DeLaval 75 help please

[VTsal]

1276912770

Hi - I got a used DeLaval 75 vacuum at a good price and this will be my first year using it. I have only a vague idea how this thing works so I have some basic newbie questions and any help would be greatly appreciated. I posted a couple of pictures - hope it worked and you can see them.

I understand the radiator looking thing as far as how it hooks up and what it does. I assume the oil sits in the big blue thing, as there is an opening on the top and a thing on the back side of it that shows you the level. Where should I keep the level of the oil? What is this blue thing called? What's inside it? I see what I think is an adjustment knob for the oil drip. How do I know the proper adjustment for this? There's a short tube with a valve coming out of the bottom of the big blue thing. Is this just to drain oil? Does it have another function?

Please excuse my ignorance and feel free to laugh a little. I understand. I'd be grateful for any tips that would help me run this pump without ruining it. Thank you!
Sal

[BreezyHill]

Hahahaha.

Ok lets get down to it.

The "big blue thing is your reclaimer. The exhaust that leaves the pump will have some oil vapor when the pump is running cool and a fair amount when it is hot. What is in the reclaimer is dependent on the maker and the design. There could be nothing or it could have a screen design, filter element, or glass stones. These items will condensate the oil vapor in the exhaust. so that it can be recycled thru the oil line at the bottom to the oil filter and then thru copper line connected to the dripper...on any pump other than a delaval 75 or 73.

The delaval 73 and 75 pumps have an oil reservoir that has a tube that feeds the inlet on the face plate. The face plate is the opposite end of the pulley plate. The shaft on this pump is a common rail oil system. The oil tube lubricates the bushing and the common rail with a steady flow of oil. This is not where a dripper is used.

Does this pump still draw good vacuum?

If so then the veins and housing are likely fine. But the setup of the reclaimer will not work with this pump. The reclaimer needs to have its height adjusted to equal the height of the oil in the bottom of the pump. The way that it is in the picture the oil from the reclaimer will feed into the reservoir until it over flows. With the reclaimer and the reservoir connected and at the correct elevation the system will work just fine with a dripper feeding into the air intake on the pump between the pump and the check valve.

I think the reason the pump was a great deal is it did not work well for the previous owner. The unit looks to be well covered with oil as it would be when the oil reservoir over flows and the reservoir cap pops off. Then the oil is sprayed all over by the air leaving the pump thru the reservoir and not the reclaimer, as this is the point of least resistance.

I have a D 75 and 73 so if you need pics as to how the oil lube line is connected let me know. I can also draw you up a structure to get the reclaimer to work automatically or you can use it to refill the reservoir thru the valve and filter over night.

Many options.

Ben

[VTsal]

Aha! Thank you - this is exactly what I need. No drip on this pump, but a steady flow instead - got it. So the oil flows from the reclaimer, through the oil filter, through the radiator looking thing (not hooked up in picture), into the pump at the faceplate, then back into the reclaimer as it condenses out of the exhaust. Correct? I'm not sure what you mean by "reservoir." It's obviously somewhere that the oil is held. Before or after it does its lubricating job? Is it on the inside of the face plate? Basically the inside of the pump? Where is the reservoir cap?

So the set up as it is has the reclaimer too high. The oil will flow out of that and flood the reservoir. Makes sense! You're right about the pump having oil on it. I bought it from a guy whose brother used it. The guy I bought it from had never used it and didn't know much about it. We plugged it in for a minute and it pulled about 25 inches, so it seemed to work fine.

The idea would be to have the reclaimer lowered so that the oil levels in the reservoir and relaimer can be the same height without flooding the reservoir. How do I know what the oil level is in the reservoir? I don't even know what or where it is! At least the reclaimer has a level indicator thing on the outside.

