mainline question

[plattmaple]

i replaced 2500ft of 3/4 mainline with 1 1/4 this summer and now after reading several posts concerning mainline slope i'm wondering if i'm going to have a problem. I had to clear a snowmobile trail high enough for a large trail groomer so i'm 12ft off the ground over the trail. Then i took the mainline straight down to 5ft so i can reach it easier to work on it. The drop is within 75ft of the sugarbush then it is about 1200ft to the sugarhouse with about a 250ft overall drop. There are over 1200 taps on gravity in this sugarbush. My question is????? Will the sap back up where my mainline drops straight down 7ft to my 5ft height? The old mainline used to gradually slope to the 5ft height but the problem with that was it was too high to reach without a ladder for about 150ft. I got the bright idea to run it the way i did so could work on it easier but now that i have new mainline i shouldnt have to work on it! Haha! Not with sugaring! Anyway. Any thoughts?

[blissville maples]

i don't think id worry about it, certainly wont back up, it will be falling with some good velocity and continuing down the slope, especially with gravity it shouldn't affect anything, vacuum maybe slightly

[BreezyHill]

The point of backup will be just into the flatter area. But since you are on gravity it will likely not be an issue, since you are not looking to get cfms past the likely pooling area.

The reason for the backup is the fast moving sap will slow when it hits the flatter slope. So more fast moving sap will catch the slower sap and a pool will be created. Gallons per hour increases quite a bit with increases in slope.