Novice check valve question

[Jebediah]

Have been trying to understand check valves, and I have one very basic question: are check valves relevant only in instances where tubing is used? Are they of any use with buckets? Thank you

[jcyphert]

I would think that they would only be useful with buckets if you let the bucket fill the whole way up. It might also keep some air out but I doubt much. The point of them is the prevent sap from flowing back into the tree from the lines at night.

[adk1]

Correct and I don't know how you would hang a bucket on them

[Jebediah]

OK thank you

[Foremaple]

Buy a few and play with it. what could it hurt?

[Drew Pond Maple]

Maybe a cv and a small section of tubing into a 5 gallon bucket on the ground would work?

[red maples]

As far as I know the CV's have never been tested with a gravity system. or buckets with a tube. They were designed for vacuum systems. If you are using the tube into a bucket method I would just use a seasonal clear spout they are 1/2 the price just use a new one every year. this will give you more sap than using the same ones every year. this is what I use for my gravity set up.

[GeneralStark]

Because of the unique characteristics of the wood of a maple tree, an internal vacuum is created in the tree when it freezes. If a tubing system is used to collect sap, the tree can actually pull sap through the tap and back out of the tubing when it freezes. As tubing systems age more and more microorganisms colonize the tubing system. These organisms "infect" the taphole and in response the tree seals the hole to protect itself. The faster the tree seals, the less sap will be collected in a given sap season.

The CV Spout is designed to minimize the bacterial infection of the taphole by preventing the backflow of microorganism laden sap from the tubing system back into the taphole. This can provide a dramatic increase in sap yields, especially when used in a vacuum tubing system. They have been tested on gravity, primarily by Cornell I believe, but not sure the specific results. These spouts will not be useful with buckets as the tree can't pull sap out of the bucket. However, if using tubing to buckets, if the tubing entered the bottom of the bucket and could act as a straw it may be possible for the tree to pull sap back out of the bucket.

[Cabin]

As far as I know the CV's have never been tested with a gravity system. or buckets with a tube. They were designed for vacuum systems. If you are using the tube into a bucket method I would just use a seasonal clear spout they are 1/2 the price just use a new one every year. this will give you more sap than using the same ones every year. this is what I use for my gravity set up.

I used check valves last year with tubing and gallon buckets. They did not work very well. Took the check ball out and cleaned them out for this year. Tapped 10 trees last sunday. I think the sap will stop for a while after today.