ultraviolet

[boondocker]

I was wondering how many of you guys use ultra violet light before your sap hits the evaporator, and is it worth the $$$$ to buy one
thanks guys......

[Bucket Head]

Is it worth buying? That depends on how long your sap will sit before it hits the evaporator, and how much money are you considering spending on one? The light will help maintain some sap quality if its going to set a while before boiling. If you gather sap and boil it same day, than it probably won't be too much help since your not allowing to set very long. Keeping sap cool is another must-do inorder to hold sap for a while. Your already ahead there- you list a bulk tank as part of your equipment. Is it in the sun? If so, move it or shade it- you'll be better off that way. Most UV units can not produce a "total kill" on bacteria because the sugar alters the light rays path, which means some bacteria get lucky and "miss" the UV light. A large UV unit is needed to help allow more sap to come in contact with the light, and the larger ones cost quite a bit too. And a slower flow rate than what they are rated for should be used also, to allow more contact time in the unit. I recently bought a large (five feet long), double tube (double bulbs) unit, to replace the small (foot and a half), single bulb unit I had. It was too small, meaning it was too slow also, for the amount of sap I gather. Filtering the sap prior to UV treatment is a must also. I believe they recomend a five micron filter. If not filtered, the UV rays come into even less contact because the particals block the light from the bacteria. Now with all this said, UV treatment won't allow to hold sap that would have made Grade A- Light syrup for a day or two and still make Light syrup. It'll be darker stuff, but at least you'll get to boil it and make something decent, instead of commercial or sub-standard.

Steve

[nymapleguy607]

I have a UV light I used one season to help store my sap a little longer, last year I could boil it when I collected. I did notice that my bulk tank stayed cleaner between washes. I could get by with 2 or 3 days vs cleaning everyday. The light I used was about 3' long and had 2 bulbs I think they were 100watt I'm guessing. I quit using it because it was hard to keep from leaking and hard to clean. The best investment I made was last year I bought a small spot sprayer (new never used with chemicals) it has a 15 gal. tank and a battery powered pump. This lets me clean my storage tanks in the woods as well as the ones at the saphouse. If you keep them cleaned everytime you pick up sap and finish boiling it seems to help make lighter syrup. Like Steve said if you need to let sap sit for a while before boiling it might help.

[NH Maplemaker]

I have used a UV light for a few years now (wedeco) from leader, and I haft to agree with Jeff ! My tank stays cleaner for a longer time. I still clean it everyday ,but it aways looks very clean unlike before. Also as Jeff said the UV light is a little hard to keep clean ! I just flush it when cleaning my holding tanks and let water run out the bottom drain valve into a buckect. Works fairly well.

[markct]

i bought a uv light and used it to run my sap thru before storing and boiling, seemed to be worthless and never could tell the difference, so it got set aside till i bought my ro, tried it on the suction side but the seals leaked a little bit of air so that wasnt working, decided to put it on the outlet of the concentrate, not expecting much since they say its less effective after its concentrated. Well what a surprise after using it a few times, my concentrate stayed clearer and my concentrate tank nearly spotless! what a huge difference i would never want to be without one now!