Manifold Design

[unc23win]

Anyone ever tried a manifold design like this? I was thinking 4 inch PVC then reducing all ports to 1" trying to allow extra volume to avoid freezing. I would like to do 3 of these the most would be 150 taps.

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Thanks for any input.

[unc23win]

Well I went shopping last night and bought a different Y so I changed it a little. Seems no one had any advice yet.

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[mapleack]

I would be worried you'd end up with a gunky bacteria trap in the low spot caused by the bigger ID pipe. Stainless full ID fittings don't break and won't hold bacteria and don't pull apart like plastic. I'm putting in my first dry line system and after looking at a lot of woods and reading alot of discussion I'm using the stainless wye / whip style manifolds.

[unc23win]

What about the big boosters don't they have the same bacteria issues?

[mapleack]

They do no doubt, are you planning on using this vertically as drawn with elbows or using it turned horizontally? I made the bacteria comment assuming you were turning it horizontal.

[unc23win]

I would like to try it vertical. Getting as much drainage as possible.

[GeneralStark]

You would be better off having the dry line come in at the highest point on the fitting. Personally, I prefer the whip style connection made with stainless mainline barb fittings.

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[unc23win]

I think my design would server better if it was called a vertical booster. I haven't had any one reply that they had tried a similar design and failed just suggestions to try something else.
I have three lines that I am looking to seperate from the mainline that in the past were branches off from a mainline. I am going to a wet dry system and I want my main lines both wet and dry going to the big boosters only with no branches in other words no chances for leaks before the booster. So for these 3 lines I want to run a seperate wet and dry for each so I am considering a small home made booster or manifold whichever you want to call it.

I can see how the whip would work if you were branching off another mainline although I am not sold on the stainless steel fittings.

[NH Maplemaker]

A large part of maple is the fun of building a system that works real well! With that being said ,what do you have to lose? I woud try them for this season and then decide if they worked well for you. If not change the out for the following season.

[unc23win]

A large part of maple is the fun of building a system that works real well! With that being said ,what do you have to lose? I woud try them for this season and then decide if they worked well for you. If not change the out for the following season.

Thank you someone positive without other suggestions. My thinking was if the bottom worked well enough the dry line being there for over flow doesn't even matter it jsut provides the vacuum.

[ennismaple]

unc23win,

IMO you don't want the 4" piece on the wet line. It will trap sap, which will freeze and will grow bacteria. If you want to create a "reservoir" for the vacuum I'd do it on the dryline side right before it connects to the wet line.

For the big commercial boosters, the mainlines come in the back of the booster and one mainline goes out the bottom so nothing sits in it. They have hatches on the end so you can wipe them clean.

If anyone wants proof of how the poly fittings reduce flow in the mainline check out the YouTube video posted by Dr Perkins. The poly fittings create turbulent flow whereas the SS fittings are much more laminar. For those of you tapping on the side of a mountain with very steep mainlines this may not be an issue, but for those of us with a lot of 1% (or less) sloping mainlines it is critical to keep the flow laminar.

[unc23win]

Ennis

Thank you for the input. I assume you have the big boosters. Do you clean then regularly during the season? I have 2 horizontal I am putitng in. I was wondering about the fitting on the bottom do you only thread it in flush with the inside? If you thread it in all the way it sticks up. How did you solve that issue?

My design is 4" necked down to 2" and then 2" to 1" for now. I would love to have it go from 3" to 1" or 4" to 1" but I haven't gotten ahold of those fittings yet. My thinking was with the the right taper in the reducing no sap would be left. In reality I could probably just make the loop or whip for these lines and have no problems as they do not have many taps, but I figured I would try reinventing the wheel as I most likely will want more small booster as I expand.

Thanks