Once the sap starts flowing again,ice in the head tank may be trouble

[Bruce L]

Just before the freeze,my Father pumped up the sap that had run in from the tubing.I wish now that either he had not pumped it up,or I had fired for the 20 minutes or less it would take to put it through.Now I have a large cake of ice in an 800 gallon tank,probably frozen where it drains out the bottom of the tank,as well as it will be a false reading as to how much sap is in the tank to boil,or how much remains for shutting down.

[Springfield Acer]

Can you get a quartz light in there to warm it up? I have a 600 gallon insulated SS milk tank that I have thawed that way but only when the top inch or so was frozen. It was able to warm the sap to bout 38* after one day.

[shane hickey]

I think we have all.done this at one point or another i learned my lesson my first year keep the over head tank empty. Get the torch out and start warming up the out let

[Paul VT]

What is the tank made of? If it is by chance galvanized get a magnetic block heater and stick it to the bottom of the tank.

[spud]

I bought a 12 foot heat tape that is wound around my outlet. Over the heat tape I have 2 inch pipe insulation that I taped on with duck tape. I have about 100 gallons of frozen sap in my tank but the valve is always thawed out and ready to open when needed. I plug my heat tape in when I tap and unplug it in April. I have never had a frozen valve. Heat tape is only about $30.00 at Ace Hardware.

Spud

[Big_Eddy]

I keep an electric heat gun in my sugar shack. Hit the valve with it for 30 seconds and it will thaw enough to open and close easily. If the whole tank isn't frozen, that's usually enough. Otherwise I use the brace and a long 3/4" auger bit to drill right through the ice to open air. Pour more sap in and it'll flow through the 3/4" hole to get me running. Eventually the ice block will melt. Sometimes it takes a while!!

My outlet is on the bottom of the tank so I'm usually lying under it to do the augering. If the whole tank isn't frozen, I often end up wet.

I drilled my ball valve so that it drains when closed. Makes a HUGE difference. It was always the valve that froze first due to metal body conducting the heat away. Now it takes a good freeze before the heat gun isn't enough.