used tubing

[SapSuckers]

I have available to me miles of used tubing. This tubing was taken out of a sugarbush about 5 years ago and has been piled in a basement. I started with a truck load. In the evening at work i would cut the tubing at all the fittings, then take all the pieces 4-5' or longer and began to couple them. I got a good deal on several hundred straight couplings at leader 2 years ago. I manged to get several hundred feet out of the one load. The tubing was dirty, and had some black in some spots, most of which i discarded. When i put it up this year, i let the sap flow for a few days before i began to collect it.

has anyone ever done or heard of anyone reclaiming old tubing? should it be ok? any input would be great. I still have miles to go through.

[maple flats]

The worst part is likely to be the time it has set giving bacteria and fungus time to grow into the plastic. If you must use old clean it the best you can by forcing water with sanitiser and air thru it. Might work best if you run this thru several times with a few days in between and do not dry it out in between. This might get some aditional yuk out. When you have gotten it the best you can, rinse well with plain water if you used chlorine and then dry it with air, repeating the air every few days til you get no more moisture out. Good luck.

[Maplewalnut]

Let me first start by saying I work with bacteria and virus's for a living. The thing you have to be worried about is yeast and mold which unlike bacteria like a cool moist environment (which most basements are) Unfortunately the only disinfectant that will work at killing all the spores that you probably have access to is bleach. Dilute it 20to1 and rinse thoroughly. The chlorine gas will actually evaporate and leave a white residue. Air dry and then rinse the residue one last time with tap water. Hang the tubing where it has good circulation and you should be alright. You can't rinse too many times with bleach because even the best polymer tubing will start to break down after repeated bleach treatments since it is so corrosive. Good Luck

[brookledge]

How old was it when it was taken down? One thing to be cautious about is that the plastic fittings get brittle over time. If the person who took it down did so because it was old then things will tend to break. Another thing to look for is whether the tubing has been stretched. The old purple lamb tubing and other brands also would tend to sag so every year when you tighten it up again what is actually happening is the diameter of the tubing is decreasing. If this is the case then the sap flow will be restricted.
I'm not saying not to use it, just that I know in my own case when it gets old I replace mine and junk it. For me its not worth worrying about losing sap on the ground because a fitting broke from old age.
Also every time you put in a straight connector you are increasing the resistance in the line and it will slow the flow down.
Keith