Tip #1 for Harvest Right Freeze Dryer - Preventing water from sucking up drain hose.

Here is a quick tip for preventing the one disaster that happens to every Harvest Right owner once. It happens if you forget to empty your drain bucket and if your drain hose is sticking in the water when you open the drain valve at the end of the drying cycle.
First, I show you want the problem is. Then I show you how to prevent it.
If you go the plastic route, ask the auto parts guys for a 3/8" barbed "Y" fitting. 3/8" on all 3 barbs. You can also get a pair of plastic ones from Patrick over at frozenright.com. I think that's where I saw the idea originally.
I never saw anyone posting a video about how dramatic the issue is so thought I would share it.

[@jeffcraig5462]

Don't have our dryer yet but watching and learning as much as I can now. Can't you just make sure the bucket is empty before draining each time? Thanks.

[@abundantlyyours6861]

Thank you! I am new to freeze drying and couldn’t figure out what was going wrong when my last 2 batches got wet!

[@EpicenterBryan]

Glad I could help! We have those parts if you need them.

[@edgarf6893]

I was able to find these being sold by "Midwest Beverage Equipment" named as "7136: 3/8 Barb Y-Tee, Stainless Steel". With shipping, it does come out to $20 for two units.

[@Seabrook57]

Thanks, Brian!!

[@finnmacky7106]

That was a fantastic idea. I have sucked up water yet but don't really want to have that happen.

[@mossymaple]

*Looking forward to some updates on that new oil pump your using.* hooked up to a HR machine & time of drawing mtorr values, oil use,time with ballast open, & position of ballast, , anything else you might tell us* thanks again for all your very informative videos.

[@geohomography5617]

Epic! More tips please.

[@EpicenterBryan]

Yep, more planned for both new users and users with older machines.

[@jerrysmith372]

Yep, ben there done that. You're right - you only do it once. After that you always make sure you empty the bucket.

[@Deninex]

Thank you so much this.

[@Paddyandpoppy]

Great videos, simple solution to a costly mistake. Is the valve supposed to be loose or tight to the machine as I have a lot of play in mine when opening and closing.

[@michaelgutman4910]

You had to make a mess to show us. Many thanks.

[@EpicenterBryan]

Yep. Hard to know how dramatic the user error is without seeing it!

[@patrickculbertson4866]

Ha! We did that once. Catastrophic for sure. We made it a habit of taking off the hose before opening the valve. That way it doesn't stuck up the moisture left in the hose.

[@MaN-pw1bn]

Great idea!

[@frozenright]

Very nice fittings and video Bryan. Would you mind if I linked your video on my site?

[@mosey40]

I have mine draining into a sink, so I’m thinking I wouldn’t need this?

[@violablue2475]

Where else can you get the part you prefer Bryan? I checked your site and there is no delivery to Canada. And not sure part is even available there. Is it a specialty plumbing part I can order somewhere somehow? We're usually diligent, but I'm not looking for that one bad day!

[@SueLeroux]

Would I need this even for the latest freeze dryer from Harvest Right? I just ordered my freeze dryer but it hasn’t arrived yet.

[@abrammatthew756]

I started a badge and forgot to close the valve and didn’t realize until about three hours into it. I could hear that the motor was running really loud so I went and checked it out and realized it was open. Is this bad? What could have happened? The pump was basically running full For an hour or so with the valve open on the drain

[@fionag8869]

Brian didnt u have to replace the touch screen on ur machine? How much do those cost?

[@petermashak3341]

Just don't put the hose down to the bottom of the bucket! Clip it to the top, like i do.

[@robertbrady3783]

Easiest and best advice. put a hole in the bucket just below where your tube is attached at the top. if bucket gets full it will let you know by draining on the floor, but not back into your chamber.

[@jensgoerke3819]

To really make sure I'd also use something to clip the end of the hose to the rim of the bucket, so that the two Ys are only needed when the bucket gets full.

[@wideawake333]

I don't understand, why is there so much water in that bucket? Does it get that high from one batch? I hear that that condensation water reeks, so I would think I will be dumping that water every time I do a batch.

[@theoldguy9329]

Ingenious! Great to know! What is the part called at the auto store?

[@EpicenterBryan]

Ask for a 3/8" barbed "Y" fitting. 3/8" on all 3 barbs.

[@Fundaykidzz]

Great video .. I’m forgetful/lazy and can’t remember what is open and close position is on the pressure line .. ha!

[@EpicenterBryan]

Glad it was helpful!

