vac line froze up

[pierre]

on monday night it was raining hard just above freezing around 34-36 then it got cold and started snowing the temps dropped for the first time i had water in my moisture trap it filled up ball went to top and stopped it from going into pump but my shutoff didnt work so i didnt know it happened cause my gauge said i had vacumme . i had gone down to releaser to close up for the night and seen i had no vac . anyways i went up found water in trap emptied it turned on emptied a couple times i thought i was done everything was working when i quit for the night . got up in morning and found it did it again .but this time it got cold in the teens so it froze in the dry line ,my trap and sections of the line . thawed the trap but cant find were its froze cause i have no vac at releaser any suggestions do i keep the pump on or just wait till it thaws by itself . pierre

[Amber Gold]

Your stuck until things thaw out. If you have a liquid ring pump, just leave it on and it'll suck the sap through. I'll occasionally get sap in my vac line because the moisture trap at the releaser doesn't seal properly. There's a few spots where it collects sap and freezes, so I have couplings, pull them apart, drain the sap out, and put it back together. Sometimes sap will freeze at the coupling, so I use a torch to melt it. Problem is generally resolved in short order. If it's only partially frozen, you can hear air moving through the frozen restriction, also when the sap starts to melt, you can hear the sap moving in the line.

If your pump is close to the releaser, replace the vac. line and you'll be back in business. It'll also give you a spare if this happens again.

[Dill]

Not sure if this applies, but I had a similar issue early this season when my moisture trap was filling a lot. I use the water filter canister and racquet ball. It had filled the night before, and I dumped out a full canister, but when I plugged in no vac. The housing of the filter itself had froze up. Just a matter of chipping the ice out of the top. Or you can just wait til it thaws.

[pierre]

Thanks josh
I have found some spots froze I'm pouring hot water on them it works ! Quick to I'm getting there . To far inbetween pump an releaser to change .

[pierre]

well its done i have suction all the way im still getting a little water out of the moisture trap every couple hrs its getting cold again its 32deg. right now i'm wondering now should i keep the pump running to get the water all the way out cause if i shut it off will it freeze up again ?what do you guys think

[Amber Gold]

Leave it on. The movement of the sap in the line will make it a bit harder to freeze. Or, since it's thawed out, walk the line down to the low point and drain the rest of the liquid out.