UV light suggestions

[tuckermtn]

looking for reccomondations on a UV sap light for next year.

Sounds like the best way to set them up is inline just before your feed tank or storage tank. I'll be pumping up to the feed tank with a small (1 hp) Honda gas pump that can be idled down but I still think the flow rate is in the 15 gpm range. and I assume folks are bag filtering after the light?

Horizontal or vertical?

Brands and cost? generic ebay ones for houses or one made just for maple?

bulb life?

any input appreciated...

-tuckermtn

[brookledge]

I think most brands will tell you that you have to filter before it goes through the UV light. I also use the bulbs that look like flouresent bulbs over my feed tank and it keeps it clean(no slimmy sides) As it is hard to take it out to clean.
I think as long as you get a brand that is rated for atleast 10GPM you will be fine. Just don't spend your money on a small unit or a unit ment for ponds and pump more through it then it is rated for.
Keith

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Just make sure you go with a whole house unit type and most are stainless. I bought one of the 13gpm Wedeco that Leader started selling about 3 years ago for $ 300 shipped to my door on an internet only special which was about $ 250 less than Leader. Do some research on the internet or ebay and you will be able to find a good deal. Just buy one that you know you can get bulbs for later on.

[220 maple]

Jason Blocker of Milroy Farms in Salisbury, Pa. buys the UV bulbs and restats from Atlantic Ultraviolet. He then uses PVC pipe about 30 inches long and if I can remember correctly 4 or 6 inch diameter? He mounts the bulb and glass tube inside the pipe. Puts caps on the ends then pumbs it somehow so the sap passes by the bulb. He told me the cost was ballpark 100 dollars. I had taken a picture of one of them at his camp. If I can find it I will share it with you. He also puts them in his storage tanks even though they only have the ability to kill bacteria one inch deep. He claims it makes a difference.
Atlantic Ultraviolet has a web site. Atlantic Ultraviolet.com
Mark 220 Maple

[New Hope Mapleman]

You might want to put a search engine to work for a couple minutes also and research what the difference is between regular UV and germicidal. I know Proctor did some work on this issue and came up with a simple SS style gutter and germicidal tubes inside of it.

Just food for thought. We were looking at them and haven't done anything definate yet either.

[H. Walker]

I'm looking into the UV filters also. The one thing I found out is the sap has to be very clean for the light to kill the bacteria, in the range of 5 micron. I'm not sure what a micron is so now I've gone back looking at sap filters to see what the test results are with different styles.

I'll post any results on filters that I find.

[brookledge]

H Walker
I filter mine just before my UV light. My filters are 15 micron. I'm not sure if I'd get better results by going down to 5 microns. But even filtering at 15 microns the filters plug up fast when it gets late in the season.
I think if you used a DE filter like a pool uses will give you a low micron rating.
Keith

[Russell Lampron]

I believe the pre filters for my RO machine are 5 micron filters. I can run a lot of sap through them before they clog up enough to make the feed pump for the RO shut down. It is a 20" cartridge that goes into a canister. You might be able to find a house water filter that takes the same size cartridges.

Russ

[Fred Henderson]

I use a whole house filter with a 5 micron filter and they don't plug totally. It just takes a long time to put 200 gallon thru it.

[mountainvan]

I take my 20" ro prefilters, 5 micron, and cut them in half to fit the 10" housing.

[Russell Lampron]

Van,

How many gallons of sap can you pump through them before they clog up?

Russ

[mountainvan]

I did 500 gals yesterday and it did'nt clog. WhenI took the filter out it was nasty!! I should have more sap today and aready have the filter in. Well got to get it!!

[brookledge]

At the beginning of the season I can get alot through a filter, usually 2,000 to 3,000 gal but at the end of the season when the sap is nasty and has alot of solids in it, it doesn't last long.
Keith

[JasonS]

I just installed a UV Light this season. Got it on ebay for under $250. It's rated @ 8gpm for maxium effectivness. I installed a small GE whole house sediment filter before it (home depot $25). I pump from my pickup tank to my storage tank about 175'. I installed a ball valve at the out end of the UV light to slow down the flow, although I don't think I was ever over 10 gpm. By the end of the season I noticed the flow was quite reduced, when I took out the sediment filter I was shocked! It was black I didn't expect that. I pushed about 1250 gallons through it. Here is a link to the ebay seller: http://cgi.ebay.com/sterilight-S8Q-PA-uv-Water-Filter-purifier-15-5GPM_W0QQitemZ250043117046QQihZ015QQcategoryZ20684 QQcmdZViewItem

[danno]

Newbe question - what does the uv do for you? Does it lighten your syrup? I was told by a salesperson at the verona conferance that sap uv systems are different than home use water systems - similar to the way the RO membranes for sap are different than what is used for household water consumption.

