Alternative Vacuum Questions

[americanwingfarm]

I have about 110 taps so all the vacuum systems sold are all way to big for my operation. I have one mainline with about 50 taps and I am looking to pull vacuum on it. I watched a video on line where this person used a small water pump(able to run dry) as a vacuum pump. In the video it said that he was pulling 15-20" of vacuum and was getting more sap on the line with the pump that a similar line without it. I have two questions:
1. Is this a good option?
2. How would this be plumbed?


Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlbtEVDQhQc

[Grand Square Acres]

Check out the thread under "sap handling, tanks, trucks and pump" titled " 1st day-sap puller" this might be what you are looking for. I plan on trying this next year.

[Ittiz]

You can get small vacuum pumps for a couple hundred bucks from stores like Harbor Freight. You don't need to buy one of those massive multithousand dollar dairy pumps.

[BreezyHill]

I picked up a "dairy pump" last night with 3hp motor for $100. It needs only a drip oiler. $50 and is ready to go so don't spend $$$ on pumps if you don't have it or need it.

Yes a diaphragm pump that is rated for continuous usage will be fine and is plumber directly into the mainline with an ice screen!

If you don't build an ice screen you will need to learn how to rebuild this pump and will be doing this a lot.

I was talking with a guy last week that tore out his twice this season when the temps dropped fast and he ran slush thru the pump.

[S&STappers]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9527
I built this contraption for 100 taps. Runs all day on battery and a $60 RV pump

[Quagmire33]

I have about 110 taps so all the vacuum systems sold are all way to big for my operation. I have one mainline with about 50 taps and I am looking to pull vacuum on it. I watched a video on line where this person used a small water pump(able to run dry) as a vacuum pump. In the video it said that he was pulling 15-20" of vacuum and was getting more sap on the line with the pump that a similar line without it. I have two questions:
1. Is this a good option?
2. How would this be plumbed?


Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlbtEVDQhQc

I have a 115v diaphragm pump (pro-pump) on my line with 20 taps. While running dry I get about 15" of vacuum. When the sap starts to flow and there is some liquid in the pump it jacks up to about 22". Seems to be working well. Yesterday I got just over 1 gallon per tap in an 8 hour period. The pump I bought came with a filter screen on the inlet which works well to hold back the ice. Just hook the line into the inlet of the pump and put the discharge into a collection barrel. Check out the thread labeled 1st day sap puller (I think that's what it was labeled)

[DrTimPerkins]

If you've got good slope you might try 3/16" tubing to get natural vacuum. Go to http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/ and click on "High Vacuum in Gravity Tubing" under the Recent Publications section on the right. There are also a couple of threads on this topic.

[TheMapleMoose]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9527
I built this contraption for 100 taps. Runs all day on battery and a $60 RV pump

How much vacuum are you able to create?

[BRL]

Here is a video of mine. It has at least doubled the amount of sap that I used to get and we haven't had any real good runs yet.

https://youtu.be/pMdQbKyzGRA

[pls009]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9527
I built this contraption for 100 taps. Runs all day on battery and a $60 RV pump

This looks great! - Were you able to tell if you were getting any measurable vacuum? Were you also on a slope? Thansk!