5/16 check valve adapters, to stay or no

[farmerfletch]

I currently buy new discontinued check valve adapters off leaders website every year, and this year I have heard a lot about guys trying to disinfect them and reuse them for a few years in a row, wondering about anybody's thoughts about that, my other question is I'm debating switching over from the black check valve adapters that I buy for $.25 a piece to the clear check valves that cost $.40 a piece, I'm just trying to figure out whether the difference in price is worth warranting the switch?

[mellondome]

I have both. I will be switching my clear 1 piece over to the 2 piece. 2 piece ones are a lot easier when its time to drill trees. From my experiences, the 1 piece require me to carry a tool to install it on the drop line. That takes time. For 100 drops... not a big issue. 1000's it starts adding up to lost wages.

[unc23win]

I think its a toss up if you have the two piece and keep them or change. I know a few producers who just change the adapter each year. One advantage is they don't have to cut the drop lines. I also know a few producers that change the clear ones ahead of tapping (like between now and the season) which is more labor, but makes tapping faster when time might be of essence.

I think that research has shown that trying to disinfect the two piece is not worth the labor involved.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

To try and reuse a CV1 is to work against the express intent of the design, I wouldn't advise anyone to go there. I've never used the CV2 and so I can't comment on it. As for the CV1, a few (6 to 8 out of 3,000 based on my experience) will pop out of the stubby after a hard freeze and it is possible to damage the fingers (which may allow the ball to escape) if care is not taken when driving them in. Also when pulling them a few can be hard to remove from the stubby if they are seated too hard. Those are the drawbacks I've seen but I'm a big fan as we've used them three years and had to quit because the syrup wouldn't go through the press --- not because the taps dried out.

[spud]

I have both. I will be switching my clear 1 piece over to the 2 piece. 2 piece ones are a lot easier when its time to drill trees. From my experiences, the 1 piece require me to carry a tool to install it on the drop line. That takes time. For 100 drops... not a big issue. 1000's it starts adding up to lost wages.

The CV2 spout is far better then the old CV spout. The clear spout allows you to see mirco leaks and allows sunlight to the tap hole. The CV spout being a two piece system is just one more potential leak. There is nothing hard about putting a CV2 spout on a drop (my kids do it) and they slide right on. We will be putting all our CV2 spouts on our drops in the next two week just to speed up the tapping process.

Spud

[adk1]

Spud, when seating the cv2 spout, is it the same as the cv1? Basically a quarter twist and light tap till u hear a sound difference? I looked at the cv2 spout and think that it had a seating ring on it for proper depth?

[nymapleguy607]

I have tried the CV1 and the CV2 spouts, one piece is definitly easier than 2. That being said this year I will be using the non-CV type clear spouts from leader. They cost 16 cents a piece and I plan on changing them every year and the drops every 3-4 years. I could never see much difference in sap yield with the CVs vs the standard non-CV taps. Worst part was washing lines and finding the check valve balls gummed up with bacteria, time will tell is changing was a good decision. Best of luck

[DrTimPerkins]

Worst part was washing lines and finding the check valve balls gummed up with bacteria...

By that point, all tubing/spout materials are covered in snot.

The first two photos show the snot (technical term) after it has dried out some. The last photo (a standard adapter) is when it is nice and fresh. At that point, the season is done.

It is important to recognize that this is going to happen. What the CV does is slow down the contamination of the taphole, thereby slowing down the walling off process in the tree, resulting in higher sap flow during the season.

The difference in cost between a standard adapter or spout and a CV adapter or spout is $0.20-0.24, which is less than one gallon of sap. We've never had a time when the CV adapter or spout produced less additional sap than that, and typically it is considerably more.

As far as washing them goes.....it is not how they were designed to be used and not recommended. The yields of sap with cleaned CV adapters does not match the performance of a new CV adapter.

[spud]

Spud, when seating the cv2 spout, is it the same as the cv1? Basically a quarter twist and light tap till u hear a sound difference? I looked at the cv2 spout and think that it had a seating ring on it for proper depth?

The CV2 spout is a one piece clear spout so there is no twisting. The CV2 spout also grips so good in the hole that you most likely will never have to seat it again later in the season. I was very impressed with these spouts and noticed a big difference in my sap runs throughout the season. They are well worth the .32 cents I paid and I already bought mine for the up coming season.

Spud

[coyote]

Is there any benefit to using the check valve spout in a gravity system?

[mellondome]

Yes. With gravity systems, every night the tree will "suck" the sap in the drop line back into the tree.

[DrTimPerkins]

Is there any benefit to using the check valve spout in a gravity system?

Yes. The benefit, on a percentage basis is similar to that of a vacuum system. However, because the baseline sap yields from a gravity system (not talking about a gravity vacuum system here) are considerably lower than a vacuum system, the AMOUNT of sap you gain will correspondingly be lower. Therefore the economic benefit is also lower, and at times (depending upon the year), can be marginal.