TREE TO EVAPORATOR

[the old guy]

I AM WORKING ON MY SUGAR SET UP. HERE IS THE PLAN. I WANT TO GATHER SAP IN A SMALLER TANK (SAY 65 GAL) THEN TRANSFER IT TO 450 BULK TANK, THEN LET IT FEED FROM STORAGE TO EVAPORATOR. IN BETWEEN THE GATHERING TANK AND THE STORAGE TANK IS MY PROBLEM. TO GET THE CORRECT FLOW FOR THE UV LIGHT BETWEEN GATHERING AND STORAGE, DO I USE A CERTAIN SIZE LINE? OR A CERTAIN TRANSFER PUMP?--OR WHAT? I KNOW I WANT TO STICK A FILTER BETWEEN THE TWO. ARE THERE ANY INSTRUCTIONS OUT THERE OR SHOULD I JUST GO BY TRIAL AND ERROR?

THE OLD GUY

[chipa]

filter and pass it through the UV light when you pump the sap into your
holding tank.

[mountainvan]

uv lights have a gallon per minute flow for best results. For sap a light that does 8-12 gal/minute is common. Match the light with the pump, or get a gas pump that you can control the flow rate more easily. It is important to filter the sap, a whole house filter works well, before uv'ing.

[brookledge]

You may want to consider setting up the area where your pump, filter and UV can be kept in a heated area.
I closed in the area under my feed tank, approx 3'X4'X4' and stuck an electric heater in it to keep it at 35-40 degrees. That way you never have to worry about freezing or draining it all the time.
Keith

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I have a quick connect about a foot below the bottom of my uv light and it takes about 1 second to drain it. I don't have any heat in my sugarhouse the most UV lights are made to mount vertical so they drain themselves.

[maple flats]

My UV set up is drained like WestVirginiaMapler. To get the flow I have a gate valve going out of the UV to the main tank. When using I pump with my 1" sap pump thru the UV and regulate the gate valve to get approx 5 gpm (my UV is rated 8 gpm but i slow it to 5 to be sure). Last year I did not filter ahead of the UV but will this year for that extra margin. I run the pump just above idle and the gal marks in the tank confirm my flow. If you need to go get more it might be best to either have a faster UV or a short term holding tank. Then keep the sap cold and you will get several days when needed on the sap. Be sure to clean all tanks each timer they are emptied and do not keep adding to a tank that has not been emptied and cleaned.