12 volt vacuum pumps

[madmapler]

Hello everyone, This is my first post and surely not my last one as I'm just starting out at this. Its just great how everyone helps each other out on this site and how respectful the pros are to those of us with little experience. You dont find that everywhere these days. I sense most of you are just "good folks" and I hope I can contribute in some way. Question#1 I'm looking at 12v Thomas pumps on ebay that are capable of pulling pull 22" with 1.4 cfm. Seeing as how its relatively weak,Can I use it to to pull sap into a plastic drum "50 gal.or so" without collapse and should it be sufficient for 100 or so taps? My sugarbush and evaporator are 1/2 mile from any electricity. Any other suggestions would be welcome as well. Thanks.

[wiam]

I think a plastic barrel would collapse way before 22".

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

my experience with plastic drums is it will collapse about 10 " of vac

[madmapler]

If I was to use something sturdier for a container what then? Is it worth a try? I have plenty of batteries around and a heavy duty charger. If any one has any experience with these 12v pumps I would appreciate their input. If nobody can tell me its not worth trying then I may just experiment with it. Thanks to you both:)

[maple flats]

You are looking for some sort of vacuum tank. Vacuum is a powerful force. Anything not designed for vac will implode easily. Try looking for a releaser, some have even made their own. If you can't find that look into a small sap sucker pump. They pull vac but then pump the sap (pressure) to a barrel/holding tank.

[madmapler]

Thats probably what I'll end up doing. I'm just going crazy spending money on this stuff and I dont have the time now to fabricate. I've looked at what some of the guys are building and its got me up at night thinking myself. One thing I've realized already is this is a lot more than just tapping trees and evaporating water. I'm afraid I've got the disease and I have'nt even had my first season yet:)

[delivron]

Consider the Sap Puller. Cost about $1000. Draws 190 W to start runs at about 90W. Get a pair of large truck batteries. Charge them at night. Us a inverter to run the Sap Puller. The sap puller will handle about 400 trees. For $2000 you can get one with a Honda motor. No need for a releaser.

[Thomas Maxwell Hume]

I am using a parastolic 12 volt pump from a water sampler, Isco and Sigma are two brands of automatic samplers that are common. I tested it last year with 17 taps worked great. I am now building a second unit good for 120 taps, 12 volt power supply and 110 volt power from a nabors house. parastolic pumps can pull 26 In vac and can run dry without harm.

[StayinLowTech]

if you haven't already bought your tubing, how about trying the new 3/16" tubing which can create vacumn without 12v or 110. There is info on this site and from the Proctor Research Center about it.