Has any one used some type of cooling system to cool there sap for longer stoarge?

[sebastian]

I am new at this and i can only evaporate on the week end . I was wondering if any one has found a inexpensive way to cool the sap in a large tank (275 gallon Tote) thru refrigeration.
Such as the components from a refrigeration ?

[motowbrowne]

Well, for starters, you can freeze water in milk jugs and throw them in there. Keep the lids on so the water doesn't dilute the sap. That uses components of a freezer, but it's a little less direct than you were thinking, I reckon.

[Russell Lampron]

A dairy bulk tank with refrigeration unit would work but would probably cost too much for a small producer.

[Sinzibuckwud]

Close it in and stuff an AC pointing into it, A tarp should be enough to get you through the few warm days until the weekend.

[DaveB]

I actually posted a thread about this in the sap storage forum and haven't had any replies but we are thinking about the same thing. I sometimes wait a couple of days so I can have 6-8 hours of sap to boil because I don't think it's efficient to only boil a couple of hours considering startup and shut down.

My idea is to build an insulated frame around my sap storage tank and use a CoolBot (http://storeitcold.com/) connected to an air conditioner and I could keep the whole thing about 36-38°. Even if I have to buy the air conditioner, I think the total cost would be around $900. Maybe something like that would work for you. I have no idea if a refrigerated milk tank is cheaper or if you'd have to build a structure for one of those but that's the idea that I had.

I think it's better than freezing containers and lugging them back and forth or piling snow (that might not be present) around the tank. I think the whole tank would be cooler using something like that.

[n8hutch]

Those coolbots work great. A friend of mine built a walk in cooler I believe he used 4" of Ridged Styrofoam on all 4 sides. We keep game in it and it stays around 36 degrees pretty consistently. I don't know why you couldn't build something similar around a sap tank.

The price of a bulk Tank with a working cooler is scary most of the time. Occasionally you can find one cheap where someone doesn't know it's value or doesn't care.

[sebastian]

I am going to try it. i will send photos when i get it done. How long will sap stay good for at 36 to 38 degrees?

[ADK_XJ]

It's certainly not high tech but I do a derivative of what motobrowne does — I stole some of the bigger square Tupperware containers missing their lids from the kitchen and then filled them with sap and froze them in the freezer (I have an extra one in the barn). Then once I have a bunch of those built up I divvy them out into different tanks to keep 'em nice and cold.

If you coupled that with the rigid foam setup others have mentioned you could have a very inexpensive cooling setup. In fact, now I'm starting to wonder about doing this 4-wall rigid foam setup.

[youp50]

Snow packed around the containers works here.

[MaxJ]

It's certainly not high tech but I do a derivative of what motobrowne does — I stole some of the bigger square Tupperware containers missing their lids from the kitchen and then filled them with sap and froze them in the freezer (I have an extra one in the barn). Then once I have a bunch of those built up I divvy them out into different tanks to keep 'em nice and cold.

If you coupled that with the rigid foam setup others have mentioned you could have a very inexpensive cooling setup. In fact, now I'm starting to wonder about doing this 4-wall rigid foam setup.

If you try the rigid foam insulation way the cheaper way to insulate is to look for a large commercial roofing company and they have the used foam slabs 2'x4' by 1"-4" thick. There are also wholesalers that do this type of resale, they buy up under building slab foam, roofing foam, demolition companies. Anyway I have used the 4" a few times to frost proof the cement work around and under the pad. The cost is $1 per sq.ft for the 4" which has a lap edge, it has passed all the engineer specs and building inspections as if 3" is required the 4" will pass as it's a bit compressed in cell structure. Just be careful of foam that is wet-meaning that the foam is heavy and water impregnated from sitting in water for years this foam should be avoided as the R value isn't as good and it'll freeze.
Old fruit packing houses out west used to have walls 2'-3' thick filled with shavings, block ice was used for cooling and ice houses of shavings or foam are still used today for off grid refrigeration purposes. I deal with a Mennonite sawmill and they have an off grid ice house, insulated using used foam, and the ice lasts till october and sometimes right through to the next winter.
Just look at how long a snow bank lasts in the shade, cover it with a tarp or plywood and it lasts a lot longer. I bank a few piles up around for emergency cooling, tractor bucket and a few minutes and I can put the 250 tote in the bank, or the 5 gallon water jugs to keep cool if the weather spikes up and I'm behind in evaporating.

[sebastian]

I was able to do it build a cooling system 1516115161
I built a insulated container to hold a IBC tote and used a commercial ice machine to cool the sap
I place the ice machine on top of the box while the ice build up around the tote. I considered a coolbot but I used ice because it has stored energy. I'll was able to get down from 54° to 38° in about 12 to 16 hours I was then able to drop the temperature of 38° to 33° in additional 30 hours With 275 gallons in the tote. I am now going to experiment with adding ice in the plastic bag inside the tote to speed up the process
I built it about three months ago and have been experimenting with water
For some reason I couldn't attach photos if you want more info and photos email me at sebastian@Lombardocompanies.com