Regarding your last sentence about getting the reclaimer to work automatically or refilling the reservoir overnight. I was under the impression that it was a continuous flowing system so I'm confused about this. Do you mean I can shut off the valve between the reclaimer and the filter, and manually empty the reclaimer and fill the reservoir? If I did this, it wouldn't matter how high the reclaimer was. But it would be a pain in the butt.

Thank you very much for the great information. Things are clearer and I'm not feeling so overwhelmed. I would love to see pictures of a pump correctly set up if it's not too much trouble. Thank you Ben!
Sal

[BreezyHill]

I will get some pics of mine for you since a pic is worth a 1000 plus words.

No worries...we all started some were...we all learned some things the hard way too. It is far easier to laugh than to cry over spilled oil.

I would find it much easier to put the radiator on a shelf to collect dust. A Length of 18" of 1/4 copper line will cool the oil as much as that radiator and will be needed to hook up the oil flow any ways.

I do not like the way the reclaimer is plumbed to the pump. The long runoff pipe will condensate oil vapor...this is good for this pump since it has a reservoir but the long flat run will fill with oil unless it is sloped back to the pump.

I would stop at Home Depot and get some unistrut to support the reclaimer and if it is only supported by the pipe onto the pump there is a chance you could crack the housing do to the vibration.

Unistrut has L bracket supports that you can use to support the exhaust pipe into the reclaimer to take the stress. Use a large hose clamp to secure the pipe to the L bracket.

The reservoir dipstick is the round raised button like thing to the right of the Name tag. Has an oring on it to seal and keep oil in. There is a line to mark full.

To the left of the name tag is usually a hole with a rubber grommet that a 1/4" copper syphon tube comes out of and goes to where the dripper is attached. The dripper needs to be placed into a tee just prior to the pump. This is to add oil to the pump for cooling. You are looking for around 10-20 drips per minute.

Buy a non contact infrared temperature gun. This will tell you when the pump is running to hot and you should increase your drip rate. You can also keep track of the oil in the reclaimers temp and how well the oil lines are cooling the oil.

The oil filter is a perfect place to cool oil due to the small amount of oil that will pass thru the filter and the large surface area for cooling.

The entire base of this pump is a heat sink so it will cool the oil reservoir if it is set so air can circulate around it and up thru it. Just on a 4x4 on the feet is plenty of room for air to move.

That is a great pump and a nice reclaimer...just needs a little redesign and you will be in great shape.

If you weld that is great but the unistrut can be done without welding.

Send me a pm...we will want to still post on here for the next guy that has a similar issue.

Ben

[VTsal]

128081280912810
OK - don't bother with the radiator thing and just use 1/4 inch copper line instead.

When you talk about the long run off pipe going to the reclaimer filling with oil, are you talking about the part you can see in the picture with the yellow shoelace tied around it? So this should slope toward the pump instead of being parallel to the ground, right?

Makes sense to support the reclaimer to avoid damage to the pump due to vibration. I didn't think of that. I can't quite picture what you mean by Unistruts and L brackets. Perhaps a picture will make that clearer.

I'm still a little stuck on the reservoir thing. At least I now know where and what it is, but I can't see what you're describing on my pump. I see a small hole to the left of the name tag. No rubber grommet, but could easily have been lost. This hole has a solid bottom and seems to go nowhere. There is no raised button thing on the right of the tag. On my pump, there's a circular depression that also has a solid bottom and seems to go nowhere. Nothing remotely resembling a dipstick or a full line. When I cleaned the oil out of each of these holes, it slowly seeped back in. This tells me the reservoir is full and there must be some connection to it from these holes, even though they both seem to go nowhere. I see the drain plug for the reservoir. Obviously plan on draining old oil and starting with new.

Perhaps this pump is ancient? Maybe the things you're describing are on newer pumps?

I'm also a little unclear about the dripper and the tee. So the oil ends up going into the pump from 2 sources? The reservoir and from a line coming from the oil filter? Thus the need for a tee? I think a picture would help here too.