So, what's the scoop. If there is sap improvement, $250 is a pretty cheap solution. Although I bet the replacment bulbs are expensive. I know my home UV bulbs are about $100 and last 18 months or so.

[JasonS]

Can't say I have any anwsers, The UV light should improve your syrup quality, however with this year being so odd I don't have a real solid anwser. I don't buy the fact the home UV systems are different than Maple UV systems, as long as the light is rated for the correct GPM I don't think there would be a problem. I hoping to get several years out of my bulb, I don't think I used it for my than 12 hours this season. The UV light stops the yeast from reproducing and therefore should allow you to hold your sap slightly longer than normal, this is good for hobby people like myself, who can't boil everytime the sap runs.
Jason

[New Hope Mapleman]

There is a difference in UV lights. Now I am not saying go buy the one for 3000 with six Germicidal tubes that is new this past year. But after I heard their sales pitch I went and searched the difference in UV and Germicidal UV. That is were you need to focus. Also the intensity of the bulb. Germicidal kills a much larger range of bacterium and microbs (the ones found in sap). The differnce in price is not that much, but something to consider. I wish I had saved the wave form comparison from online, if someone else sees it maybe you can post a link. I spent time searching when we were getting the first Noreaster, but now I can't spend the time.
Save money, but be smart at the same time! In the past I've spent money-and later had to spend more money to get the result I was looking for. I think the reason why is that I was just viewing sugaring as a hoby (gone wild). Maybe no one else has had the same experience?!

Have fun all. I got alot done last night after work and hope to repeat it again tonight, so I need to get going!
Dan

[802maple]

In my experience with UV lights it gives you a small amount of time to let your sap stay in storage without darkening it anymore. It will kill off bacteria that is there, but also bacteria will start to grow after it has been processed but not at the rate it would of if you had not used it. The best way to stop bacteria is process it into syrup as soon as you get it no matter how much sap you have. If you have a small amount of sap boil it in, I have gone to the sugarhouse and seen 100 gallons or so in the tanks with a 5x14 and still boiled it. No sap sits in my tanks more than 12 hours without it being boiled with or without a R.O. It seems that a lot of sugarmakers not all seem to think that once you run it through the light they can let it sit for a couple days until they have enough sap to boil and then wonder why they didn't get their grade back. They do there job but you still need to take care of your sap as soon as possible. Just my opinion

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jerry,

I don't disagree with you, but I live nearly 1/2 hour from sugarhouse and work a full time job, so I can't boil every day and sometimes I hold the sap for a few days. I throw buckets of frozen sap into the milk tank every day and this with the UV light helps me hold it longer.

You just have to do what you have to do sometimes even though it may not be the most optimal thing.

[danno]

Will the bacteria that grows in sap that is sitting around cause the sugar content to go down while it's waiting to be boiled. Most of the sap that I tested this season was tested right before it went into the evaporator and not when it first came out of the tree and my sugar content was low ... Any correlation?

[802maple]

If you have a full time job you have to do what you can, I certainly understand that, but some sugarmakers rely on the UV light to do things it can't.

I don't believe that it would decrease the sugar content, but you would have to ask someone that holds sap for awhile or scientist

[New Hope Mapleman]

The sugar content will drop. Last year our boiler was soooooo slooooow, that I had to allow sap to sit for around 24hrs before it made it through the evap. That was with me boiling 16+ hrs in a day. I put 260 hrs on the rig last year (only 40 this year {RO's & 11" flues are great}). I have records that show the level of sugar content coming out of the tanks droping from 1.8 to 1.6 in 8 hours. Part of the problem was plastic gathering tanks in the woods. I removed them and put in stainless, but this year with the increased speed there was NO sugar% loss.
So yes you will have a loss in syrup production if your sap sits around along time. Uv will help with that problem.

[lmathews]

I have a ques.I boil my sap daily,if I were to put a uv light in line as i unload my transport tank will it help me as the sap will be boiled off in a matter of a few hours anyway?Also if I were to install it verticaly on my holding tank at the woods and circulate it would this be better?And do DE filters help that much better than the low micron house filters? Thank You