Head Tank

[SeanD]

I'm going to put a head tank up above my evaporator. The best space for it is on top of the wall ties. It will sit on top of two 2"x6"x12'. How much weight could they hold?

My evaporator boils at about 20 gph and down the road I hope to get new pans that give me at least 30 gph. What's a typical amount to have ready to feed the evaporator? An hour of boiling?

Thanks,
Sean

[BreezyHill]

When I shut down, I like an hour of boil left in the evap tank. It takes awhile for all the heat to get out of the fire brick. If I have to leave fast I flood the pans and have seen it take 1.5 hours of boiling but that was on a great day of boiling hard and fast.
The weight will depend on the spacing and location of the load on the boards. You can always add more to increase the carry capacity. but 45 gal will only weigh 360# plus the weight of the tank and plumbing. Don't get to far above the evap. We had that issue...tank was on the second floor about 10' above. The floats didn't work well with a full tank. 1/3 or less was fine...to much head pressure.

[SeanD]

Actually, that's my situation. I'll have about 7' between the top of the evaporator and the bottom of the head tank. My only other alternative is to put the tank outside on a platform. Could I put a valve on the line coming down from the tank to cut down on the pressure?

Sean

[SadSams]

If I were you i'd put the tank outside on a platform. I had for 1 year a 100 gallon tank up in the trusses of the evap room and all it did was drip condensate all over. Cold sap, warm air, you know the deal.

[maple maniac65]

Actually, that's my situation. I'll have about 7' between the top of the evaporator and the bottom of the head tank. My only other alternative is to put the tank outside on a platform. Could I put a valve on the line coming down from the tank to cut down on the pressure?

Sean

A valve will work with head pressure, did that for years until I put the steam away on which compensates for head pressure.

[BreezyHill]

A valve would work to a small extent. Your are only adjusting flow with the valve...making the orfice of the pipe smaller and attempting to ajust pressure by limiting flow. If the opening is to small you run the risk of burning the pan if evap rate over comes the flow setting of the valve. A pressure regulating valve will self adjust to maintain pressure and keep flow rate.

Putting the tank outside will gain you benefits:
The warm to hot tank in the rafters will have attendance to grow bacteria quicker and be an issue.
Outside you can put a larger tank and not need o fill as often, thus protecting the pans from scorching in the event that something happens and the tank runs dry.
Less structural stress...yes the boards can handle it but you are adding more weight bearing load, which will take away from the roofs snow load capacity.
Say a relatives building collapse where there were chains and tools hanging from a rafter. This made a weak point that brought down the entire structure and crushed several pieces of construction equipment. Milk creates on a shelf would have saved a large garage.

[smokeyamber]

One observation on head tanks that I would add is having it outside can be a problem on a cold night of boiling, my setup with pumping from ouside storage ran into an issue of the line freezing on a cold night of boiling, had to deploy the reserve bucket for that scenario ! I will be putting the head tank inside when I get to that point and just plan to drain every night to prevent sap from spoiling.

[maple flats]

I like my head tank outside, it keeps cooler there. I do however have mine nosed tight against the sugarhouse, the valve on the tank is in a cut out in the sugarhouse wall. When my tank was out further I did have occasional frozen lines, but that is no longer an issue.

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

I have a 800 Gal head tank in my wood shed roof. I used rough cut 2/12 12" on center with two layers of 3/4 plywood run in opposite directions to support it (full it is 6400 lbs plus tank weight). I was wondering what the spacing on your 2by 6's are. 16", 2'? If it is 2', I would add in a couple more to double up the outside joyces and maybe even add blocking between them. Might be overkill, but can't hurt anything.

I like the tank in this location for a few reasons. Yes it can get warmer on some day in the roof system, but it also protects it from direct sun and it keeps debris and things from falling into the tank. Plus I can easily check how much sap is in the tank without leaving the sugarhouse.

[maplehick]

If I put my head tank outside at what temp will 8% consentrate start to ice up and be a problem?

