Looking for opinions on Becker Oilless pump

[BlueberryHill]

I have a potentially really good deal on some unused (been sitting around for a few years) Becker pumps. Only issue is the specs that I see shot that it has max vac of 18". But they are 17CFM which is nice. Oilless 1-phase. Are these worth anything for maple? Or would it be better to just try to sell these (for something non-maple) and then just use the money for something with high vac. I an interested in trying to hook one up just to see if it really does only do 18 or if it would go higher.

http://cfpco.com/Products/Rotary-Vane-Pressure-Vacuum-Pumps/T4-25DSK-1-ph-110v.html#!Rotary-Vane-Pressure-Vacuum-Pumps

Backer T4.25 DSK

[DrTimPerkins]

Nobody responded to this thread from a few years back, but I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has used or looked into Becker pumps for maple. We're considering trying one out starting in the 2022 season and would like to hear what people think.

https://beckerpumps.com/maple-sugar-vacuum-pumps/

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Nobody responded to this thread from a few years back, but I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has used or looked into Becker pumps for maple. We're considering trying one out starting in the 2022 season and would like to hear what people think.

https://beckerpumps.com/maple-sugar-vacuum-pumps/ I have been a dealer for Becker for almost a year. Have a few of them in the field. All rotary vane. They are a reliable pump that pull very good vacuum. Most importantly, customer service is very good so far. They take care of questions or concerns quickly, which to me, is more important than anything in this business.
Neil

[DrTimPerkins]

I have been a dealer for Becker for almost a year.

What do you think of the oil vs oil-less ? How about their hook/claw pumps?

[Cameron Duke]

I can chime in with my Experience with running 2 Becker VT 4.40.

One of our woods is about 1800 taps and when we started with the Becker the tubing was 3 years old. I ordered 1 from a refurbishing company but when it arrived the case was broken and they just sent me another pump and let me keep the first one ( what a deal). I tried at first to just run 1 pump but could only get too around 20 InHg which i wasn't really satisfied with. I hooked both of them up in parallel to the releaser and was able to get between 23 to 24 on various gauges at the end of my main lines of my wet/dry line set up. With out any major leaks they worked well but even with just a tee coming apart i would lose significant amounts of InHg which always surprised me until i really compared them to some other pumps vacuum charts which i have attached. It shows how significant the CFM drop off is as the Vacuum level rises.

That all being said they were really maintenance free for the 4 years that we ran them. They were pretty loud to run and made lots of hot air but it kept the pump house warm so i guess that is a plus?

We have now switched the same woods to a over sized (but still reasonably comparable with power consumption and price) Busch R5 RA 0063 and at 2200 Elevation on the same tubing that is now 7 years old you can see what the vacuum level is on a 50 degree 2 GPT day. Also the Higher the vacuum level for the Busch the lower amount of power it consumes which is nice.

The key for anyone buying a vacuum pump that i have learned the hard way isn't just a base CFM number its how many CFM's it carries at higher vacuum as you can see the Busch carries more CFM at 29 InHg than the Becker can move at 1 InHg . Also i don't trust any individual vacuum gauge i want to compare across the spectrum of price points and types.

Also i have attached a Torr to InHg chart for comparison.



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[Walling's Maple Syrup]

What do you think of the oil vs oil-less ? How about their hook/claw pumps? To be honest, I don't have any experience with the other style pumps Becker offers. It is my understanding that the rotary vane pumps are best suited for the maple application. They do the best with handling humid air and dealing with moisture issues from an uncontrolled environment. All the pumps I have in the field are installed over 1000' in elevation and pull 28"+.

[christopherh]

I operate a Becker U5.70 Rotary vane. This is the first season I’ve used it and I’m very happy with the pump. Starts right up even when cold, hardly any exhaust or oil consumption. Has maintained oil level throughout the season. Pretty much maintenance free. Support has been excellent when I was installing the unit with a Phase converter. The unit doesn’t take up much space either.