Also- you can see in the pictures I attached that I adjusted the metal pipes to get the reclaimer to sit lower. This is as low as I could get it since the drain tube on the bottom of the reclaimer was hitting the floor. It still looks too high to me - is it?

Great idea for the infrared gun. I had a quick look on Amazon and it looks like you can get one for $15 or so. How hot is too hot?

Thanks yet again for your help. Things are starting to make a lot more sense.
Sal

[BreezyHill]

12822 Antique..Yes! And way ahead of its time. I only know of two pumps that use the material that dissipates heat the fastest....metal veins. The old girl has four metal veins that are lubricated and the oil turns to vapor to cool them. Kevlar veins do not dissipate heat well at all. Think of a chain saw chain...keep the oil flowing and she doesn't get to hot...not enough oil and she is hot fast. Run a dull saw blade on wood and it will burn. Add some oil and it lubricates very well but it doesn't vaporize the oil ad cool the wood.




12823 The unistrut is anchored to the concrete wall. top L bracket is the wire support anchor point and L brackets with hose clamps to support the dry line manifold.

I don't like to go over 180..170 is a good target. My temp unit turns on a box fan at 175. $10 on ebay for the digital temp unit. I am putting it down stairs by the releaser and the temp unit to turn on the pumps. My pumps are up stairs. Far easier to look over to the wall and see the temp than to walk up stairs. I am also going to hook the gauge to a string of colored leds...$5 on ebay. Fans on the leds will light. Going to cut a length to have by the auto draw off and a horn to wake me up on those long nights of boiling.

Ben

[BreezyHill]

Put the pump up on that cinder block and tee the drain plumb on the front of the reservoir to between the reclaimer and the oil filter with a flat line and you will be all set. Now the oil level in the pump and the reclaimer will balance. If you don't have the dip stick I can measure the distance for the correct oil level.

I like it!

Ben

[TerryEspo]

Ben, your a very nice person, always helping us, the time you spend explaining, full of knowledge.
Don't ever leave us man !! :cool:

[BreezyHill]

Ben, your a very nice person, always helping us, the time you spend explaining, full of knowledge.
Don't ever leave us man !! :cool:

Thanks Terry!

My grandfather was a doctor. I remember him saying "Knowledge is power...but he who fails to share knowledge is power less."

I was delivering feed with my future daughter in law. After one of the stops she got into to truck and was upset. I asked what wrong...."I went through all these classes so I could know more than you and I don't know half what you know about animals." I told here that you really start to learn after you leave college and I will do my best to down load all I know into you.

I am just trying to share what I have learned so that others don't make the same mistakes I have. Mush cheaper to learn from others mistakes! LOL


Thanks for the kind words!
Ben

[VTsal]

Hi Ben - thanks for the pictures. They help a lot. Just a few more questions if you don't mind.

The large circular hole to the right of the DeLaval tag - it looks like your pump has a disk fitted into that hole and mine doesn't. What is that? It sounds like that's the dipstick but it doesn't look like any dipstick I've ever seen. Oil seeps into this hole after I clean it out so even though it appears to be a solid hole, it must have some connection to the reservoir. Where is that connection and why can't I see it? (Same goes for the small hole on the left). I assume that even without the disk thing, as long as I keep my reclaimer low enough so it's not flooding the reservoir, I won't have to worry about losing oil out of this hole. Correct?

You talked about the reservoir cap popping off when the reservoir overflows. Where is the reservoir cap?

Where do you put oil into the reservoir?

I'm assuming I don't have a dipstick, so if you could tell me how to measure the level in the reservoir and what that should be, I'd appreciate it.

Sorry for the endless questions, but if you don't know something, there's only one way to get answers. Thanks so much for your time and patience. I agree with Terry above. Posting here was a last ditch effort after not being able to find someone with the ability or willingness to help me with this pump. I hit the jackpot here - your help has been invaluable. Can't tell you how much I appreciate it.
Thanks.
Sal

[BreezyHill]

Welcome:cool:

That "Disk"is the part the dip stick is on. I will get you a pic when I measure the depth tomorrow.

