Mistake on Wet Line

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

I need some advise on what to do with my wet line. See I misunderstood the piece about keeping taps/laterals out of the wet line directly.

my set up is 1" wet with 1 1/4 dry for 1500'. Over the 1500 ft I have 100 taps cut into the wet line.

My understanding was it was good to get them into the wet line. I know better now but don't want to replace the entire line since I put it in in 2011.

I thought of two possible solutions. But don't really know if either will work.

option 1, put all laterals going into wet line into an existing 3/4" main line or create new mainline locations. And plug wholes in Wet line by capping the saddle with an end cap, or electrical tape over whole after removing the saddle? Is there a better way?

option 2, create a whip for a lateral line with 5/16 rigid tubing off dry line to get vac to taps. Part of me thinks this could be a bad idea as it could be hard to shut off and it might open up leaks into the dry line

option 3, I guess replace 1" wet line in places with the most lats cut into it or even the entire 1500 if that is the best solution.

Thanks for your help,
Ben

[Maplewalnut]

I would chose Option 3 first then Option 1 (but I have had better luck over time by removing saddle altogether and wraping hole with tape) I like the white tape maple guys sells with electrical tape over that.
Option 2, I would not do.

[spud]

As long as you check for leaks you could leave the system the way it is. If your vacuum goes down a few inches on your releaser you will know you have a leak. If all you're dealing with is 100 taps going into this wet line then I would just watch them close.

Spud

[maplecrest]

That wet line will be first to freeze and last to thaw out.if there is a leak at one saddle it will freeze and be slow to thaw out.sending all sap down dry line. I have made the same mistake. I ran a new line and capped saddles. They tend to leak. I would run a 3/4 line the length of the 100 taps. Cut out the section of saddles in wet line. Replace with stainless steel fittings on each side and a pipe.will save a lot of time later down the road.it is hard to find a leak on those capped saddles for there is no loop to see if there is a leak. You have to put your ear against it to hear leak but that does not work well

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

alright thanks everyone.

I think I will use a mix of solutions. For many of the 100 taps I will be able to get them into a different mainline. I will add a small new mainline for 50 of the taps and replace the lower section of wet line where the most saddle holes are cut in it and use SS fitting one both ends like suggested. Maybe a 200' section.

The remaining laterals that are just too far away from an existing mainline I will leave in the wet system and check to make sure they have good vac and check them for leaks.

I was under the impression that these lines won't get much vac during a good run because the wet line will be full? Is this the case, or is having laterals in the wet line bad because of difficulty in isolating the system with so many holes in the wet line?

[BreezyHill]

Less desirable for several reasons:
Isolation for leak detection, Adding sap that is not completely degased, slowing of the flow of the wet line, the adding of air to the line drops the vacuum level and will cause a build up of ice that will block the line before the bush stops flowing. When the line is frozen their will be no vacuum going thru the line until the line has thawed. At this point the lateral will dump into the dry line until such time as the wet line thaws.
There are a few other reasons but they all come back to potentially less production.

It would be best to remove the saddle and tape the hole. Leaving the saddle, will require checking the line when temps dip to freezing to see if a minuet leak is present. There will be an ice dam or slush forming near a leaky saddle. In the event that a leak drops your vac a few points, you will hear it from a ways away. At that time definitely remove the saddle and tape the hole.

The biggest issue in my mind would be the potential for leaks on a mains of this length that will only carry 6 cfms at 1500'; but with the line only carrying 100 taps with a minimum capacity of 458 at 2% slope.

To save $$$ you could use option #2 using y connectors, and tee with small section of 5/16 tubing, on top, to squeeze closed with locking pliers enabling adding a vacuum gauge to a caped off connector above. After the vac gauge is attached release the pliers and vac is restored to the gauge. Place the pliers below the tee and watch the gauge, rapid drop= leak. Not so rapid= good to go. Reverse the procedure and check next line. Not as fast as it could be but cost all of a few bucks per line. That beats 1500' of 1" tubing.

If you tape holes I would use duct tape, as high quality feed mill elec tape sucked a hole in two spots on my system. Liberal application of duck tap...black gorilla worked fine.

Good Luck

Ben