Leader mainline problem?

[lew]

Last year I installed about 4,000 feet of Leader's blue 3/4 inch mainline. Loved it. Flexible in cold temps, aggressively held onto fittings, can see sap flow through it, etc. This fall I was working on a vacuum releaser in the sugarhouse and needed some short pieces of 3/4 to make some connections to the releaser. I used a piece left over from the mainline I had bought last year. Put the releaser together and went about my business testing the releaser for leaks and such. Acouple of weeks went by and I happened to notice at one of the connections that a split had occured in the mainline right at the fitting. This is definitely not old mainline, it's the only L<eader mainline I own and purchased it all last year. I also did not use any type of lubricant on the mainline. I went through the woods and could not find any other splits, but am still nervous. Has anybody else had issues recently? I need 4,000 more and don't want to be buying headaches. s

[northwoods_forestry]

I'm going on year 3 with 3/4" Leader mainline and no problems yet.

[bobbyjake]

We have miles and miles of leader mainline, from 3 days old to nearly a dozen years and have not had this scenario you describe as an "issue". I won't say it hasn't happened, 'cause it probably has (for that matter, probably every situation has probably happened at least once), but not to the point that it became the headache you fear. Good Luck!!

[lew]

Thanks for the replies. It's funny (or not) that one short piece of tubing can bring so much fear into ones life.

[802maple]

Lew, did you by chance heat the mainline with a torch? Some mainlines, actually most, other than black if over heated, will become brittle and crack, just asking.

[driske]

802;
Having with stood the 3rd "100 year flood" in 8 months , it's good of you to find time to deal with tubing installation issues. Last time we visited I think you were threatened with being in such an isolated state, that living off the land was becoming a very real prospect.
Seriously, best of wishes( and repairs) to all those who had disruptions to their maple setups from the Hurricane.
Cheesehead, DR

[802maple]

Hey DRiske, thank you for your thoughts and concerns, it has been a while since we last visited and our little state has made great strides in putting itself back together since then. Most roads are back open and I have been busy lately in the woods putting out mainline, so everything is getting back to normal for me. I have been able to get 8000 feet out in the last week and a half with 4000 to go then the 5/16ths for that system will be next, then on to the next operation to help set them up. It just keeps going around and around and up and down. I will have to make time for deer hunting in there sometime.

[sapman]

The only split I remember is where I had clamped it, and the clamp had somehow cut into the pipe.

[lew]

802, the only split I have is in one short piece that I have as a scrap left from the woods install. No heat was used and the split was length wise with the tubing. When I showed it to my dealer he pushed a fitting in by hand and it split immediately, that is what scares me. I have found no other splits in the woods. Maybe that was just a small piece that didn't happen to get the resins properly mixed.

[DrTimPerkins]

How was the tubing stored? Was it in an open building or in a closed room? Did the room have any electrical or heat generating equipment in it?