The other hole is where the oil for the face plate comes from. So you will need to buy a roll of copper tubing at Home depot or similar store and some fittings to connect the tubing to the hole the dripper is in now...on your pump. Also a rubber grommet so that you get a good fit on the name plate and to the 1/4" tubing. It wants to be oil tight fit.

The reservoir is below the name plate and the pump housing. In there should be a metal screen box. Under the dip stick cap is a box that will catch any debris that enters when filling the reservoir and the dip tube for the pump goes into another screened box compartment. If yours is missing I can make you one.

I will also figure how much oil it is to fill the reservoir and then you only need to keep track of how much it takes to bring the reclaimer to the same level so you can know how much to have for when you change the oil. Get a yellow paint pen and write the amount on the reclaimer.

If the reservoir is to full you reduce the area the pump has to force the exhaust out to the reclaimer. The exhaust is ported into the reservoir then out of the housing to the pipe.

I agree this is a very good sight. They just got to get the email notification working again so I know you posted back. Now I have to refresh the page and keep it open all the time on the pc.

Ben

[VTsal]

Thanks again for answers. So get rid of the dripper and just directly connect the smaller hole to the faceplate hole with copper tubing as it is on your pump in the picture? Then run a copper line from the reclaimer to the lower drain hole in the reservoir. I can do that.

The screen boxes you're talking about are news to me. What you see in the pictures is all I have. No extra parts. A picture of that would be helpful.

An idea of how much oil it takes to fill the reservoir would be helpful too. And where do you put the oil in?

I have a much more mechanically inclined friend coming this afternoon to help with the pump. We should get it set up this week. Hope you don't mind if there are a few more questions that come up and wouldn't mind taking a look at a picture of the final set up to make sure all is well.
Thanks!
Sal

[BreezyHill]

Hold the phone...
Look back at the pic of my 75. The line from the reservoir of the pump goes to the face plate. Use a 12" to 18" coil of copper line, with the coil horizontal or spiraling up like a slinky so that the oil will cool prior to entering the pump. ( This is not how mine is...I have the original flow tube still), but will change when this pump goes into service on a new bush.

In the pic you see my dripper is in a tee prior to the pump and has the brass swing check valve toward the 3" pvc vac line that goes into the floor to the releaser down stairs.
12875

Now you see why I said you would laugh since you have more cows in your area than people when you see my releaser.

So the plug at below the face plate covers edge and on the edge of the reservoir is where you want to tee into the line from the reclaimer to the filter.

You will need to have a drop tube like mine after the reservoir connection so any water/sap will drop out of the oil flow and be drained off daily.

You could alter the design and feed the face plate port from a tee after the filter; IF YOU USE A TEE the same size as the exit of the filter and use a bushing or reducer fitting to the 1/4" line. I would not use a 1/4 x 1/4 x 1/4 tee as you may reduce the flow to the face plate if the dripper is pulling a good portion of the flow. This will result in a pump failure due to low oil flow.

I would use the straight thru flow to the face plate and turn the tee horizontally and pull off of the 90 port for the dripper.

Use your Temp gun to adjust the dripper to cool the pump to 170 degrees. Typically the oil flow will cool the pump enough; but a $10 box fan to blow on the pump is a great tool to have if needed on those warm end of season days.

There is a point that I find that more oil just creates more heat since the pump is now moving liquid rather than just air. And often on those warm days there seems to be more tree gases...could also be more leaked air in the lines due to plastic expanding too. So if you reach a point that the dripper has no positive affect on the temp turn it down to a previous setting and turn on the fan. Use the paint pen to write down dripper settings you use for the temp in the pump room on the reclaimer. You can always paint over them if you need to. Don't rely on memory from season to season. The more you play with it the better it will work as you dial it in. Ok...Start with a pad an pencil then write the best settings on the reclaimer.

