Post by Shawn on Oct 11, 2009 20:43:49 GMT -5
Well, we milked with the machine tonight, first time. I must say, Dear Emma gets a gold star for being so incredibly patient, never moved a hoof. She's probably glad to have Brownie (the beast) not nursing.
We got 1 gallon for our efforts. I know her production is dropping, but I don't think we got all we should have.
I have a DP75 milker combination Surge bucket and DeLaval claw set up from Perry's Milkers. Here's what it looks like in case I'm not describing it accurately.
And the pump.
Being the way I am, I took the manual to my room last night and read it cover to cover. It helped ... some. I did successfully adjust the pulsator to about 40.
Here are my questions:
1. The pressure gauge does not sit on zero, as you can probably tell from the last pic, it's resting somewhere below zero. Does this matter?
2. The book says 14-16 pounds of pressure. While we were milking the gauge was registering -20 to 25 pounds. (hard to tell)
Is this somewhere close, since it's not zeroed out to start??
3. Is the knob where my finger is in the last pic where you adjust the pressure? It doesn't seem to do anything.
4. When one or more quarters are milked out, how do you release just that inflation to avoid overmilking? I tried, finally got it off, (I know that can be uncomfortable, and probably didn't do it correctly) but then I lost suction on the rest.
5. How on earth do you clean this thing?
I was told to not stick the inflation completely into the water if using the pump to clean it, because water would get down between the inflation and the shell and get sucked into the vacuum pump. We do seem to have a lot of condensation in the vacuum line. And when we moved the pump, some dripped out the connection on the pump itself. I know that's not good.
I can't stand not having something clean, so I understand there's an inflation brush, (thanks for the link, Laurie) and then Caprine supply apparently has a cleaning deal you can run through the extra long hose. Is that it? It really bugs me that I can't clean inside that claw part.
Ok, that's all I can think of at this point. 4.5 years of having a cow, and I feel like an idiot tonight. LOL
We got 1 gallon for our efforts. I know her production is dropping, but I don't think we got all we should have.
I have a DP75 milker combination Surge bucket and DeLaval claw set up from Perry's Milkers. Here's what it looks like in case I'm not describing it accurately.
And the pump.
Being the way I am, I took the manual to my room last night and read it cover to cover. It helped ... some. I did successfully adjust the pulsator to about 40.
Here are my questions:
1. The pressure gauge does not sit on zero, as you can probably tell from the last pic, it's resting somewhere below zero. Does this matter?
2. The book says 14-16 pounds of pressure. While we were milking the gauge was registering -20 to 25 pounds. (hard to tell)
Is this somewhere close, since it's not zeroed out to start??
3. Is the knob where my finger is in the last pic where you adjust the pressure? It doesn't seem to do anything.
4. When one or more quarters are milked out, how do you release just that inflation to avoid overmilking? I tried, finally got it off, (I know that can be uncomfortable, and probably didn't do it correctly) but then I lost suction on the rest.
5. How on earth do you clean this thing?
I was told to not stick the inflation completely into the water if using the pump to clean it, because water would get down between the inflation and the shell and get sucked into the vacuum pump. We do seem to have a lot of condensation in the vacuum line. And when we moved the pump, some dripped out the connection on the pump itself. I know that's not good.
I can't stand not having something clean, so I understand there's an inflation brush, (thanks for the link, Laurie) and then Caprine supply apparently has a cleaning deal you can run through the extra long hose. Is that it? It really bugs me that I can't clean inside that claw part.
Ok, that's all I can think of at this point. 4.5 years of having a cow, and I feel like an idiot tonight. LOL