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View Full Version : Using 5/16" feeders to tie 3/16" laterals together prior to mainline.



tuolumne
12-17-2015, 10:35 AM
We have put out around 400 taps on 3/16" tubing (Leader 30P) in the last week. The average taps per lateral is just under 20, and each lateral is an average of 620' long (some approaching 800') to attempt to achieve 30' drop after the last tap. All but two of our laterals have more than 20' of drop, and those are quite low (4' and 11') being in a valley near the collection point. I prefer a more flexible tubing in general, but I am well satisfied with the stretch and grab of Leader's product. We will be using CDL tubing for the drops.

Here is the question. There are several places where several 3/16" lines are running together as they descend to or along the mainline while gaining vertical drop. In one case, 5 lines run together for about 300'. It would be cheaper if they were tied together into a 5/16" line (like a mini-mainline). This would save both tubing cost and the cost of extra saddles etc. Has anyone tried this? How might it affect the performance? I am sure that the 5/16" line would also flow full with 60-100 taps feeding it. Please share your thoughts. We have 600 more taps to get out this year and several thousand more in the future. I definitely plan to try one section like this before we build the whole sugarbush.


-Chad

DrTimPerkins
12-17-2015, 10:40 AM
It would be cheaper if they were tied together into a 5/16" line (like a mini-mainline). This would save both tubing cost and the cost of extra saddles etc. Has anyone tried this?

Tim Wilmot has done some research on this approach and found that it is not nearly as effective in developing vacuum as keeping the lines separate.

tuolumne
12-17-2015, 05:36 PM
Tim Wilmot has done some research on this approach and found that it is not nearly as effective in developing vacuum as keeping the lines separate.

Does UVM have any numbers available for this approach. We have found that vacuum development in 5/16" line is not as good with 30 taps, but what if 100 are feeding in? Is this a "big weight" hanging from a "small spring" as the analogy was used in a separate posting?