Good cool air flow is important in a pump room. They like to breath just like you and me. Don't expect to do 1000 pushups in a sauna and be able to get on a tread mill and last very long.

I should be in service if you need to text me and I will go down and get the pics now.

Ask if not sure.... it is easier to measure twice and cut ounce.

Ben

[BreezyHill]

There must be some ice in the drop tube since the oil will not drain. So I did some rough measurements of the reservoir. Depth of oil at full mark is 1 inch, inside is about 8" X 10 " so that is 80 cubic inches and a gallon is 231. So about .35 of a gallon. So 3 pints is going to be about right since the bottom of the reservoir is sloped toward the drain and there is a center trough to the drain plug area.

Look in the reservoir dip stick hole and see if you see metal that has a bunch of small 1/16 inch holes or do you see a semi smooth metal surface. The holey product is the screen box. Semi smooth will be the inside of the casting of the reservoir.

[cropseyvillemark]

Ben, Is your dripper something more specialized than a needle valve? If so where do you source them? How do you tell how many drips are going in?
Thanks, Mark

[BreezyHill]

Yes they are specialized oil metering devices. You can actually see the flow rate thru a glass or plastic cylinder below the valve body. If one has the tools you could make one using clear pvc and fashion a holder and have a needle valve supply the oil to the pvc viewing port. and on the other end have a threaded part to attach to a tee in the vac pump inlet line. They range in price from dairy supply stores from 60-$200 depending on the number of drippers you need 1-2-3. 3's are used for dual bearing dripper and one in the inlet generally. 2 for just bearing oiling. Singles for feeding straight to each bearing with no feed tube after the dripper. These are glass only setups. They get pretty warm.

You can go to sites that offer hit and miss engine supplies and get ones with a glass reservoir and replumb them to accept the oil feeder line from a filter or the reservoir in a 73 or 75.

I usually find them at auctions and get a box at a time. Cheap this way. Last box was $25 and had 8 or 10 of them. I thought it was just the one in it.

[maplesyrupstove]

1288712888 I just got this one, cleaned it all up, had no motor mounts. Got a one HP motor on it.

[maplesyrupstove]

12889undefined[/EMAIL dnkernst@eastlink.ca (undefined)
undefined [email]dnkernst@eastlink.ca128901289112892 The propane tank is my vacuum tank. the pump is in my garage cause I DON'T HAVE A LOT OF POWER IN MY SAP HOUSE. SO I RUN A 3/4 INCH PIPE TO THE SAP HOUSE TO MY RELEASER. the 4 inch pipe is full of steel wool to catch the oil. I run it the other morning while I tap for 2 hours but it was getting hot so I shut it down, and turn on my little pump that I used last year. I have 266 taps on it and a 6 foot sap ladder. the little pump run 18 inches of vacuum. that why I wanted a bigger pump.

[BreezyHill]

The 4" full of steel wool is the right theory but not enough area for the exhausted to pass out through so you have backpressure on the pump creating heat. This will also increase the amount of oil in the housing slightly and make heat also. If you use a larger pipe of at least8" and 12 would be best, you could do this style but a gauge in the exhaust line to read pressure will tell you if the design is working. You want O back pressure so that the pump is only working to pull air out of the releaser and not having to force it thru the steel wool as well. Packed SW will have little air space but it is is pulled apart some and placed in it will breath better.

You could use metal window screen shaped like a caldron so that the oil would flow toward the center point and drip to the bottom two or three of those could work well for an experiment.

The other thing I see is your line from the releaser is full of restrictions. This isa1" pump inlet. So don't cut it down to 3/4" with added elbows that reduce the flow.

Nice job cleaning the pump and painting her up.

Did you blowout the common rail in the shaft?

Oil buggers build up in there and cause failure due to low or no oil flow. The wrong oil will kill these pumps fast.

