Tipe of fittings on holding tank

[Bruce L]

I am looking at putting fittings on the bottom of the 800 gallon holding tank,and am wondering if i can use threaded 1&1/2" pvc to feed the evaporator,or should I bite the bullet and go with stainless steel?
Thanks,Bruce

[maple maniac65]

you could but if it ever froze you cant heat the pipe to thaw it with a torch. PVC will burn. Unless you drain the pipe after you are done boiling.

[maple flats]

I come off the tank with an SS valve, then convert to a spout (available at milk equipment dealers). I connect a short piece of 1 1/8" ID clear poly tubing using hose clamps to couple it to 1" copper tube. The copper feeds the evaporator. If it freezes I use a torch to warm the copper and the valve, the short piece of poly allows the frozen sap to melt when warmth from the SS valve warms it. You want some provision to thaw it when frozen.

[Littlesap]

Maple Flats - how do you go from the tank to the valve... do you use a fernco rubber fitting? I just picked up a 300 gallon bulk tank and am trying to figure that out. I was thinking about relocating my bulk/feed tank from right behind my sugar house to ~15' away and didn't really think about the line going from the tank to the house.

[adk1]

I have been thinking about how I am going to run the line from my 200gal poly truck tank that will be my holding tank to the evap. THis evap has a special fitting that goins into the float box. the previous owner simply uses a short length of garden hose. I am going to change that setup though. was thinking about using copper so that I can thaw with a torch.