Tree Gas or Leak?

[snoskier16]

This one drop on my 3/16" line seems to be running very little compared to the rest of the taps on the line and the bubbles you can see in the video start at the tee. I'm getting ~19"ish of vacuum on the line as it sits and when I replaced the drop and tee with a straight connector, the vacuum remained the same. Because of the same vacuum reading, I'm leaning toward believing that the drop and tee aren't leaking (and the bubbles aren't speeding up), but just looking for some more experienced opinions.


https://youtu.be/p599emvbI3c

What do you think?

[doocat]

Normal, good flow.

[maple flats]

Looks like a leak at that T to me.

[Russell Lampron]

It looks like a leak at the T to me too. Your lines should be pushed on so that the ends of the line are touching the center portion of the T.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

This one drop on my 3/16" line seems to be running very little compared to the rest of the taps on the line and the bubbles you can see in the video start at the tee. I'm getting ~19"ish of vacuum on the line as it sits and when I replaced the drop and tee with a straight connector, the vacuum remained the same. Because of the same vacuum reading, I'm leaning toward believing that the drop and tee aren't leaking (and the bubbles aren't speeding up), but just looking for some more experienced opinions.


https://youtu.be/p599emvbI3c

What do you think?
No leak. If I had to guess, this dropline is more towards the top of the line(higher up hill) and one of the first taps on the lateral. On the single barbed ts that is as far as they push on. It is installed right.
Neil

[snoskier16]

Thanks to everyone that replied! Since this is my first year on vacuum and tubing I just wanted some confirmation that what I was seeing was correct. I've witnessed (and heard) a true leak so I know what that looks like, but this one was different enough to ask.

[JoeJ]

Is there sap in the drop line and is there sap in the uphill line? There does not seem to be any bubbles on the right side of the tee. You can't see if there is any sap in the drop. I might guess that with that many bubbles suddenly appearing, the spout is in bad wood and the tree is leaking air. Is this tree a red maple? In my woods with 48% red maple, they are the trees to carefully watch your drill shaving for brown wood.

Joe

[snoskier16]

Is there sap in the drop line and is there sap in the uphill line? There does not seem to be any bubbles on the right side of the tee. You can't see if there is any sap in the drop. I might guess that with that many bubbles suddenly appearing, the spout is in bad wood and the tree is leaking air. Is this tree a red maple? In my woods with 48% red maple, they are the trees to carefully watch your drill shaving for brown wood.

Joe

At the time of the video, there was not any sap in that drop line, but there has been during other runs. Yes, the tree is a red and when I tapped I didn't notice seeing any brown wood.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Is this tap near the top of the hill, one of the first on the line? If it is and there is no sap in the uphill side of the line it is normal. But like Joe said, if the uphill side of the lateral is full of sap and no bubbles and the bubbles start after the t, there may be a micro leak in tree

[snoskier16]

Is this tap near the top of the hill, one of the first on the line? If it is and there is no sap in the uphill side of the line it is normal. But like Joe said, if the uphill side of the lateral is full of sap and no bubbles and the bubbles start after the t, there may be a micro leak in tree

This tap is probably 4th from the top in the line. The run has 22 taps total.

If this is a micro leak, have any of you had success fixing the issue?

[buckeye gold]

If this is a micro leak, have any of you had success fixing the issue?

cut out the tee and put in a new one .

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

This tap is probably 4th from the top in the line. The run has 22 taps total.

If this is a micro leak, have any of you had success fixing the issue?
I figured it was towards the top of the line. If I had to also guess, I'd say that the lateral above the t is not full of sap? If it is not, then I'd say no leak.

[canaanmaple]

was just going to post about this very thing since I am new to 3/16 also! I see something similar but only on the drops and near the top of the line. Most of the top of line drops have it, but not all. I am guessing its from the vacuum? My hills are very STEEP and 30 taps on the line. (getting 3 gallons a day per tap easy)
whatever the case may be, the pic looks cool! I call it cosmic maple sugarbush :)

19566

[WhistlePig]

I have very similar setup (3/16" line and very steep hills). That looks like what I call a "classic leak". The up hill side of the T is FULL/not moving because air is filling the tube instead of sap. If you fix the leak, you will see the uphill portion start to move again. I test if it is the tap or the T by squishing the drop line with needle nose pliers. If it is the tap, you will see the air bubbles stop and within a few seconds, the solid flow begin to move through the tap.

[sapman]

Is there sap in the drop line and is there sap in the uphill line? There does not seem to be any bubbles on the right side of the tee. You can't see if there is any sap in the drop. I might guess that with that many bubbles suddenly appearing, the spout is in bad wood and the tree is leaking air. Is this tree a red maple? In my woods with 48% red maple, they are the trees to carefully watch your drill shaving for brown wood.

Joe

Over half of my trees are soft maple, actually silvers. They have a definite propensity to leak through the tree compared to sugars, even in white wood. Sometimes I have luck drilling another shallower hole. But more often it seems the tree has dead or porous cambium. The decision I struggle with is to live with a microleak or eliminate the tap. They also seem to give off more gases.

[minehart gap]

Anytime I encounter pockets of air like this, the first thing I look at is a loose spiles. Perhaps freeze/thaw pushed it out or the tree just doesn't like being tapped. Try tapping the spile back in. Most of the time that fixes the vacuum leak. Be careful not to tap too hard and split the cambium layer