dissolve the raw powder into the carrier oil. (BA and BB)
As far as the Filter Membrane, from doing research and from reading threads on here, a PES filter is also dissolved by Benzyl Alcohol, and bits of a PES filter can dissolve into the oil since a PES filter is not compatible with Benzyl Alcohol
So this now rules out lots of bottle top filters that can be used to properly filter gear? To my understanding the Filter membrane must be either PVDF, PTFE, or Nylon to withstand the solvents.
I can't seem to find a single bottle top filter anywhere, not even on alibaba, that has both polypropylene housing, along with a PVDF or PTFE filter to go with it.
I can find a polypropylene PTFE bottle top filter, but the pore size doesn't come available in .2um or .22um... only .45um which won't cut it.
I also can find a PVDF filter, but with polystyrene housing which people have complained about turning their gear cloudy
www.medical-and-lab-supplies.com
The one filter that I am almost sure I was about to buy, was a polypropylene housed Nylon filter membrane bottle top filter. The problem with this one is it is NOT sterile. Which means I will have to run it through my autoclave first which I have absolutely no issue with, however I came to realize after further research that under no conditions is Nylon autoclavable or able to withstand the heat needed to properly sterilize it.
"Polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), nylon, acrylic, low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) lab ware and polyurethane tubing are not autoclavable under any conditions."
So do non-sterile bottle top filters have to be sterilized? And how would I go about sterilizing a bottle top filter that has a nylon membrane filter if I can't put it in an autoclave or heat it up too much?
Here's the link to the the bottle top filter I am referring to that is polypropylene housed with a nylon filter membrane
Any answers / insight would be greatly appreciated here, I'm thinking about just filtering with a Buchner flask instead, although that seems like it will be a pain in the ass. Now if someone could possibly ease my mind that either A, i'm overthinking it and using polystyrene housing is ok to use since the Benzyl alcohol is such a low percent on top of it being dispersed in all the carrier oil, or B can somehow magically come up with a source of bottle top filter that is USA domestic, in stock, and has Polypropylene housing in addition to either a PVDF or PTFE membrane filter that is .2um or .22um.
PS
Now I DID find the type of bottle top filter that I am looking for, (polypropylene PTFE membrane bottle top filter .2um) (PTFE is autoclavable)
HOWEVER, I called the company (Thomas Scientific) and they told me the manufacturer (Lab Force) won't be out with any more for another 48 weeks. So that definitely rules that option out as well, which was literally the only bottle top filter that I was looking for.
www.thomassci.com
I've been reading countless threads on here for the past several weeks on homebrewing and have learned lots of very helpful information, but am currently in some confusion about which bottle top filter to use. I will be filtering large amounts of gear once I get the hang of it of course, and want to filter with a bottle top filter, not a syringe filter.
All of the following information I provide is not from personal experience, but from reading countless forums coupled with my own research on the side.
So far it's come to my understanding that using a bottle top filter that has a funnel made of polystyrene housing can result in cloudy gear, since polystyrene is chemically incompatible with Benzyl Alcohol which can actually eat through it and dissolve the polystyrene into the gear thus making it cloudy. There are a couple of threads on here about people complaining about it, (they notice that the gear is cloudy and after the steroid has been filtered, the funnel is sticky to the touch AKA it's partly dissolved into the oil) and I didn't want to risk a polystyrene housed bottle top filter ruining my gear.
"Benzyl alcohol can extract and dissolve polystyrene plastic and may attack other plastics. Incompatible with aluminum, iron, steel"
The plastic housing for a bottle top filter to my understanding needs to be polypropylene, which is a highly chemically resistant plastic, and is tolerable with the solvents needed to dissolve the raw powder into the carrier oil. (BA and BB)
As far as the Filter Membrane, from doing research and from reading threads on here, a PES filter is also dissolved by Benzyl Alcohol, and bits of a PES filter can dissolve into the oil since a PES filter is not compatible with Benzyl Alcohol
So this now rules out lots of bottle top filters that can be used to properly filter gear? To my understanding the Filter membrane must be either PVDF, PTFE, or Nylon to withstand the solvents.
I can't seem to find a single bottle top filter anywhere, not even on alibaba, that has both polypropylene housing, along with a PVDF or PTFE filter to go with it.
I can find a polypropylene PTFE bottle top filter, but the pore size doesn't come available in .2um or .22um... only .45um which won't cut it.
Autofil PP - Disposable Vacuum Bottle Top Filters for Solvent Filtration, with 0.45um PTFE Membrane for Clarification and Prefiltration, 500mL, GL45 Thread Housing, Non-Sterile, (Pack of 12): Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
Autofil PP - Disposable Vacuum Bottle Top Filters for Solvent Filtration, with 0.45um PTFE Membrane for Clarification and Prefiltration, 500mL, GL45 Thread Housing, Non-Sterile, (Pack of 12): Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
www.amazon.com
I also can find a PVDF filter, but with polystyrene housing which people have complained about turning their gear cloudy
500ml Millipore Steritop BTF-Durapore PVDF Membrane (Qty.1)
500mL, Millipore Steritop Bottle-Top, Durapore, PVDF Membrane, 0.22um, Qty.1 Part No.: SCGVT05RE
The one filter that I am almost sure I was about to buy, was a polypropylene housed Nylon filter membrane bottle top filter. The problem with this one is it is NOT sterile. Which means I will have to run it through my autoclave first which I have absolutely no issue with, however I came to realize after further research that under no conditions is Nylon autoclavable or able to withstand the heat needed to properly sterilize it.
"Polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), nylon, acrylic, low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) lab ware and polyurethane tubing are not autoclavable under any conditions."
So do non-sterile bottle top filters have to be sterilized? And how would I go about sterilizing a bottle top filter that has a nylon membrane filter if I can't put it in an autoclave or heat it up too much?
Here's the link to the the bottle top filter I am referring to that is polypropylene housed with a nylon filter membrane
Any answers / insight would be greatly appreciated here, I'm thinking about just filtering with a Buchner flask instead, although that seems like it will be a pain in the ass. Now if someone could possibly ease my mind that either A, i'm overthinking it and using polystyrene housing is ok to use since the Benzyl alcohol is such a low percent on top of it being dispersed in all the carrier oil, or B can somehow magically come up with a source of bottle top filter that is USA domestic, in stock, and has Polypropylene housing in addition to either a PVDF or PTFE membrane filter that is .2um or .22um.
PS
Now I DID find the type of bottle top filter that I am looking for, (polypropylene PTFE membrane bottle top filter .2um) (PTFE is autoclavable)
HOWEVER, I called the company (Thomas Scientific) and they told me the manufacturer (Lab Force) won't be out with any more for another 48 weeks. So that definitely rules that option out as well, which was literally the only bottle top filter that I was looking for.
Solvent Filtration Disposable Vacuum Bottle Top Filters
labForce® Solvent Filtration Bottle Top Filters are used in a huge variety of applications, including solvent prefiltration for HPLC mobile phase, winterization and lipid removal cold filtration,...
