BeFree Filter Update: Bad News, 3 Days on the Trail with 5 People

[DancingBear]

So, what was the good news?

[Greg Mihalik]

the good news was he re-established flow.

the bad news was that the media was damaged.

[Daryl and Daryl]

Greg,

Your conclusion is correct.

Thanks for drawing it together.  I should have done a better job of doing so in my post.

[Daryl and Daryl]

I’ve also used vinegar to free up Sawyer filters in the past.  Now I’m wondering if I ruined them too and didn’t know it..  I don’t recall if there is an integrity test for the Sawyer Squeeze or mini.

[Matthew / BPL]

Step #2-Soaked in vinegar for 48 hours. Flow rate = high…as good as new. Failed integrity test (i.e. could blow through it like a whistle)

You did the integrity test wet, right? That test only works with a saturated filter according to their instructions. I thought had two failed filters until I read the instructions more carefully and realized the filter must be wet to test Integrity.

[Daryl and Daryl]

Mathew,

Yes, I soaked it in clear water after the vinegar soak and before the integrity test.

[Paul S.]

Is it possible that the vinegar didn’t damage the filter but it only dissolved build up that created the holes?

[Ben H.]

I wish there was a more applicable integrity test.  I don’t care how well it filters air.  I care how well it removes particles from water.  Perhaps color particles of the appropriate size that you could add to water.  If the filtered water shows color you know the filter is bad.

[Lester Moore]

I wish there was a more applicable integrity test.

A similar test used by pharmaceutical companies to test their filters is called the bubble point test. Air is passed through a wetted filter and the pressure required to cause bubbling out of the filter is measured. If the pressure that forms bubbles is too low for a specific combination of pore size, fluid type and temperature, then the filter fails the integrity test.

The BeeFree filter I’ve been using all Spring and Summer just failed the Katadyn bubble test last weekend. With the recent snow storms, it was likely the last 3 season backpack trip of the season here in WA state. Good timing.

[Tony Wong]

Can someone tell me what the integrity test it?

I have blown back through my filter from the clean side….air is not going through.

When water in the output chamber, under the cap, I put my mouth over the output and applied air pressure and was able to get a small trickle of water to be forced back through the filter.

I am assuming that this is a sign that my filter is okay.

I only soaked my filter in vinegar for 30 minutes.

Tony

[Daryl and Daryl]

Ben,

First Need filters used to have a color test that worked as you describe.  Used blue pills to dye water if I recall correctly.  A working filter made the water clear.

[Tony Wong]

Update: Replacement 1L Water Bottle arrived today.

Lot Number Printed on it is: 402033

[Ken Larson]

Replacement bottle 402033 is an up dated bottle to the earlier models 2901X that were being sold at original offering I bet.

All you BeFee users look on the seam of your flexible 1L flask and see if the serial number you have is 2901X OR …..?

[Ben H.]

I remember the blue dye test being mentioned in the past, but didn’t know the details.  Looks like First Need stopped producing it awhile ago, but I did find this video which identifies the compound as E133, a nice big organic molecule derived from coal tar.  Some more digging and it looks E133 is also known as Food Dye FD&C Blue #1!

Amazon is selling a pound of it for $25: https://smile.amazon.com/FD-Blue-Powder-454-Grams/dp/B00KAFAKFU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510071703&sr=8-1&keywords=fd%26c+blue+%231

There is some talk of water dissolvability and particle size in the Q&A which has me a bit concerned about different versions of E133, but I have to believe the discussion is not scientific in nature.  The First Needs test showed a dissolved liquid.  It would be nice if Dave Thomas chimned in; this seems right up his alley.

I also think it is worthwhile having a discussion on why the First Needs test no longer exists.  My guess is because it is not good at finding small leaks… only catastrophic failures.  Lawyers probably decided having the test available opened them up to too much risk.

[Christopher *]

Has anyone tried to make a pre-filter for the BeFree? Do you think the addition of a replaceable prefilter would alleviate some of these issues?

I’m considering making something like a sleeve to slide over the blue perforated plastic. A metal coffee filter micro-mesh or dudadiesel condom, if you will.

[Alex H]

I’ve been thinking the same thing with the biodiesel filter material.

[Rex Sanders]

E133 blue dye would go right through a fully functional BeFree and most backpacking filters. It might be a big molecule, but it’s far smaller than the BeFree’s 0.1 micron filter spec, which doesn’t stop viruses.