[maple2]

we delt with head pressure issues for 30yrs until we finally bit the bullet and spent the $300 or so for a Marcland electric valve system.It has worked perfectly for over 10 years. I would never go back to a regular float system.

[Maplewalnut]

If possible try to match up your RO output and evaporator boil rate as close as you can and you don't need a very big head tank. I have two 35 gallon tanks piped separately but both feeding the evaporator. I can be feeding one and cleaning the other. Trick is to start up your RO, concentrate to a number and boil away. I rarely get over 20 gallons in the head tank with Ro running and evaporator boiling even after three or four hours. RO usually finishes about 15 minutes before my last fire. I then use RO rinse to feed rig during shutdown.

[maineboiler]

I have a 200 gallon sap tank on a platform next to the sugar shack about 8' high. The intake pipe is PVC which I insulated and also use a simple electric pipe warmer to keep it from freezing. I have not found freezing of sap to be a big problem especially now with warmer temps and I live in Maine. I like the fact that the sap stays as cold as possible without freezing to prevent spoilage.
The intake pipe has a valve which controls the pressure and flow without problems. You can also construct an upright outflow tube on the intake pipe in the shack that can be used as a guage for how full your tank is. Works for me

[SeanD]

Thanks for all the input. After mulling it over, I've decided to go with the tank above the evaporator. It will allow me to keep all the hose, switches, pump, etc. inside where I can keep a better eye on it. I can slide the tank off to the side, so when it drips, it won't drip on anyone or back in the evaporator. I'm only gravity feeding for now without float boxes, so this will be a simple set up that won't have too much investment to undo when I get better pans some day.

I'm only going to put 10-20 gallons up there at a time, so I don't need a very big "tank". Of course, the 30 gal. food grade barrels that were on CL all year are nowhere to be found, now. I might try a heavy-duty Sterilite bin with a bulkhead fitting on it. I need something with an open top so I can drop a float and switch down into it. Any other ideas for simple tank?

Sean

[BreezyHill]

Check on CL for Kegs. Use the port to fill and draw from, by way of Tee fitting. One side feeds evap, other has valve to fill tank.

[1arch]

One observation on head tanks that I would add is having it outside can be a problem on a cold night of boiling, my setup with pumping from ouside storage ran into an issue of the line freezing on a cold night of boiling, had to deploy the reserve bucket for that scenario ! I will be putting the head tank inside when I get to that point and just plan to drain every night to prevent sap from spoiling.
I use a 275 gallon head tank outside on an elevated industrial grade pallet racking. I also had my lines freeze and this year I intend to install a heat tape on my feed line that can be turned on when I foresee those freeze possibilities.

[Ausable]

[QUOTE=SeanD;233125]Thanks for all the input. After mulling it over, I've decided to go with the tank above the evaporator. It will allow me to keep all the hose, switches, pump, etc. inside where I can keep a better eye on it. I can slide the tank off to the side, so when it drips, it won't drip on anyone or back in the evaporator. I'm only gravity feeding for now without float boxes, so this will be a simple set up that won't have too much investment to undo when I get better pans some day.

I'm only going to put 10-20 gallons up there at a time, so I don't need a very big "tank". Of course, the 30 gal. food grade barrels that were on CL all year are nowhere to be found, now. I might try a heavy-duty Sterilite bin with a bulkhead fitting on it. I need something with an open top so I can drop a float and switch down into it. Any other ideas for simple tank?

Sean[/QUOTE

Sean - I use a 30 gallon water tank from an old travel trailer. We cut a couple of 12" square holes in the top for easier cleaning and made a cover for the top that can be removed - yet keep unwanted things out of the tank. I built a platform on the outside of the sugar shack to hold it when being used. After the sugar season - I store it in the shack to keep it out of the Sun. What was nice about it was that it was already setup for use as a sap feed tank with the fill line hole in the top and a couple of drain line holes - all I had to do was add plastic valves and tubes. I pump from my sap storage barrels on the ground into the tank as I need more sap. Another nice thing is that the sap level can be easily seen on the tank. - Works well for me. -----Mike-----