Let me know yur temp.

Ben

[maplesyrupstove]

12894 My neighbor came down yesterday while I was boiling sap, he looked at it said the fine pieces of steel wool would go down and ruin my pump. Guess I have to start over. What is the common rail of the shaft, were the blades slide in an out ? I used that oil that I used in my little pump, is that alright ? I have more pictures in Hillbilly Maple Syrup. Thanks Darrell

[BreezyHill]

Darrel, The oil is pump oil so it will be nonfoaming so it should be fine. Center of the shaft of the rotor is the common rail. Feed the veins with oil. If the wool is high grade it wont separate. As long as the oil screens in the reservoir are intact then there is very limited chance of contamination of the oil. Fine metal pieces into the reservoir will drop due to the oil being thin and settle to the drain plug area. They can not feed to the housing due to the pump housing spacer that you removed and painted. This is the piece the housing of the pump bolts to thru the reservoir.

Back to the drawing board yes but that is a design that could be made to work with a little more design work with free airflow as a protocol.

I do like the idea...Good Job!

Ben

[BreezyHill]

Next time you start the pump use your temp gun to see the increase in temp of pump. Typically the housing will increase in temp at the point of compression first...this will not be super obvious when the housing dissipates the heat around the body but you will see a slight rise. Check the bearing as it should stay cool and the bushing will have slight rise. Watch how the temp reacts in the oil feeder line to cooling area.

[VTsal]

12899

Regarding the DeLaval 75 - With more reading and going back over this thread, I'm now clear on what to hook up where as far as copper tubing, dripper, reclaimer, filter, etc. Thanks again Ben for all your efforts.

One last thing that's stumping me - the holes in the reservoir seem to be blocked. I attached a picture in which you can see what appears to be a second metal plate underneath the top metal plate that is completely blocking access to the reservoir through the top holes. Does anybody know what this is? This can't possibly be right. Is there any reason not to take the top plate off and see what's going on underneath?
Thanks,
Sal

[BreezyHill]

I would bet $100 that the person that did this modification had the reclaimer to high and the oil would blow the reservoir cap off. Oil would go every where. By putting the plate on the cap would not come off an make the mess. They added the dripper to the oil fill line because this pump and aD73 are the only pumps I know of that use the common rail design...or that lube the veins for that matter also. Since every other one has a dripper then why would it not work.

Thus a great price since they could not get the unit to work well...you asked the question, got the answer and know you have a fantastic pump with little $$$ invested and she should last for years with only seasonal oil changes.

Under the cover will be the screen box. I would suggest taking it off at the end of season and clean it out of any and all stuff like bugs and other debris in there. Use diesel fuel not gas and refill with vac oil. Seal her up and she is all set.

Ben

[VTsal]

Yes! That makes sense. The plate also covers the small hole to the left of the label. This is going to be a problem since I need to run the copper line from this hole to the faceplate so I need access to the reservoir through this hole. The previous owners had a line from the reclaimer to the face plate, and didn't use the smaller hole at all.

I can drill a hole in the second plate to match the small hole in the top plate, or I can remove this second plate and make a DIY cap for the big hole on the right - making sure my reclaimer is at the correct height so as not to flood the reservoir.

I'm thinking the latter option would be easier. I also wouldn't mind being able to look in the reservoir to check the oil level. Having it blocked off would make me uncomfortable.

Any other options you can think of?
Thanks,
Sal

[BreezyHill]

Just tee the line from the filter and feed the face plate of the straight thru port of a tee. Get a tee that is the same port size as the filter outlet so you get plenty of flow to both lines. If you use a 1/4 x tee you could starve one line of flow.

I would leave the blank plate alone after cleaning out the reservoir. Finding a bushing to fit both plates will be tough.

