Pump questions

[drewlamb]

I've never used a pump before and am hoping someone can save me having to figure this out for myself. If you're pumping sap unhill, say 50 vertical feet and 200 linear feet, once the sap is completely pumped out from the lower tank, will the pump be able to push out all the sap that is in the line? I think the answer is a big "NO" but am hopeful I'm wrong. If sap is indeed left in the line, how do you empty it? Seems like unclamping the hose without a valve on the lower end of the line could leave you really wet. So should I put a valve on the downhill side?

Also, for cleaning lines at the end of the season, is it okay to have the pump push out through a smaller diam line then the intake line? The intake is 1.5" and I'll be pushing out first through 1.5", then through 1" mainline, and ultimately up the laterals. This is what everyone does, right?

Thanks in advance!

[wiam]

I don't know of a pump that would empty the line. I would put a valve on a T on pressure side of pump. Then you can drain the line back into the tank. If you have a clean source of water you could figure pipe capacity and pump that much water up the pipe and then drain it on the ground. This would keep tank cleaner.

[BreezyHill]

The way to clear the line after the pump is with an air injection system. Very easy to build and takes only a few minutes to accomplish each time you have to do it. The air will need to come off an air compressor. Our molasses supplier clears their 4" line with a 1/2"line takes all of 30 seconds to clear 75'+- with around 25' of elevation change to load the trucks thru the rack system.

Cleaning the lines will work well with that type of setup. You will want to use peroxide and not a bleach solution as the residue on the ground from flushing the tapes will attract unwanted pests like squirrels, skunks, and deer. Wear a rain suit...your going to get wet. We did this for several years. Then several years of vacuuming in a bleach solution, and last season we started the peroxide solution. We should have been out last weekend to give each tap a shot from the back pack sprayer for an early season sanitize but we had a feed truck with an issue that took everybody to get corrected and nearly all day.

Send me a pm if you want a copy of an excel spread sheet that will calculate the gallonage you need to fill the lines to capacity with solution. Definitely helps to know how much concentrate you need to clean the lines rater than run out while cleaning.

I bought a 12V pump for the atv to pump the solution into the lines from a tank on the atv. from the terminal end in the bush and will keep pressure at only 10# so as to not create leaks. Pumping from the sugar house created many leaks in our system as we need 60# to get to the furthest taps and just trickle out. It was a night mare to keep the proximal plugs in the taps and still get solution to the last taps.

[TrentonMaple]

One bit of research I did that may be useful to you is this:

I have an IBC at the bottom of my hill which needs to be pumped up to the sugarhouse. If we consider the 1" pipe to be just a very long cylinder, a 200ft pipe will hold a volume of a little more than 8 gallons. That's not a huge volume of sap on a good run.

[unc23win]

3 solutions some easier than the other 1. Make sure the pump doesn't have a check valve and the pipe has slope and allow for back flow into your tank in this case I know some use the little bit to clean the tank then drain it. 2. As Breezy said air injection make a fitting for the pipe and blow it out when you are done I blow out 250' of garden hose every day @ my barn works great we pump the compressor up while we are using the hose. 3. Have a back up pipe in case one freezes. I know all three methods are used by producers.

[drewlamb]

Thanks fellas! These are remote locations in the bush so I don't have water or power and am already lugging a pump from tank to tank. I'll likely just put a valve on the hose and let it drain onto the ground or back into the tank for a rinse.

Have a great season everyone.
Drew