Vacuum... Remote spots..

[butler]

In my bush, I can not have all mains run together... I have like 3-4 different different 500' main locations with 100-150 taps.

My question is what is the best vacuum pump to run all these different sections ...is there small gas powered pumps out there and small releases..
Sounds expensive because I will have to buy 3-4 pumps and 3-4 releases etc...

[maple flats]

Do you have enough slope to use 3/16 laterals to generate natural vacuum? Do some study towards that. Even if you only have 6 or 8' of drop, you can get some vacuum.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

How close are the lots to each other. I have several locations where I locate 1 vacuum pump and use air lines of up to 2500 feet to operate separate releasers. If you use this method be sure the air lines are large enough to have good vacuum transfer over the distance.

[BreezyHill]

In my bush, I can not have all mains run together... I have like 3-4 different different 500' main locations with 100-150 taps.

My question is what is the best vacuum pump to run all these different sections ...is there small gas powered pumps out there and small releases..
Sounds expensive because I will have to buy 3-4 pumps and 3-4 releases etc...

Well that is a loaded question. The best pump for your setup will be an inexpensive one; since if you can not run a vacuum line to the different mains you will need more than one pump. If the lots are less than a mile total from a central pump location; you should be able to run a dedicated vacuum supply line to the different releasers. Check with your local dealers for their smallest quality releasers and get a quantity discount on multi units.

IF you are blessed with at least 30' of drop after the last tap then 3/16 would be an option.

Price wise if you could even have on pump feed two releasers you will be money ahead. Then factor in having to visit 4 pumps to maintain, start, feed fuel to them, you will have apart time job right there.

Good Luck!

Ben

[unc23win]

I think the easiest way to do it is like mentioned use a pump and run vacuum supply lines to all spots. I know a few guys that have good success doing this although it does take more time to make sure all the releasers are working and then of course you have to transfer the sap back somehow. Definitely a little harder to get your $ back on fewer taps considering the price of pumps and releasers not that it can't be done, but it is more difficult.

I guess I am curious what obstacles you are dealing with that you can't get all the lines together? Maybe there is another solution?

[butler]

Sorry for the confusion ... My mains are all on my 92 acres.. But due to the rolling nature of the land I have three or four sections on gravity tubing... Probably 1500 ft between each section...so as I understand it ...I can run 1 central vacuum pump with some type of manifold that has separate air lines running to each releaser?... Do I need a power source for my releasers? Thanks for the help guys... This is my last year on gravity... But I am going to start prepping now, lots to learn... I want to do it right... Wet line/ dry line etc

[markcasper]

Seems we humans are pretty dumb to now just find out the technology of what small tubing can do for production. Shows how small we are in the bigger picture.

[butler]

Anyone have a picture of a manifold off a vacuum pump that has numerous lines running to different releasers...

[BreezyHill]

Sorry for the confusion ... My mains are all on my 92 acres.. But due to the rolling nature of the land I have three or four sections on gravity tubing... Probably 1500 ft between each section...so as I understand it ...I can run 1 central vacuum pump with some type of manifold that has separate air lines running to each releaser?... Do I need a power source for my releasers? Thanks for the help guys... This is my last year on gravity... But I am going to start prepping now, lots to learn... I want to do it right... Wet line/ dry line etc

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This is my manifold for my dry lines. 3" pvc to the releaser thru a 2" pvc to the glass releaser. The last pic is when we were nearly finished with the remodel and were check the system for slope and functionality.

I used the 3" for additional balance tank capacity for the dry lines and to secure lines easier to the sugar house onto the unistrut brckets in the sugar house walls. By end of season things were a bit different on the mainline manifolds. went from the 3/4" tee to all 1.5" tees to get vac flow thru the 1" mains. Slush would plug the tees before the lines froze.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Butler
I am not computer savvy enough to do pictures. All I do is come off my Liquid ring pump with 2 inch PVC. I Put T's in it for 3 lines to come off of the PVC. I convert from PVC to black plastic 2" coming off the T's. Each line has a shut off valve so all the lines can be isolated so major leaks can be determined at the site of the pump before going out to any releaser. I use 2 inch air line to minimize cfm loss over the distances covered to the releasers. A releaser that was fairly close to your pump could be connected with a smaller pipe.

[brookledge]

Butler
As already said sounds like you can atleast purchase one good size vacuum pump and run multiple releasers off of it. I would suggest putting in a phase inverter and a variable speed drive 3 phase motor. In my situation I had two old vacuum pumps running around 18". any more than that and they got hot. They are 1900 feet apart. I purchased one 5hp vacuum pump and ran 1900 feet of dry line(vacuum line) to run my other releaser. The one bigger pump uses less electricity than the old two combined did. One of the best things about it is when you have no leaks the speed of the motor slows way down (using less electricity) and if you hear the motor running faster than normal you know you have a leak without even looking.
As for a manifold. You would need to come off the pump, I think mine is 1.5" but might be 2" with plastic pvc pipe like schedule 40 etc. Then put in either a tee or a 4 way fitting. Install valves for each line that you are going to need. Then after the valve just use an adapter with barbs so you can push on the black plastic pipe that will lead to the releaser at another location. In my case I ran 1.25" for the 1900 feet and it works fine.
Lastly if you do encounter a leak you can shut each line off one at a time(pump speed will begin to slow down) to determine which line has a leak thus saving you from having to check everything
Keith

[butler]

Thanks so much guys... Everything starting to become clear... With this type of system where is the best place to put the vac gauge?

[BreezyHill]

more gauges are better than fewer...one at each releaser will be a benefit to see the vac level at each site. Cheap source of constant information.
Always one near the pump.