Ben

[VTsal]

Good idea. Does the distance the oil has to travel from the reservoir to the pump make any difference in the amount of oil that ends up getting to the pump? Shorter distance = more oil, and longer distance = less oil? Or no difference?
Thanks,
Sal

[BreezyHill]

Distance will relate to cooler temp if the room is cooler than the oil as copper is a very good conductor. The straight flow will have better flow than will a right angle turn of the tee.

[VTsal]

I'm making some progress with this pump. I drained the reservoir and took the top plates off - the one that's supposed to be there and the one that isn't. I see the screen box thing you were talking about. It's all starting to make sense now. I cleaned the gunk out of the reservoir. I'm starting to connect the fittings and tees to get it all hooked up.

A friend was helping me today and we ran it for a few seconds before tightening anything up. There is exhaust coming out through the reservoir. We didn't have the holes plugged on the top plate so it was obvious. I read over your (Ben's) old posts and you said:

"If the reservoir is too full you reduce the area the pump has to force the exhaust out to the reclaimer. The exhaust is ported into the reservoir then out of the housing to the pipe."

This means to me that the exhaust is supposed to run through the reservoir, but my friend is convinced something is drastically wrong and wants to tear the whole thing apart.

So - is the exhaust supposed to go through the reservoir? Why? How do you stop it from blowing the reservoir cap off? I don't see any threads in the reservoir cap hole to hold it in place.

One other thing - when I was cleaning out the reservoir, I could see and feel this square metal screen thing hanging down into the reservoir. It seemed to be made of the same screen stuff as the screen box. What is this?

Thanks,
Sal

[BreezyHill]

So - is the exhaust supposed to go through the reservoir? Why? How do you stop it from blowing the reservoir cap off? I don't see any threads in the reservoir cap hole to hold it in place.

One other thing - when I was cleaning out the reservoir, I could see and feel this square metal screen thing hanging down into the reservoir. It seemed to be made of the same screen stuff as the screen box. What is this?

Thanks,
Sal

The pump exhausts into the reservoir. The air should blow across the screen to condensate vapor out of the air flow. It sticks into the oil to cool the screen.

The original dip stick cap has an oring that fits snuggly into the opening to make an air tight, tight fit. This locks the cap in place.

If you look closely at the pump. The housing of the pump sits on top of a stand that elevates the pump from the oil. The oil should be cooler than the exhausted of the pump so the droplets propelled out of the pump down toward the oil will be trapped.

Oil is a cooling product. It takes a fair amount of energy to transform a liquid to a gas. This is the heat energy that is lost from the housing and veins when the oil is vaporized. Your reclaimer has to be able to reverse this process and dissipate that heat energy to turn the vapor back to liquid. This is also the job of the copper oil lines. warm line turns cool in about a foot due to copper is a very good conductor of energy.

Don't take her apart if you don't need to. You can break one of the bolts of in the housing and that is a bitch to fix.

I would draw the oil out of the filter for both locations and just seal up the reservoir since you have the plate already made.

Send me a pm and I will forward you some pics tonight of my cap and lines.

Ben

[VTsal]

OK, thanks. Glad nothing is wrong. I really don't want him to take it apart. Thanks for explaining the screen thing in the reservoir. That makes sense.

The modified plate thing turned out not to be metal after all. I'm not sure what it is. It's thin and bendy, maybe 1/8 inch thick. It came off without too much damage and I think it can be put back on.

My helper friend thinks that if we put this homemade plate back on to seal the reservoir, the oil won't flow because there would be no way for air to get in to replace the oil that's being used up. Now that we know the exhaust goes through the reservoir - that's the source of air, right?

Putting that extra plate back on is making more sense. It's going to be hard to find something to replace the reservoir cover.

[VTsal]

One thing I forgot - what about a regulator? My friend insisted one had to be there, so it's fitted into the line next to the dripper. Easier to let him put it in than arguing with him. Can't hurt, right?

[BreezyHill]

Regulators only hurt production.

