temp switch on vac pump

[poolguy]

hi all, im wondering if anyone uses a temp switch to automaticly turn off the vac pump at a certain temperature. if so what temp do you have it come on and off at and do you measure air temp or should i drill a hole in a tree and maybe mount a probe off from an aquastat in it. the reason i would like to do this is our shack and sugar bush are about 7 miles from home at the family farm and dad is gitten kinda old to be getting up at 2 in the morning to shut things down. thanks in advance dave

[SSFLLC]

If you look at tucker mtns post. It's an older one if I recall. I believe he has a old post on this. With the type of control panel he uses.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Yes its done and works fine as long as the temp probe is in a good spot. I wouldnt have one tree determine when the rest shoud get vacuum. I would use a timer so its off at a determined time and back on in the AM. I find that depending on the wind cloud cover time of day snow cover that some sugar bushes have differant times they will start to run. I have gone out to the woods just to see whats the weather like and its cold and over cast and things are running gravity into the releaser:mad: I depend on the trees to set the time.

[BradWilson]

Here's my set up. It's a contactor, controlled by the famous Johnson Controls A419. It's set to close the contactor at 34 F and open at 30 F. It opens and closes the 220v power supply to the vac pump. The probe is located outside the vac shack about 3ft off the ground. So far so good.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac358/BradWilson101/Sugarin/th_t-stat.jpg (http://s915.photobucket.com/albums/ac358/BradWilson101/Sugarin/?action=view&current=t-stat.jpg)

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac358/BradWilson101/Sugarin/th_contactor.jpg (http://s915.photobucket.com/albums/ac358/BradWilson101/Sugarin/?action=view&current=contactor.jpg)

[ennismaple]

Brad - I'm impressed! What did the parts cost you? I'd love to put in 4 of these if the price isn't overly expensive.

[Rhino]

We got our temp switch out of a Farmtek catalog. Worked 2 years already without a problem. our model is the Durostat that sells for $80.00 Has a digital display, very easy to wire up and set. We buy power from a neighbor and have a 1/4 mile power line that runs from their power pole, across their woods, through a culvert and then to the power box that is mounted by our zero tank. We had it set to turn on at 32 degrees and off at 28 degrees, but this year we will have it shut off alot colder to make sure the trees have stopped. The probe,we make sure is hanging away from everything, and is in the shade to give air temp and not heating from the sun temp. Being that we live 35 miles away from this bush (syrup shack 13 miles away from this bush), it sure is a time/gas saver that we don't have to run out their all the time to turn on and off. Neighbor drives by and checks it off and on and will give me a courtesy call just to let me know its running and what the vac. gauge reads. Thats our next job in fact.....Roll out the heavy gauge 1/4 mile power line.

[tuckermtn]

Brad beat me to it- yes I also use the Johnson A419 looped in to a contactor. Same box and set-up. I have mine switching on a standard GFI outlet that the pump motor is plugged in to. That way I can also have it turn on a box fan if needed to keep my sp-11 from getting spit-sizzling hot...

[BradWilson]

Truthfully, I adapted Tucker's idea to my operation. The fan is a great idea, I guess I musta missed that.

Ennis

12.00 Box (local electric supplier)
40.00 40A contactor (120v) controlled
66.00 T-stat thru PEXSupply.com

I had a lot of the wire, both romex and service wire from building the sugarhouse. I installed a breaker box for further expansion. I lucked out, my vac shak sits next to a pole with a meter, all I had to do was add the cut-off switch and call the power co.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac358/BradWilson101/Sugarin/th_joes.jpg (http://s915.photobucket.com/albums/ac358/BradWilson101/Sugarin/?action=view&current=joes.jpg)

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac358/BradWilson101/Sugarin/th_service.jpg (http://s915.photobucket.com/albums/ac358/BradWilson101/Sugarin/?action=view&current=service.jpg)

[poolguy]

hey brad, thats just what i was looking for and heading to graingers this morning to pick up the goodies. haynes.....yes i agree on the fact sometimes sap runs later and colder than usual. but rather than a timer i think ill just set it to shut off at a colder temp ....say around 25 if we just had a day in the 50s where the trees are warmer and would run longer. im sure i wont allways hit it right.....but i wont have to get up at 2 am and drive to the bush only to find out its still running good.:mad: and then leave it run and head back at 4.....after a day at the shack i NEED my sleep....its worse than deer camp:lol: thanks again to everyone

[inthewoods]

Here's a picture of the temperature controller that I built for my vacuum pump. The temp controller is a Ranco. I purchased it from Grainger for approx. $73. You can buy them off of E-bay for about $68-$70 (with shipping). Just search "Ranco temperature control". It's a basic unit, and very easy to set temps on. I set mine to turn the pump on at 32 degrees, and to turn the pump off at 29 degrees. It comes with a 8-foot lead for the thermal coupler, or you can get it with a 400-foot lead for the thermal coupler. I bought the enclosure & receptacle at Lowe's, and then I had to get a relay from Grainger. Everything is wired up inside the enclosure. I hope it works!

[Haynes Forest Products]

Looks good let us know how it works...........PS your belts loose;)

[lpakiz]

I have an SP-11 and my motor pulley is a lot smaller. Looks like you will spin the pump much faster than designed. Watch out for excessive heat....

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

I just set one up using a temp probe for a walk in cooler/freezer not sure what the model was, I beleive it was made by Johnson controls.
Owner supplied the 70A disconnect I wired a switch leg through the temp probe . On at 30deg off at 25/22 deg. From the temp probe Phase A went to L1 on SQ D 3 / 5 HP 240v Contactor with a 18A approx. heater overload to protect motor and also the #2 contact for the coil. Phase B went right from disco. to L2.
I don't know how much the temp control is yet but the SQ D Contactor was $391 and heater overload was $13 dollars.

To all you guys if the motor doesn't have an internally protected overload you really should add one like I did. Its cheap insurance when you want that vacuum pump on Sat. afternoon and it burns outs.

[Dennis H.]

Haynes you say that about all vac pumps you see on here.


Here is a question for you all, why not use one of those PID controllers that everyone uses for a auto drawoff? I mean they do monitor temp and can activate a relay when the desired temp is reached. I curious because you pick one of those up for like $40 when all the temp controllers shown here are above $60.