Diagnosis · Pre-gelation — cold tank
The tank is simply too cold
With ions ruled out, an early set is a temperature control problem. It is usually the tank wall rather than the bulk temperature reading.
What to do
- Check the jacket temperature and the tank dead zones. A cold wall sets a ring of gel that later breaks up and appears as lumps or uneven texture.
- Hold the batch at least 20 °C above the set temperature until the moment of fill.
- Measure the set temperature in your own system. The published 30–50 °C window is a starting point, not a constant.
The reading behind this
How this conclusion was reached
What is actually going wrong?
It sets before I can fill it
Is the batch setting inside the tank, or on the way down a long fill line?
In the tank, before filling starts
Is the formula high in calcium or magnesium?
No, ions are not the issue
Check this against your own system
This describes the usual cause. What actually fixes it depends on your water hardness, total solids and fill temperature — send those three numbers and we will come back with a starting point, or with a bench sample of the grade this points to.
Ask about this diagnosisOther conclusions
Everything else the tree can land on
- Gel too soft — no calcium present
- Gel too soft — water hardness unknown
- Gel too soft — high acyl grade
- Gel too soft — low pH hydrolysis
- Gel too soft — remaining causes
- Lumps — powder not dry blended
- Lumps — hydration window missed
- Lumps — process details to check
- Pre-gelation — in the line
- Pre-gelation — free calcium
- Syneresis — water weeping
- Gel cloudy or dull
- Gel melts when warm
- Particles settle
- Slimy mouthfeel or off flavour
Other tools
Keep going
Three more decision aids for the same problem set.