Tubing on Vaccumn

[wannaB]

I am changing over my gravity tubing to vaccumn. I am going to be running branch line to 3/4 inch mainlines and then T those 3/4 mainlines into a 1 inch mainline. Would it be better to run two mainlines with 50ft lenghts of 5/16? Or is teeing into the 1 inch (with 3/4) approximately 5 times on a 500 ft run OK? The teeing in is easier for me, but will it affect the flow of sap?

[500592]

Ok I am confused I talking about use 5/16 instead of inch

[vtmapleman]

Wannab, Like 500592 I am confused (which for me is not surprising). Are you going to have a 1" main line, with 3/4" branch lines coming into it a five different points and then 5/16 laterals? If this is what you are proposing it sounds good to me....just remember keep the laterals all going downhill.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Use Y's not t's for your connections for smoother sap flow.

[3rdgen.maple]

I didnt understand it either so I just kept quite cause I thought it was me lol. So lets start all over shall we. How many taps are you trying to setup?
ANd what is the run length of mainline you would need to put out? Once we get the tap count we can get you in the ballpark on mainline size and branch line sizes based on how many taps on a branch line. It is okay to have a 100 foot run on your 5/16 lats from the tree to the branchline or mainline as long as your tap count on your lats are around 5 or less. Just need some more details so we can answer better.

[Maple Hobo]

Are you going to replumb your system or just add vacuum to your current system?
If your going to replumb add more info on your site, number of taps and your ground is on helps figure it out a lot too.

How much vaccume you wanting over how far to the farthest point on your sugar trees.

Try to allow the slope you run your line down do flow and maintain a bubble or airspace over the flowing sap on the laterals or main lines. Too much sap will lock up the system sometimes and prevent flow. you will have to turn off the vacuum and pull the plugs on the main lines to BURP them and release the sap water. Think holding your thumb on a straw and lifting it out of a glass of water...

You don't need the air gap on sap lines between the taps up to 50-70 feet (10 taps max per sap line) They say 100 feet but if you run tree to tree and zig zag... you exceed the 100 feet pretty quick. As long as you can see bubble chase down in the sap lines I think your doing ok.

The larger the main lines the better... but if your air space is too great your just paying for more plastic without getting more sap.

The Y allows for better flow without the sap splashing and disrupting the vacuum pressure up line. Thats why the plumbing in most houses use Y instead of T connections so it FLOWS.

Try to design it to run under gravity so it drains good just not as steeply.

4-6 degrees of slope seem to work the best. If your going down a steep slope a larger pipe will work better. Just never go UP is pipe size as you get farther from the vacuum.

All just my oppinions though...

[brookledge]

Another question to ask is how many taps are you talking about? 3/4" can handle 250 to 300 taps, but slope will affect that. At the same time if you are going to have vac. and want good transfer you don't want long lenghts of 5/16 either. My philosophy is I might run a long length of 5/16 for a tree or two but once that lateral gets tomore than a few trees then it needs a mainline. That is where strive for five comes in. Do I have some over? sure but I can remember when I had over 50 on laterals with vac. 30 yrs ago.
Keith

[Jeff E]

Sounds like 1" trunk line, 3/4" mains, with 5/16" laterals(branch)
Typically, you dont want your 5/16" longer than 100', with 5-7 taps per line.
This will put your 3/4" lines about 100' apart on the 1".

So, run you 1" and your 5/16" in one direction, up the hill, and your 3/4" across the hill, with about a 2% drop going toward the 1" line.

[wannaB]

Ya, I was confused when I reread my post, even so thank you for the replies. definitely going with y's instead of t's.

[wannaB]

Thanks JeffE and VtMapleman! That was exactly what I was trying to describe, and you definitely gave me the answer I was looking for! Thanks again!