Airlock on buckets experiment.

[Sandersyrup]

Moved this to the DIY maple equipment thread.

[happy thoughts]

Why not just use checkvalves? That seems the simpler and cheaper solution imho. Maybe I'm just not understanding the concept, but I'm not sure how well your airlock would work as there is nothing preventing the sucking back of sap into the tap hole when pressure conditions are right for backflow as a checkvalve would. And as I see it, there is still plenty of opportunity for bacteria to grow in the "airlock" which could get sucked back into the tree. You are also using an additive to maintain the lock which could find it's way into your syrup. You'd have to check your state's maple laws to see if that's permitted.