Shurflo

[derekp]

Shurflo users, thanks for all of the information that is available in the archives!! One question that I saw go unanswered was, Can the pump be mounted vertically or does it have to be laying flat? I'd like to mount my 2088 vertically on a board attached to a post. Has anyone done this?

[NJG]

I have limited experience with the Shurflo. FWIW, I think that having the intake side slightly higher than the discharge port is perhaps more important than the pump motor being horizontal or vertical.

[bowhunter]

These pumps can generally be mounted in any position.

[Sugarbush Ridge]

What kind if vacuum can be gotten with Shurflo 2088? What kind of CFM can they draw?

[NJG]

With small leaks and no sap I was getting 10'' to 15''. Once the leaks were fixed and sap started flowing, I was getting 20'' to 25'' consistently. All on about 50 taps, all on 5/16 tubing.

[bowhunter]

That's pretty amazing. Is your bush pretty flat or do you have a lot of slope down to the pump.

[derekp]

I haven't been able to try out my 2088 yet...still getting everything set up. One of my bushes has 100 trees with over 100' of drop from the last tap to my tank. It would be an awesome setup for 3/16 but I got a shurflo for free so I'll try that this year...I'm hoping with this steep slope I'll get good vaccum with this little pump

[derekp]

Another question, I have seen posts saying that people run their shurflo's over night, even when lines freeze. I plan on taking my pump out on cold nights but when hooking it back up in the morning, do I have to wait for the sap to start running before turning on the pump? Or can I start it up when lines are still frozen?

[Super Sapper]

If you have a screen before the pump to stop any ice from getting into it you can start it up while frozen.

[maplestudent]

I'm not sure what your situation is, but this is mine. I have the 4088 12V model. It is in a wood cabinet I made about 80ft. from my garage. I run a heavy gauge extension cord to the cabinet, and last year I powered the pump with a repurposed computer power supply. This year I'm going to try a power supply from a Comcast cable box (when I returned several boxes, I 'forgot' the power supplies in my truck....they didn't ask for them so I kept them). They output 2.67amps, so I'm going to see if that works.

In the cabinet (which is about 24 wide x 21 high) I mounted the pump vertically, tilted slightly so inlet side is a little higher than the outlet side. I put in 2 square electrical boxes. To one of them I mounted a basic porcelain light fixture, which holds a 40w incandescent bulb. The other box has a switch (for the light) and a duplex outlet (for plugging in the power supply). I have an appliance cord going from the box with the switch & outlet, which I plug into the extension cord from the garage. If it gets below freezing, I switch on the light......my pump has never frozen, the bulb is probably no more than 6" to the side of the pump and above the tubing line coming in.

Some people run a separate line to bypass the pump (with valves) so that they can keep a gravity flow going if the pump is off.

[derekp]

This is what I settled on for now. I liked the thought of the bypass incase something happens to the pump and I had to run gravity. I have power on site so I will be plugging the pump in so I don't have to deal with batteries. I put the pump on 3/4" quick connect fittings so taking it off and on will be no big deal...I also did put a strainer in line before the pump...I'll try to get a photo later today


Sent from my SM-N910R4 using Tapatalk

[CampHamp]

I think the manual says you can mount these pumps in any position. I think it's important that the sap constantly trickles in, so my inlet is just a bit higher than the outlet so my inlet tube has a gentle slope. I can get 25" when it is flowing in at a constant rate, otherwise it "stalls" on air and I get only 15".

I recommend a thermostat switch to rest your pump through a freeze while maximizing your collection (I know that 12V ones are cheap). I set mine to switch off at 29 F and on at 33 F. I get an ice block at the screen just before the pump at night and don't need to worry about ice forming in the pump. I haven't needed to replace a diaphragm or pump yet. I don't need to covert to a gravity setup anymore either.