[@madhatter6640]

still rocking the flip camera lol

[@trapperdad121]

Do you actually have to manually release/vent the vacuum, in the chamber, from the back of the machine each time?

[@EpicenterBryan]

Yep.

[@ultimatehomestead1466]

QUESTION ; Why can't you just cut the hose 6-8" below the top of the bucket to where the hose isn't sitting in the water in order to suck the water up ?

[@alljustducky]

That's what I was thinking!

[@williamweigt7632]

Because: “this video sponsored by...”

[@TheFamilyBlaugh]

Brian told you why. You can do that. Most people do. What Brian was saying is that if you forget to dump the water from the bucket it will fill up over the end of the hose and the next time you vent you will suck up water. I tend to dump water every three loads, but I have forgotten before and gotten close to disaster.

[@ultimatehomestead1466]

@@TheFamilyBlaugh seems more like he's wanting to sell that special fitting ... Don't remember him saying anything about just cutting the hose short ..

[@TheFamilyBlaugh]

@@ultimatehomestead1466 We have a difference in opinion. To me he didn't seem that interested in selling the fittings. It's not listed at his website as an item for sale. He did say the least expensive fitting was at an auto parts store. He stressed several times to keep the bucket empty. I know a half dozen people with freeze dryers and all of them, without Bryan's advice, have their hoses going no deeper than about 8" into their buckets. Again, to me, it just seems like we have a difference in opinion on Bryan's motives. I'm grateful he took the time to set up such a dramatic demo. That had to take hours to set it up, pull it off, clean it up and deal with getting the video on line.

[@CapitanFantasma1776]

Ancient Chinese Proverb, A Fool learns from his own mistakes, A wise man from others. I know I would have done this if you hadn't warned me. Gosh! Thanks so much!

[@ryanrichardson1169]

My bucket is a sink. This has never happened to me, but time will tell...

[@raysouls3231]

lmfao thank you for the demonstration

[@Hangs4Fun]

I wonder if just a single simple one-way check valve wouldn't be safer

[@natalyvilleda1764]

Hello, I've been watching freeze dryer videos alot. And I'm very interested in buying it but I live in an apartment, can I have one in an apartment? Or do I need a house ?

[@corrigan88101]

The vacuum pump is loud, I'm not sure you could isolate it in another room in an apartment and still sleep.

[@davidparks306]

Small and medium sized can run off 15 amp circuit. Large uses 20 amp. The vacuum pump is loud. If you can sleep through white noise, then yes. I'm not sure if it would resonate to your neighbors. They may complain.

[@davidparks306]

Why keep it such a secret? Just tell us where to by it.

[@mikejablonski8510]

Geat a cross fitting instead of y. So you only need 1.

[@shuff1111]

With a cross fitting, drain water would leak out of the fitting!!!

[@billiam32100]

Great heads up but I think I would just clip the end of the hose to the top of the bucket.

[@MaN-pw1bn]

Yep, I think I'm drilling a hole the size of the tube & putting two rubber gaskets on each side of the hose that goes through the bucket - keeps it in place, easily removed and keeps the tip out of the water. But I like that he's keeping us thinking about the potentials.

[@robertbrady3783]

That's a logical solution but expensive. the best solution would be to fasten your drain tube to the top of your bucket far away from the water. drill a drain hole at the top of your bucket below your drain tube so water overflow drains on the floor if you neglect to empty the bucket, but will never end up back into your vacuum chamber.

[@jo_arc]

Thanx! Everyone says put the Y in the hose and nobody says what size the Y needs to be. Lol. New shopper here. I'm following your tip.

[@TheZigZiggy]

Or use a cheap check valve.

[@felaxchow207]

TheZigZiggy using the two inline y-fittings to create a vacuum breaker is more reliable and less prone to failure. It is not really needed if you empty the drain collection bucket after each defrost and drain cycle. Murphy’s law states that anything can and will happen; fairly inexpensive insurance for that unfortunate “if” factor and ruining your freeze dried batch along with the time invested...

[@overlandflyer]

OMG how lazy can you get... just take the hose out of the bucket of water...!

[@anightingailslife8871]

OMG, people aren't perfect and sometimes forget :)

[@MaN-pw1bn]

Where'd I put my keys? LOL, I'll admit that I sometimes miss a step & it gets worse with age. I'm relying on things like this to keep my sanity when I know I'll forget.

[@terrim.602]

He's obviously giving an example. Did you really need to share your bad day with thousands of people? Or could you have just kept your negativity and scroll on by?