gravity feed tank fill control?

[Flatfoot95]

How do you all control the level of sap in the feed tank from the storage tank? I am getting ready to build my sugar house and have a 350gal stainless storage tank that will feed into a 55gal poly tank which will gravity feed into the evaporator.

[ibby458]

I'm doing the same thing. I'm using a float switch from the electric supply store To turn a submersible pump on and off as needed. I'm setting it up on a sliding rod, (like a sump pump) so it'll drop to 1/2 full before coming on, shutting off when full. Actually, I have 2 switches; the second one will be hooked to an alarm that will sound if the level drops to much less than 1/2 full. I'm also putting in a bypass switch that I can use manually if the float hangs up.

To be specific, the switches I have are Normally open, momentary contact (NOMC) plunger switches. The float rod will go thru an arm that lays across the plunger when it needs sap, closing the circuit and starting the pump. It will lift up when the float gets to the top, and the plunger will pop up, opening the circuit. The rod will go thru guides so it can't cock off to one side, with shaft collars that can be moved up or down to set the exact start and stop points.

[digman_41]

Can you raise your large tank and gravity feed to your evaporator?
I have 2 gravity feed tanks, one near my drivewhere we unload the sap and the other next to our sugarhouse. We pump it into the first tank which is higher than the tank we feed from. All we use is a stock tank valve to regulate from the first tank and the rest is gravity.
Simple is always good! Mark

[ibby458]

My holding tank is 650 gallons. That's a lot of weight to be hanging up there in the air (pushing 3 ton with the weight of the tank and cribbing). I've visited several operations that were built into a hill so the tank could sit level on the ground, and still gravity feed into the evaporator. That would be perfect, but not an option for some of us flatlanders.

The slickest operation I ever saw had all mainlines end up at the sugarhouse, dumping into a functional bulk tank to keep it cold. THe house itself was built on 3 levels. You came in at the wood end, where the firebox doors were at waist to chest level. Go up a few steps (Stairs were on both sides to make it easier) and you were at the evaporator level. The bulk tank and storage area was a few more steps higher, gravity feeding to the evaporator. Everything was gleaming SS and as clean as an operating room. I doubt it was coincidense that he made the best syrup I ever tasted (until I started making my own!)

[Mike]

I have a 760 gal holding tank.I use an electric pump to pump sap up into a 125 gal tank which feeds my evaporator......I sold the 125 gal tank(I think) and will replace it with a 200+/- SS tank to feed the rig......Ill pump my RO sap straight to the feed tank......May have to go bigger than a 200 gal tank seeing how i want to tap 2000 plus in a year or so......

[lew]

I do the same as ibby458. I have a 400 gallon concentrate storage tank for my RO with a pump plumbed into the bottom and a sump pump switch (turned upside down) mounted over a SS milk house sink mounted in my rafters. Sink is approximately 30 gallons. I have my float swithc adjusted so that the level in the tank only drops about 2 inches before the pump refills the tank. This keeps the pressure on your float more consistent and you shouldn't have to adjust the float at all during a boil. Actually, I have replaced my float on the side of the flue pan with a flo-meter and a gate valve. I can fire up my evaporator and adjust the flo-meter for 3 to 3.5 gallons per minute (depending on how well things are boiling that day and how clean my flues are). Ilike that a lot better than the float. I keep track of the level in the pan with a glass sight tube on the side of the pan and a high-low level warnning system.

[maplehound]

I have 4 milk tanks that I hold my sap in and then pump up to a 100 gal poly tank to feed the evaporator. The poly tank has a float switch in side that turns on an electric pump and a red light. The pump fills the tank up and the red light lets me know when I am pumping and for how long in case the holding tank is empty.
I bought the float switch on E-bay. I looked quite a while to find one that worked like a sump float but backwards. :D I was excited when I finally found one.
Ron