Bactoscan

[Jdunn55]

Any ideas? my bactos have gone absolutely nuts this past 10 days and I don't know why!

 

[Fergieman]

Have you been in the tank?

 

[rustyspring]

I hate it when that happens, always ignore one high as often on the dairies side but you 've got something wrong.

Check bulk tank first then start looking at everything the milk touches till you find it!

 

[Jdunn55]

Have you been in the tank?

I meant to yesterday but ended up spending all afternoon and evening trying to unblock my drains as my parlour had flooded. Admittedly, I couldn't be bothered when I got to midnight and was only turning the parlour on. Its my first place to go to tomorrow after collection. I didn't realise until this morning they were quite as bad as they were.

 

[Jdunn55]

I hate it when that happens, always ignore one high as often on the dairies side but you 've got something wrong.

Check bulk tank first then start looking at everything the milk touches till you find it!

That's my thoughts too, bloody annoying as was about to be back into top bands again. I'm not going to strip down the plate cooler this time as that was clean as a whistle. Think it will be bulk tank first, then if thats clean where would you start looking first?

 

[Cotlandfarmer]

1 bulk tank, tank chemicals, if applicable tank boiler.
2 parlour chemicals and boiler
3 vaccum reserve tank, the one here get quite soiled this time of year with over flowing dump buckets.

 

[In the pit]

That's my thoughts too, bloody annoying as was about to be back into top bands again. I'm not going to strip down the plate cooler this time as that was clean as a whistle. Think it will be bulk tank first, then if thats clean where would you start looking first?

Split liner or somewhere in the parlour
If it’s in the tank the bacto will just keep going up higher and higher

 

[Jdunn55]

Split liner or somewhere in the parlour
If it’s in the tank the bacto will just keep going up higher and higher

They are due to change actually. Will get them ordered , thankyou

 

[Jdunn55]

1 bulk tank, tank chemicals, if applicable tank boiler.
2 parlour chemicals and boiler
3 vaccum reserve tank, the one here get quite soiled this time of year with over flowing dump buckets.

What would you check on the tank and parlour boiler? Just make sure its not swimming with sh*t?

Chemicals are all the same and should be fine

Sorry, going to sound stupid, what's a vacuum reserve tank?

 

[In the pit]

What would you check on the tank and parlour boiler? Just make sure its not swimming with sh*t?

Chemicals are all the same and should be fine

Sorry, going to sound stupid, what's a vacuum reserve tank?

Leave lid on bulk tank open so it dries then check in and around paddle
Make sure boiler temp for bulk tank and parlour is right ,and check timer clock (hour forward)
Can you stand and watch bull tank wash to make sure it’s going through it’s correct cycles
Check parlour diaphragm valves if you have any

 

[Whitewalker]

It's changed very quickly so would point to something that's more superficial than something that's been rumbling for a long time

 

[upnortheast]

It's changed very quickly so would point to something that's more superficial than something that's been rumbling for a long time

Tank washer boiler or parlour boiler failure ?
Check temperatures at discharge point

 

[Cowwilf]

They are due to change actually. Will get them ordered , thankyou

You'd have milk in your vacuum line drain if its a split liner. Easy to find which ones split by touching the shells while hot wash is going round.

 

[som farmer]

we run a bit of hypo through our air line regularly, its surprising how much crap comes out sometimes.

bulk tank obvious place to look, one tank in the past, used to fill up with water and hypo, if bscan went up, nothing visible in there, but scan would drop, every couple of months did it.

knowing how busy you are, how long are you leaving the parlour wash running, as the hot water cools, it will re-deposit the milk fat, it has removed, when the water was hot. Check end of wash water temp. A good long circulation, has the opposite result, than you think.

sharp upward increase like that, its usually something simple, but not necessarily easy to find.

good luck.

 

[Wee Willy]

we run a bit of hypo through our air line regularly, its surprising how much crap comes out sometimes.

bulk tank obvious place to look, one tank in the past, used to fill up with water and hypo, if bscan went up, nothing visible in there, but scan would drop, every couple of months did it.

knowing how busy you are, how long are you leaving the parlour wash running, as the hot water cools, it will re-deposit the milk fat, it has removed, when the water was hot. Check end of wash water temp. A good long circulation, has the opposite result, than you think.

sharp upward increase like that, its usually something simple, but not necessarily easy to find.

good luck.

How do you wash the vacuum line?

 

[Scholsey]

One of the Chem pumps on the bulk tank not working and that’s why it’s higher every other, let them suck out of a suck to test to see and once worked out what it is chuck in 5x the amount directly in the tank and let it do 2-3 washes in a row

 

[betweenthelines]

How do you wash the vacuum line?

Circulate a solution of milkstone remover.

 

[som farmer]

How do you wash the vacuum line?

easy, got a tap one end, drain plug the other, bucket of warm water and hypo, suck it up, unscrew the drain plug, job done. Just keeps it sweet, surprising what's in there sometimes, cow treads on the cups etc.

before the last few updates, the 4in vacuum line was dead straight, you could look right along it, and see any shite.

but always have 'flushed' the vac line out, right from when it was a 1in iron pipe, seems impossible to think that coped, 50 odd years ago now, but it did. Up in the old parlour, it was only 3/4in for 14 standings, and 3 or 4 men milking. And lots of money made !!!!!!

 

[kiwi pom]

Big swings.
Tanker/Tanker driver?

 

[Flossie]

Big swings.
Tanker/Tanker driver?

We had that once. Every farmer on the run was getting high bactoscans.
Of course, you look through everything on farm first, to try and find the cause. Which we did.
The farm collected after us rang me up one day to ask if our bactoscans were stupidly high. I said they were, and we couldn't find anything.
So I rang the farmer collected before us. He was in the middle of taking his parlour to bits to try and find the cause of his high tests.

Turns out our minimal English speaking tanker drivers had been sent out with only the most basic of training, and our milk samples were rolling round, unrefrigerated, in the foot well of the warm cab for 4 or 5 hours