For every inch of vac you get 5-7% more production. If your friend installed a preadjusted dairy regulator then the pump will be running in the 12-15" range. My 75 runs 27" as a rule. the production difference is only going to be from 105% less to only 60% less sap than if you did not have a regulator.

For me the answer is clear but I want to get as much sap as I can so I check my lines for leaks daily.

If your not striving to get as much sap in the tank as you can for what you have invested in tubing and equipment then; "it isn't worth arguing" but if you were to sell that 70% more sap what could you buy to better your system or if this is a business adventure would this be the difference between red and black ink for the last number of the ledger?

I cant speak for you, but for me to lose just 60% of my daily sap production would be a huge disappointment and would have my printer running out of red ink for ledger sheets.
There are producers out there that walk their lines in hopes of finding a leak that will increase them by 2%.

If you wanted you could always put the regulator on a ball valve above a tee. When your friend is around the valve is open when not the valve is closed, and it is your little secret. LOL

Ben

[maplesyrupstove]

When I try my pump the other day it went up over 170 degrees so I shut it down. When I turn my pump on the reservoir cover would blow off, when the vacuum level out, then the cover would stay in place. I took my steel wool out and only put half of it back in, it is not pack in now. When I turn the pump on now the cover doesn't blow off. No back pressure now. Going to get an oil dripper and try that next. It has been cold here now, should be +9 Tuesday. Then we will try it again. I pull the side plate off and check the hole in the shaft. It is open, but I blew it out to make sure. Thanks for the help, Breezy. Darrell

[VTsal]

It's not a preadjusted dairy regulator. It's a simple manual thing that is there just as a safety valve. It will be shut tight as long as there are no problems. The whole point of getting this pump is to increase my vacuum, thus increase production. I'm aiming for 27 inches.

There had been no mention of a regulator in this discussion so I thought I would bring it up. It seems to me that as long as it's closed, it won't affect the amount of vacuum the pump gives me. Unless I'm missing something?
Thanks.

[BreezyHill]

Depends on the make some you can only turn up so much.

It is a good failsafe to allow air in to cool a hot pump.

I can do it on my manifold.

[maplesyrupstove]

13086 Got a copper pipe from the drain up to a coil and to a homemade oil dripper. It is an adjustable flow control valve with a piece of plastic pipe on it. With just a few drops of oil it ran all afternoon at 166 degrees and a box fan on the pump to. It ran at 21 inches of vacuum on the electric releaser on 270 taps. Got a barrel of sap today. Darrell

[maplesyrupstove]

130891309013088 There is a video in Hillbilly Maple Syrup

[BreezyHill]

Darrel how much fog came out of your reclaimer when the pump was running 166?

[maplesyrupstove]

13167 Today was cold here but got a little sap. The pump was running at 158 degrees, and not as much fog as the other day. You can just see it , the other day it was a little more. Pulling 20 inches of vacuum today.

[maplesyrupstove]

13711 I took down my wire and cut of the 3/4 inch pipe, and put up new 1 inch pipe. I put new fitting on the pump got 1 inch all the way. I had 22 at the garage and 20 at the sap house. Now I have 24 at the garage and 23 at the sap house. You was right Breezy pipe was to small, works way better now. Getting more sap now with the extra vacuum at sap house. Thanks for the help , Breezy. Got to make a new moisture trap now my old one is only 3/4 inch holes. Traded my little stove for a 2x6 works a lot better now. Got no hood now.

[maplesyrupstove]

1371213713 My new 2 x 6.

[maplesyrupstove]

BreezyHill what should I do with my pump, clean it now or clean it next year. Put in new oil or wait. Drain the oil leave it empty. It work good all season, pulling 24 inches and running at 150 degrees. Half way through the season I found a deer bite in my 3/4 inch mainline, tape it up and the pump work better. Darrell

[BreezyHill]

Drain it so that there is no water in it. Refill with new oil and let her run for 10 minutes to get oil in the housing and she should be good til next season.

Glad she did so well for you!