Any opinions on submersible de-icers?

[BlueMaple]

I’ve stumbled upon the idea of using a de-icer in my sap tank. Not to keep it in liquid form constantly but turn it on a bit before I start boiling to thaw it out.

[SeanD]

I use a submersible bucket heater to warm my wash tank and it gets burning hot. I'm afraid you would cook the sap that's right next to the heating element while the rest thaws out. You could wrap your lines in heated pipe tape, but if it's cold enough, the sap will freeze anyway.

I ran into this during a really cold snap last year. The temp dropped so quickly that a 1" line of moving sap froze solid within a short time of turning on the RO. I have to look back at my notes, but I think it was under an hour. In the future I'm going to make a better effort to boil everything off before the deep cold runs set in, but I won't beat myself up either if I can't. Mother Nature doesn't seem to give a crap about my schedule.

[amaranth farm]

Radio Silence.

[BreezyHill]

We have used an incandescent bulb in the arch to keep the unit from freezing since I was a kid. Even worked when we went below zero for a stretch. If it starts to skim add another bulb.