Bender question?

[Bolen Creek]

When the releaser is dumping does vacuum to the sap lines stop. if so is there a way to keep tubing under vacuum while releasing

[spencer11]

yes it breaks the vac when it dumps. and i dont think there is a way to keep vac on it while it dumps. i dont have one but have got alot of info because im going to get one.

spencer

[500592]

The only way to keep vac on the bush is to have a good size manifold with a line coming from the top going the vacuum pump by the way how much did the one eBay just go for.

[bees1st]

way to much, over two hundred dollars

[spencer11]

it went for $201.50. no way i was paying that for it plus shipping, for the time being. come next january, if i still dont have one then i will pay what i have to.

spencer

[500592]

Holy crap I got to get my 2nd one fixed up and on there oh my god that is crazy I will have 100 in two working benders when I am done and 1 dumps really quick ps that one won't be for sale

[spencer11]

you put one of yours on ebay?

spencer

[500592]

No there is another on there for 200 though I need to fix one up a little

[spencer11]

yeah i saw that one. its very nice. just out of my price range now. if you are goning to put one on there please let me know. thanks

spencer

[lpakiz]

When the Benders dump, there is a check valve that maintains the existing vacuum in the mainline. I don't think you lose 2 inches HG when it dumps. And actually, you don't "lose" it. It's just that while it dumps (4-5 seconds), additional vacuum is not going out to the mainline. Vacuum resumes when the releaser resets.

[Dennis H.]

I have one of the small Benders hooked up with a manifold so that vac is always on the trees, even when it dumps.
You will still get a little surge of the sap when it dumps but then again you will get that on any Mechanical releaser.

So far the only trouble that I have with it is when it is rainy and the temps start to drop. Because of the constant little vac leak at the top it will ice up.
It will either not dump or when it does dump it wont reset and just sucks air.

Wish I could post some pics, but the trader has a limit on the amount of pics and I am way past it.

[500592]

Dennis that is exactly how I plan to make mine I even scored some thick blue PVC so I can tap it out.

[Dennis H.]

I used sch40 3" pipe to make mine. I then cut a circle of 1/4" Plexiglas and siliconed it to one end.
That way I look in. The other end I got one of those plastic test plugs that have a large wing nut on it, sort of like a compression style thing.
Under normal sap flow there never is anymore than 1/4" of sap in there even while it is dumping.

I then have a swing style checkvalve on the bottom of that which is then plumbed into the bender. I have the manifold higher than the sap level inn the be Derby the way.

The only issue that I have run into using sch40 is that there is just enough thichness to make threads and I had to end up gluing the fitting that threads into the bottom to get a leak free connection.

[Bolen Creek]

do you hook vac line on just bender or do hook on both bender and manifold, maybe you could post a pic

[500592]

The vac line hooks on to the bender and the manifold

[lpakiz]

Dennis H
I often wondered if sap would be lifted into the Bender if there were vacuum "beyond" the Bender, such as a wet/dry system.
Apparently this works.
As far as the Bender not re-setting--I have found that with 22" HG, the float and rod assembly is not heavy enough to drop down after a dump. I needed to add a couple of 5/8 nuts on top of the float to get the float to drop after a dump.

[Bolen Creek]

just realized my bender has a plastic jar not a glass. my dad said the old one broke and bender sent this for a replacement. he said it worked on 14" of vac in barn. anybody have any experience with plastic bender?

[500592]

Both mine have plastic jars is it the one with the big dump valve on the bottom.

[500592]

Also mine work good at 17 in

[Bolen Creek]

Yeah mine has vac on top, sap comes in onside at top and has a big flapper that dumps sap. hoping it will handle 250 taps?

[500592]

I have that kind but I am unsure about number of taps

[meadster02]

believe me i didnt want to pay 200 bucks for that releaser but the one i have didnt work and with the season coming on soon i needed it like now ha ha. had to make sure i got it

[meadster02]

got the new bender working great time to tap some trees