Aquatec Pumps

[Mr. Red Maple]

Hey there is an awful lot of information on shur-flo pumps but hardly any on the aquatec pumps. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the aquatec pumps since after all I've heard they are designed to run 24/7. I've only been able to find one other post about these pumps, it was an aquatec 8800 booster pump. Also does anyone have any vacuum gauge info on these pumps. Thanks for the help!!

[softmaple]

my aquatec is great no complaints

[Wanabe1972]

I loved the aquatech 8800 so much I bought 2 more for this year. I have a video on YouTube of my pump. It would run about 14 inches in the morning at the far end of the sloppy old 5/16 line and as SAP started to run and fill the lines it would go to 20 or more. The only thing I cared about was the 16 taps it was on double production almost every day more than one day I pulled 25 to 30 gallons on them.

[Robert K]

Was the 8800 on battery, and if so how long would it go before needing a charge?
I am thinking of trying one were power is not an option, perhaps battery and a small solar charger to help.
Thanks
Robert. :D

[Biz]

Depends on what you are using for battery. Last year I used a Shurflo pump with car battery and 40 watt solar charger. The battery would go dead after a day or so and the solar charger could not sustain it, especially if the sap ran all night or if it was cloudy out. Which seemed to happen a lot. My pump draws about 1.25 amps. Next season I will try a deep cycle marine battery. Looking at the Aquatec 8800 specs, it is a lower power pump than the Shurflo so it should run much longer on a battery charge, but a deep cycle battery is probably a better bet.

Dave

[needmoremaples]

i have a aquatec 8800 pump i may not use this year so i may hook up some tubing to my little 5 taps in the yard that are close to the porch/power.

heres a few vids on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6yVIeT8GjE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPcua8-Vkc8

anyone else out there ever done this for sap vac? i think shurflo works better but i have this spare one to try

[Wanabe1972]

I can tell you the pumps work fine if the system is in good shape. These pumps do not overcome leaks very well as they have no cfm's. I can tell you from these videos you posted the guy had a cracked tap at the end of the line that was introducing small gulps of air lowering his overall vacuum. The next year when replacing his taps he found the leak and the correction brought vacuum to around 20. He has since switched the line to 3/16 with 5/16 drops and had even better results. The little system give 1.5 to 2 gallons per tap a day pretty consistant. If you have an unused pump go for it and use it . By the way ill make some updated videos this year to show my improvements. Jeff

[maple flats]

I think both Sureflo and Aquatec are quite similar in design. Both are diaphragm pumps and that type pump can run dry, but it gives far better vacuum when pumping sap. Many users find they get far better results with a small bypass line to bring sap back thru the pump to keep the membrane wet. That can be as small as 3/16".

[needmoremaples]

Can you describe the bypass line better? How u know if u have a leak or if tree producing gas?

[maple flats]

The bypass just runs either from the outlet side of the pump back to the inlet side or better yet, from the sap tank back to the pump inlet.
To know if you have a leak or it is gases from the tree. look at the bubble sizes. In a line on vacuum, if it is 3/16 the gasses will be long gaps in the sap ranging from maybe 2" up to several inches, a leak will show as a long stream of bubbles in the line. Then the problem is finding the source of the leak. On 5/16 the leaks are similar but because the sap can and does pass the gasses you need to listen carefully, and also look closely at anyplace that might be a leak. If your hearing is good, you can often hear them. If your hearing is like mine you need to use your eyes more. I also use a Leak Detector which has a head set and volume control. It works well, but not while you walk. With it I can stop and hear even a tiny leak from 20-25' away. Walking I can only hear them with it if on wet leaves, not dry or frozen or on snow.

[needmoremaples]

Was doing some experimenting with the aquatec pump but mostly to try out 3/16 drop lines 7' long. with the 7' i could hold a vac of 5-6.5" of vac. then i converted to 3/8 tube and tried that. pump when dry did 7" and i wanted to see if that added to my vertical vacuum. It did and a whole lot more. i get what you mean about keeping the membranes wet. i was able to pull 25" of vac on my test with the drop held high. i think i have a small leak on my riser as the first time i held 25" much longer.

Maple Flats- to use your bypass idea i could go 3/8 out of the pump, back to 3/16 into a 3/16 tee? then send the 3/16 bypass back into another tee on the 3/16 drop prior to increasing to 3/8 on pump inlet? any sort of valve needed there? would that not grab gasses too? I just want to do what i can to get it right the first time. Thanks in advance for the info!

[eustis22]

What would be the possible reason an Aquatec 8800 pump, after pumping 50 gallons of permeate a week before, would fail to pump anything at all the next use?

[wmick]

What would be the possible reason an Aquatec 8800 pump, after pumping 50 gallons of permeate a week before, would fail to pump anything at all the next use?
I've never worked on an Aquatech, but if the pump is running, the other things that could go wrong could be a broken or ripped diaphragm.... or a check valve stuck open.... or frozen liquid stopping the diaphragm or valves from moving properly??
I didn't do a lot of looking, but one diagram I found, looks as though the check valves are rubber flappers...
My first thought would be to try flooding it with hot or warm water and see what happens... Might loosen things up for you if there any sticky valves??

[eustis22]

I was wondering if, since I did allow the pump to run dry a bit to empty the membrane canisters, if maybe some low pressure switch was switched