Sap Steady operating questions

[Brent]

We just got a Sap Steady UV treatment system. It came without instructions. I left requests at the dealer (Owesco) and the factory and got no response.

I have 2 questions
1) There are a couple drops of mercury in each of the 6 bulbs, and a heating element at the very bottom of each bulb.
How long does it take for these to warm up, vaporize the mercury and start giving the UV output.

2) If we turn the unit on to preheat and vaporize the mercury, is there a rizk of thermal shock shattering the main quartz cannister that separates the bulb chamber from the sap.

There is a fair amount of heat generated by these things, enough that there is a cooling fan on bulb chamber, which is open top and bottom and you can feel the warm air blown up through it.

If anyone has an instruction manual I'd sure appreciate it.

[Bucket Head]

Hi Brent,

I have no info on your specific unit, but I would'nt turn it on without sap in it. The first UV unit I had (non Owesco machine) had a crystal tube and the previous owner said that it should have liquid in it to keep it cool. The tubes are not cheap so I would'nt chance damaging the unit.

I don't know, but you might not hear back from the company. I heard that Owesco was not going to handle those UV units any longer. Apparently the cost of the parts are skyrocketing and they are washing their hands of them. I heard this from someone who inquired about one of the units and thats what was told to them. I would keep trying to get a response. Meanwhile, maybe someone here will come through.

Steve

[Richard Gress]

Mind if I ask. What does the UV heat treatment do? Do you happen to know the wavelegnth range?

[Bucket Head]

Richard,

Its not a heat treatment, the UV light kills bacteria thats in the sap. Although treating sap this way does transfer a little heat to the sap since the bulb(s) generate it. I don't know off hand what the wavelength is, but I do know the sugar molecules alter the wavelength, so most UV lights can not acheive a "total kill" like they do with just plain water. However, the Sap Steady units do acheive a total kill- their design differs from standard UV lights so the sap is exposed to more light. This was told to me by a professor from Cornell university a few years ago.

Steve

[Brent]

thanks for the comments. still hoping to get a real instruction manual.

I did find comments on Wikipedia that it takes 4 to 7 minutes for the heaters to vaporize the mercury and start full strength output, so I think we'll flood the canister, turn it on, then start the circulation a few minutes later. We want to whack everything before it goes into the stock tank.

The gal at Owesco did say the old guy that made them passed away and that the new operators were looking at "significant" price increases. I think they were already overpriced for what they delivered to me. Nothing wrong with it, except the price. She also did tell me that they only sold a few a year. Further questioning gave me the impression that a few was like 6 to10. The main product this guy made was very similar, but used for the cider industry to kill the yeasts and stabilize the product, and some use in brewing. She also told me I got the last one at the old price.

There's nothing too challenging about the construction, just a lot of high power tubes, six of them, in a stainless vessel and an inner quartz tube. The gap between the quartz tube and the stainless is pretty small, to keep the layer of sap thin so it all gets a heavy killing dose of UV.

I did not get the name and model of the bulbs, so I can't look up the output wavelength. Going to do that after the season.

[Bucket Head]

Brent,

Good to hear you got a response. But still no help on a manual from them? I know of a local cider mill that uses the Cider Sure UV unit and they are very happy with it. Did she mention what the "new price" was going to be for the sap units? So all six lights are in a single quartz tube? How big is the gap the sap travels in? And I had no idea they used them for brewing too!

Steve

[Brent]

Steve
I have not had the caps off the end that seal the stainless outer tube from the quartz inner tube but it looks to me like it won't be far from 1/4".

She did not tell me what the new price was, except that it is going up a lot. So far so good. We may get to test it's effectiveness next week as the temps go up.
Now our main outside tank has an ice melter in it and it still has a foot of ice. No challenge on the UV treatment yet.

I intend to take a jar of untreated and a jar of treated and put them aside to watch the difference in the onset of milkiness. Not really a bacteria count, but it should give me a good idea.

We're finally bottling tonight.

[mrnorthshore]

Just talked to owesco the guy there told me that the new price if they ordered them (the 30 gpm) would be over $10,000 and the old price was $3200. This is why they are not going to cary them any more. Prices sound way to high, even the $3200 sounds high.

[Bucket Head]

$10,000? Hmmmm..., sounds like a good old fashioned get-rich-quick scheme. Just another money-grab opportunity.

And/or..., somehow they know of something that we hav'nt heard of yet. Is UV treatment of sap going to be mandated with the next set of rules we get from the state or federal gov.? Will this model UV light be on the "checklist" that the FDA inspectors will be following?

It just sounds like theres more to this UV light price increase story.

Steve