Do I have enough cfm

[CrossBroMaple]

Looking to add a sap ladder in my bush. Would need to lift 400 taps 20 feet or so. Currently have a sp22 pump

[BAP]

What size vacuum line do you have running from the pump to releaser then to the laddder?

[CrossBroMaple]

1.5", current set up is a electric releaser 600' away from pump. Would like to switch to a double mechanical releaser at the sugarhouse

[VT_K9]

I am not sure on the specs for the SP-22. We run a 3 HP liquid ring pump. We have a single releaser about 725' away and ran 1.5" poly pipe to it. We have a very short ladder for about 40 taps that is about 2' tall. Just enough to have decent slope and stay out of the snow. Then we have about 12 taps running in a 5/16" line about 12' up a tree into their own 1" mainline. They are in a cooler location, but it works like a charm when it gets running on a warm day. Then about 800' out we have a 8' ladder servicing about 30 taps. This is a six star setup and it always runs well...well as long as the vac is up above about 20". During start up you can watch the vac gauge on the vacuum or watch the ladder....like clock work.

I believe our 3 hp unit has 30 cfm and after 20" of vac it will run the ladders. We normally end up with 26" of vac when it is tuned in for the year.

Mike

[BreezyHill]

Do not make a ladder 20' tall it is far more efficient to make ladders 16' and shorter. To get an 18" ladder to work efficiently I need 24" or more. The old inch er foot of rise is good on paper but in the real world of maple it is flawed. I have several ladders and the best flowing ones are under the 16' level. They are also easier to work on and clean as needed. If you do 2 at 10' you will be much happier and will have no issue with an sp-11 or a bb2 pump. on a 20' ladder you will be adding more injected bubbles and the slippage( the sap that runs around the side of the bubble) will increase dramatically.

I will have to search my records but as I recall at 25" an sp-11 I rebuilt and sold was pulling around 4 cfm at 20". Sap level cfm and the 15" cfm ratings are vey different. I have a Delaval cfm tester and16705167061670716708

Attached are the results on that particular pump. Over the next week she seated and would pull 28.5" on a system of 500 taps. When first rebuilt the unit will read a lower level and typically increase as she settles in as used.
Ben

[CrossBroMaple]

can you run two vacuum pumps to "double" the cfm?

[DrTimPerkins]

can you run two vacuum pumps to "double" the cfm?

Yes, but you want them to be fairly well matched in capacity.

[BreezyHill]

it is more important to have the pumps matched on vacuum level so as to not pull oil out of the other pump than their cfm capacity. Learned this one the hard way. lol

[CrossBroMaple]

I would be running two sp-22 pumps. just thinking I would need the extra cfms to work my ladder system

[Kh7722]

I will be following this topic, i am also looking to lift 300-400 taps in the future and would like to use vacuum instead of another dumping station with seperate pump. Plus im right down the street from you so i might be able to check out some day if you go through with it
Thanks
Kevin

[maple flats]

Is the 400 taps the total of all taps on that pump or is it just part of the total? If it's 400 total and your pump is giving you 25" or more 1 pump is all you need. However you need to have a tight system. The only air you want getting into the system is what you add about 30-40' before any ladder needing a boost using a small needle valve. Breezy introduced that method to me, it works great. The way I use the method is to add a needle valve at my farthest out ladder (I have 8 ladders, 4 on one system, 4 on another at 2 different bushes), the micro bubbles introduced help the sap climb the ladder. If the next ladder is close enough to the first ladder you may not need another needle valve. I add one that distance before every ladder, just in case but sometimes the ladders closer to the releaser can remain closed after the farthest out ladder got a controlled micro leak.

[neil2fish]

Has anyone ever tried putting a low CFM, high vacuum pump ( like an HVAC evacuation pump) at the far end of a mainline to lower the pressure of the line without reversing the flow of the sap?

[maple flats]

If the system is relatively leak free, not needed. It would end up pulling in the wrong direction even at low CFM, the flow will follow the greater vacuum regardless of the CFM.