Advice Requested!! - Last Minute Vac Pump construction

[BlueberryHill]

I'm new to Vac. I have a 2HP Electric motor and a used Gast 3040. I am putting a 3" pulley on the motor (which spins at 3450RPM) and the Gast has a 7" pulley, so according to my calc, that gives me a 1478 RPM pump speed which I have heard on here is a good speed for this model. The pump accepts a 1" mainline, but the mainline does not fit very tight. A couple band clamps will probably be good, but I don't know if there are any other tricks use out there. I am planning to hook this up in my barn and run a mainline 250 feet out to my Lapierre hobby releaser that is set on top of my woods tank. I was told that it is a good idea to have a check valve in between the vac pump and the releaser. So I plan to do that. I also have a small CDL moisture trap that I was going to put in the barn on the mainline between the pump and the releaser. Do I really need that? Or is the glass jar with the little gfilter on the Gast pump intake effectivey a moisture trap? Does the pump and moisture trap need to be freeze protected? There is no heat in the barn. Is there anything else that any of you think that I am doing wrong or that I will end up regretting? Waited till the last minute on this and I am kind of hoping to get it all together tomorrow morning so I can start pulling in sap!!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Can't find any manuals for what I am doing :lol:

[morningstarfarm]

You most definitely do need the moisture trap!...and no it doesnt need to be freeze protected..although your pump will start easier if its room temp..drain the moisture trap daily..might not be anything in it, but its a good habit to get into..if any other questions give me a call tomorrow morning...good luck bud

[maple flats]

You need a moisture trap. It is possible sometimes to get large amounts of sap going towards the pump if something goes wrong in the releaser. The trap will close off the air flow if it gets full, protecting the pump. Vacuum pumps (except diaphragm pumps) do not play well with water.

[BlueberryHill]

Go it all together nicely and it ran for about 1 minute before the pump ceased up. Think it broke a vein. Bummer. Gonna have to scramble to find parts or another pump in a hurry.

[BlueberryHill]

Does anyone in the S. NH area work on these Gast pumps? Or... Does anyone have a vac pump for sale in the area that would be good for up to 200 taps?

[morningstarfarm]

Call me tonight...

[BlueberryHill]

Hey Chris, I just got back up and running I think. Lines were frozen before I got it done so the real test will be when things thaw tomorrow. But I'm pretty sure I am all good for now. Thanks for thinking of me! Haha. I'll try to swing by some day this week to see what you are up to down there. Thanks!