Leader clear seasonal spouts leaking.

[psparr]

Was wondering if others have the same issue. No matter how far I seat the taps they still seep a lot.

[DrTimPerkins]

Was wondering if others have the same issue. No matter how far I seat the taps they still seep a lot.

Is this the first time you've tapped with clear polycarbonate spouts? If so, I suspect that you might have been (at least initially) seeing small bubbles coming out of the tree. Whenever the sap runs, the trees also produce gas...which appear to be very small bubbles that come out of the taphole, and get larger. If you interpret these as leaks, and drive the spouts in further, you will split the wood, creating a real leak....which makes you hit them harder....creating an even bigger leak.

[psparr]

It is my first time with them. Aluminum bucket spouts are all I has before. However I only seated the tap until the sound changed, sure I didn't split. But there's a good long wet spot down the tree a few hours later. That's the only reason I tried to seat further.

A side note Dr. Tim. How exactly does the sap get from the outermost layers of the tree into the tap, if the tap goes in 1/2-3/4"?

[wildlifewarrior]

I am sure Dr. Tim will explain more, but you are tapping into the xylem, which is inner portion of the tree (technically non living tissue), it is used by the tree for transport of liquids (water) containing things like sugar, minerals etc. If you look at a cross section of a tree, the phloem is really thin (the living part) around the xylem. So by tapping in more than a few centimeters you are getting into the transport "cells" of the tree.

Hope that helps,
Mike

[RC Maple]

Speaking of tapping with the weather we've had, a lot of these trees have to be frozen and I see when reading here worries about splitting the wood. With all the people that have tapped nobody has said they have had a problem so far. As long as you don't drive the tap in too far are you ok with tapping trees that have been in the deep freeze? Going on year #2 and I haven't crossed this bridge before.

[DrTimPerkins]

It is my first time with them. Aluminum bucket spouts are all I has before. However I only seated the tap until the sound changed, sure I didn't split. But there's a good long wet spot down the tree a few hours later. That's the only reason I tried to seat further.

We haven't seen this yet with the new CV spout. Most of the time leakage has to do with either the taper of the spout tip (where it contacts the wood), the "round-ness" of the hole (if you don't drill them properly), or being driven too far in.


A side note Dr. Tim. How exactly does the sap get from the outermost layers of the tree into the tap, if the tap goes in 1/2-3/4"?

Unlike the situation with most plants during the summer, where the sweet sap runs in the phloem (inner bark), in maple trees, sap runs in the wood (xylem) of the tree. It will run anywhere in the wood that is not compartmentalized (stained), but most of the flow is from an area within several inches of the outside of the stem. The zone highest sugar concentration (slightly more shallow) and the zone of highest flow (slightly deeper) do not correspond exactly. The sap comes out in response to pressure. On gravity it is due mainly to "head" pressure, or height. On vacuum it is a combination of head pressure and pumped (vacuum) pressure. Sap can't come through the bark, so will move around a little inside the wood (most movement is vertical, but there is a horizontal component, especially on vacuum). Since it can't come through the bark, the only other "route" where the pressure is lower is towards the taphole, so it will run around the spout a little to get to the hole. Think of it like a wet sponge (wood) in a plastic bag (bark). Nothing will come out unless you have a hole. If you put a hole in the bag, water would drip out. If you put a straw into the hole, water would still come out the straw....there is no other route for it to go.

[psparr]

Thanks Dr. Tim
I'm thinking it might be the hole. I lost my tapping bit and used a regular wood bit, an old used one at that.