releaser problems

[Bruce Stuart]

I HAVE A BERNARD CANITSTER releaser that will fill up and not release. worked fine earlier. does the rod just need cleaned. it is level. when it fills up i also am losing vacum to my lines becaus e the sap is blocking the inlet valve. thanks. sometimes it will release on its own but not always

[mountainvan]

They can stick if not lubed regularly. I lube the rod, the little wheel and the plastic plate that slides up and down with the tubing inserted into it. if it moves with a little help lube should help. Use food grade also, but that's a given. I use the sanilube sold on Amazon.

[Haynes Forest Products]

My double has flapper on the inside have you checked them. The you float have you made sure its not full of sap. Yes the rods need to move up and down freely. Even a small vacuum leak on the actuator lines will keep the piston from sliding over transferring the vacuum to make the tanks dump.

[JoeJ]

My advice is to get rid of the Bernard releaser. When I started with vacuum about 2006, I bought 3 Benard single releasers. had nothing but trouble with them. The mechanism is too complicated. I used them for one season and was so frustrated with them continually not working properly, I got rid of the Bernards and bought lapierre single releasers. I have 5 of them and they generally work almost flawlessly all season. Every now and then something might stick, but a little cleaning takes care of it.

Joe

[Haynes Forest Products]

OK the single ones everyone complains about. Don't they put rice in the float to help it trip??

[Russell Lampron]

OK the single ones everyone complains about. Don't they put rice in the float to help it trip??

The rice trick doesn't work. Maintaining the spring tension on little wheel was the most important thing. Too much or too little would screw the dump cycle all up. I hated mine and got a Lapierre horizontal releaser to replace it. The horizontal will handle up to 8000 taps and the mechanism is very simple. It cost less than a double too.

[blissville maples]

My advice is to get rid of the Bernard releaser. When I started with vacuum about 2006, I bought 3 Benard single releasers. had nothing but trouble with them. The mechanism is too complicated. I used them for one season and was so frustrated with them continually not working properly, I got rid of the Bernards and bought lapierre single releasers. I have 5 of them and they generally work almost flawlessly all season. Every now and then something might stick, but a little cleaning takes care of it.

Joe

Agree that the Bernards are way too complicated too many things to go wrong......when they work they seem to work good and reliable. However I have an old one that o get frustrated with cuz so many places to leak, and too many moving parts. The lapierre I do like it is much simpler. Overall I like the lapierre better except the bottoms seem to be prone to the ice freezing in bottom of vertical chamber making vac leaks if it cracks the factory sealant....

[blissville maples]

I HAVE A BERNARD CANITSTER releaser that will fill up and not release. worked fine earlier. does the rod just need cleaned. it is level. when it fills up i also am losing vacum to my lines becaus e the sap is blocking the inlet valve. thanks. sometimes it will release on its own but not always
Make sure the guiltine on top that vac line attached to can move freely with no restrictions..... ALSO make sure your floats are not hitting the rubber flapper, I ALWAYS push my cover all the way to one side as to keep floats as far away from flapper as possible- happens every year til I get a friendly reminder when I see sap in top of chamber...

[rhwells2003]

So along the same lines as what blissville maples said. This going to sound stupid but I hooked all my stuff up this weekend, releaser didn't line up with my lines as good as it has in the past but made it work. fired the vac pump up yesterday and would periodically check on it. One canister wouldn't release wtf! Finally after it backing up into my vac line for the 2nd time I took a closer look and stupid me after cleaning it last spring I reattached the top part with the floats backward and my floats were hitting my flappers on the inside not allowing them to release. Cut the vac, popped the top off, flipped it around so the floats were on the opposite side of the flappers, miraculously everything lined up like previous years, and everything is working flawlessly. Long story short is your top flipped the wrong way?