Milking machine problems

[TroutRiver]

I finally have my milking machine up and running! For spending less than $250, it looks impressively similar to the system that Hoeggers sells for over $1500

But of course, there are a few kinks to work out. For now, I am using the machine in the mornings and hand milking at night, until I have the whole system working *correctly*

These are the issues that I'm having with it, I am hoping some of you may have some advice (thanks!):

1) The first 2 times I used the milking machine, Ellen milked out quickly and evenly, no problems. Yesterday morning AND this morning, her left side milked out completely, while her right side was only half milked out. It looks like the inflation moved up above her right teat, and was holding onto some of her udder. I took the machine off and hand milked her right side, the milk was fine, so it wasn't a problem with her. I am using the exact same inflations and cups that the farm was using where I bought Ellen, and they didn't have any problems. There is less than 10 psi in my can, so it's not sucking too hard (I can increase the pressure, but it milks her out at <-10 and I don't want to increase it without knowing that everything is working properly). I'm not sure what I can do about this...

2) My mechanical pulsator does not work on its own, I need to manually "click" it back and forth. It does work, I have the clear cups and inflations so I can see it pulsating, and when I move one side of the pulsator, the other side moves too, so I know it is assembled correctly. It all works, except it doesn't move on its own...?

Also, I've asked a few people and gotten very different answers, so wanted to get your opinions on the best pulsation rate and vacuum PSI for goats?

Any suggestions would be hugely appreciated. Thanks!

[Lizza]

You shouldn't have to manually click your pulsator, my guess is your pressure is off. Which to me would tie into your problem with it not milking out both sides, both sides should be completely equal in pressure.

Do you have pictures of your set up?

Also you should be able to "set" your pulsator to how many pulsations you want per minute, maybe that is not set properly (too low)? I actually haven't used it on my goats yet (they are just so much easier to milk out by hand) but my cow preferred me to stay around 50-55 pulsations per minute, towards 60 and she wasn't as happy. Remember two clicks per one pulsation. How do you set your pulsator?

[TroutRiver]

my pulsator looks like this:



There is a little knob that I can turn to adjust the speed (in theory... if I can get it to work) but there are no numbers on it so I'm not sure how I tell exactly what the rate is... besides counting the pulsations per minute.

[Lizza]

That looks like a Surge lid and you should have a set screw that you manually turn, you might need to use a pair of pliers. That is probably your problem then at this point, your pulsator isn't set correctly. The easiest way is to cap all your lines but one (you do have caps for your inflators?) and then put your finger in the one not capped and turn it on. Then turn your set screw until it feels about right and start timing. I use a stop watch and count for 15 seconds then times it by 4 to get my minute or just know that it should "suck" about 13 or 14 times in that 15 seconds. The pulsator will click twice, once over and once back to count as "one". Does that make sense? It makes more sense if your finger is inside the pulsator to actually feel it. Once you have that pulsator set correctly it sounds like it will work.

You shouldn't need to set this everyday but you do want to make sure ever day that it is still set correct. Surge's are great but they are like an old car, you just have to fiddle with it a little bit.

[Lizza]

By the way, if it still isn't working you might need to re-build and oil your pulsator, there is a kit you can buy for like $10 that comes with everything to re-build it.

[TroutRiver]

Will try that. Thanks so much!