On vac tubing... what is the most common leak?

[jfroe939]

I'm on the verge of my first season with vac. I'm guessing where the drops meet the lats and just where the spout meets the drop tubing are the big ones. What do you do about your leaks to fix them? Is it as simple as finding the leak, pulling it back apart and reattach it? Or do leaks usually mean there's a physical problem with either the tubing or spout that requires replacement of either of those? My question really should be "what should I really scrutinize closely" and assuming I find a leak " what do I do about the leak to fix/repair it?" I'm looking for the common problems not the once-in-a-million issue. Does anyone commonly use plumbing tape to fix leaks or is that a bad, bad idea? Thanks.

[Typical8]

If it's all new tubing the leaks will be saddles not installed correctly. Also hose clamps on mainlines not tight enought. When tapped in it will be hollow trees. Walk the mainlines when it's running and if the sap is moving quickly down the line track the leak down.

[bobbyjake]

The most common leaks are squirrel chews and oblong drill holes or improperly driven spouts. Use your eyes to find leaks and not your ears, the tendancy will be to go in the woods and chase all the whistles you hear. But resist it and use your eyes and watch the bubbles in your tubing and your vacuum gauges.

[Maple Hobo]

Squirles
Sucking through old tap holes
Leaders' memflex blue line pulling off the 3 way connectors between taps.

ALWAYS take a roll of black electrical tape with you in the woods (squirle bites).
A tubing tool, tap hammer... The rest depends on how you've installed your lines.
If you have tieback wires then a rolll of soft wire.
A little bit of blue tube and an extra tap are usually a good idea.
I also like to take the tap drill with me, just in case I need to retap a hole.

Make sure you have a pressure gauge on the releasor someplace. When you see the pressure drop you can tell you have a leak someplace.

I keep a bag with a shoulder stap (squirle bag) with my repair tools in it and try to take a walk each day to keep the pressure up.

When you fix a good leaker, the system pressure over all will increase. Even a section you've already walked my have a leak with the higher pressure. So its not a one time through and your done, you need to keep up with it and once a day as you can seems to keep it pretty well maintained.

On a lazy day I'll walk the laterals, You can hear the saddle connections hissing, then follow the line up to the leaking tap...

You'll figure it out...lol

[Haynes Forest Products]

The ones you don't find until the season is about over. Then one day when the pump is off so you can hear your lost cell phone ring:emb: You wonder what that trickling sound is:o You find gravity dumping about a gallon of sap per minute out a missed tap:emb:

[3rdgen.maple]

The hollow tree can kick a mans butt and have him scrathcing his head for quite awhile.

[red maples]

squirrel chews.
Mainline connections

I don't have any problems with Tee to drop or any 5/16 tubing connections for that matter. as long as you hit that 2nd barb on the fitting you should be fine.

get yourself a tubbing tool. it will save more time than you can imagine!!!
also nice clean cuts on all your tubing will help getting tubing onto fittings.

Put a vac gauge at the end of the main line and 1 at the releaser. you could have a different reading at the end of the mainline. if so you may have a dip in the line or a blockage maybe it might just be frozen.

1 more thing. Use red electrical tape for quick fixes because its easier to see when you go back and fix it later.

[Typical8]

Red Maples is right on. Electrical tap is a temporary fix. We carry flagging ribbon and flag the leaks so they can be properly repaired.

So you tape up a leak with electrical tap and the bubbles quit coming down the the line. Next year when you walk down the line following a leak it will take you right to that electrical tap you put on last year.

[jrthe3]

not to jack this thread but i was chasing leaks yesterday i could really use some sort of remote vacuum gage that hooked at releaser but has a remote read out screan that one could carry around the woods as you fix leaks you can tell what vacuum is at releaser any one know of such a thing

[Typical8]

I carry a vac. guage in my pocket that adapts to our spouts. Pull a spout put the guage it and you get a good idea how it's going. When you first put the guage on the spout it will take a little bit for the vac. to recover depending how far out you are from the pump.

[twofer]

Our first year with vacuum but in order of most appearances:

Poorly drilled/driven taps
Mainline connections (all hose clamps replaced with crimp style hose clamps)
Taps hanging in the wind
Poorly clamped releaser dome (the top part)