First Need filters are designed to remove chemicals, probably with activated charcoal, so a dye test was more appropriate.

— Rex

[Ben H.]

Darn… that was not what I was hoping to hear.  I don’t have a good intuition for particle sizes and I didn’t know much about the First Needs filter….. I also just, a few minutes ago, ordered a jar of the dye :(

[obx hiker]

OK  This has (as usual in this community) been a really interesting and informative thread.

Tony I don’t know you; but over the years I’ve come to appreciate your methodical approach and it is well displayed in this thread. I especially appreciate the info on vinegar. BTW what kind of vinegar? Apple?, Clear white, red wine?

Like John Vance and others I’ve got quite a few liters on my be-free with just a slight diminution in the perceived flow rate. That said I used it in the Winds (thanks Lester for some help on that trip planning) with REALLY clear water everywhere, and in the Smokies/Balsams above 4000 (mostly higher) with ditto clear water. I’ve had some clogs over the years and pick my sources carefully.

Speaking of which the 2 posts previous to this one discussing or raising the question of pre-filtering seem to me to hit on the “money” question. What do you do with sediment loaded water? Which (sediment) can result from a wide variety of souces. Like suspended solids in upper Deer Creek in the Grand Canyon coming out of a spring for Pete’s sake ( admittedly coming out like a really big firehose during the spring thaw…. but whatever)

I have a lot of sympathy with Don Burton about moving away from filtration in certain situations and locations and probably wouldn’t have even used a filter on the Winds or Smokies trips but for the be-free’s ease of use and small/light size. In fact I’ll state that if your source is not below some area/trail frequented by pack animals or other large ungulates? or situated such that a smaller mammals fecal discharge could somehow be concentrated there’s almost no way you’re going to ingest enough bacteria to get sick. This sometimes requires a little knowledge of the terrain, especially when you can’t just look up to determine the ultimate source; but the bacteria has to come from somewhere and my understanding is that just a few random bacteria won’t get you sick.

There’ve been some threads on this subject and possibly articles but everyone understandably has to tap-dance about making any flat out assertions. There’s always the possibility of some weird exception; the filter “industry” is fairly robust/well-capitalized, and no one wants to take even the most remote chance of getting sick.

Fear: Curse of the human existence, root of selfishness: original sin. Haha another thread for chaff?

Anyway I did have this experience shown in the photo below. Evidently I had a bunch of gear thrown together before post-trip sorting and re-organizing and the only thing I can figure that could have happened is some strong deet leaked onto the bag. How does everyone organize their gear anyway? That might be another good thread!

Whatever it was burned a hole right through the bag; both sides, and even “welded” the edges of the hole together. So don’t store your bag anywhere near your deet! It that’s what it was? Irony is I didn’t even use the deet, using Picaridin instead, in part because of worries about deet’s solvent type characteristics. Picaridin Worked great. There were lots of mosquitoes in the Winds right up to 12000 feet! My treated clothing was maybe my most critical piece of gear but again another thread.

I’m going to try and get Hydrapak to take a look at it. Maybe they can determine if it was in fact deet. Katadyn replaced the bag no problem; even with me explaining that it hadn’t really “failed”. Meantime I bought another and now have 2!

 

[Daryl and Daryl]

“BTW what kind of vinegar? Apple?, Clear white, red wine?”

Safeway white.

[Tony Wong]

@obx  I used white vinegar from Costco….Heinz brand?

I soaked my filter for about 30 minutes.

I did read on this thread that someone soaked theirs for 48 hours and it damaged the filter…likely the membrane that separates the ends of the hollow fiber from the output chamber.

Vinegar is a weak acid, so I can see how a long soak would damage the material.

Note to myself about not soaking longer than the 30 minutes that I did before.

 

[Robert R]

The bottle I have have is numbered 2708X but have not had issues with it yet. @kenlarson

 

[Hoosier T]

I just ordered a befree from REI so I’ll reports back what lot # I end up with.

[Lester Moore]

The bottle I have is lot 2901X and it has held up well over 30 days of use last summer, except for a stress crack beginning to show up on the flip cap hinge.

[Cameron M]

“except for a stress crack beginning to show up on the flip cap hinge.”

You are about one day away from cap failure. The Platy alternative works fine.

[Author]

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