RO bucket container set up

[danfredw]

Hi recently purchased the RO Bucket's RB10 kit. I did 18 taps last year, have a few more I'm adding on this year, and may have a neighbor join with me. I'm still on a 5 pan cinder block arch, and went with RO as my first upgrade, partially because I like batch boiling and the darker syrup.

Does anyone have suggestions or pictures as to your setup with this one or a similar small RO setup?

1) I'm wondering about your RO process: do you try to get it going an hour or so before boiling and have it run throughout your boil? Do you get some large barrels/containers to run it throughout the night (or day if I go to work)?
2) I know there's an expected amount of GPH it can process, but it has ranges. Will you run it overnight, but only if you have greater than X gallons? Says 10-12 gallons an hour, so make sure I've got at least 80 or plan on double processing? I don't have the automatic shutoff if there's no sap left.
3) What do you do to to get your sap the right temp? If it's mostly frozen, I might bring them into my basement to hopefully thaw overnight and then just start boiling with what I can or just ice if I have to. Obviously that won't work with RO.

I think I've answered some questions myself but I'm trying to get a feel for the process before getting started. TIA!

[ecolbeck]

0. The RO bucket comes with schematics for how to set it up.
1. Some people process all of their sap first and then boil, others process simultaneously to boiling. It depends on whether you can be there to supervise it and how much storage for concentrate you have. You can also buy a low pressure shutoff switch so that it will operate safely in your absence. You should also consider the fact that concentrate spoils very quickly because you are concentrating sugars AND bacteria.
2. The shutoff is the way to go. It isn’t expensive.
3. Thawing in the basement sounds like the best plan in your situation.

Have fun!

[to100]

Also get his pre filter. Mine clogged with ice crystals one morning.

[RC Maple]

I just start boiling with the sweet I have from the last boil. While that is getting going I start the RO and as I get concentrate, I begin putting it in the preheater so I can begin to replace what has steamed off. I am only boiling 6 gal/hr at best so by the time I am up to a good boil my RO has made enough concentrate that my preheater is able to keep up maintaining pan level. I wouldn't concentrate too much ahead if you're not going to be able to get it boiled quickly. With your number of taps I would just run it while you are boiling.

[danfredw]

Thanks. I do have the prefilter. I guess I'll give thawing in the basement a go and start it running while I get a fire and boil going. I may then not need to get some barrels for gathering all the sap together, but it might be useful just for some consolidation on days it runs well.

I've got the schematic, no questions on putting it together. Just looking for how people typically use it and what their process is. Maybe rather than processing it overnight, I'll try to run during the evening the night before if it's going to get cold enough, and throw it outside. My "storage" is typically a snowbank.

[jdircksen]

I'm in a similar boat. Like others have said, you can start the RO an hour or 2 prior to boiling. Sometimes I just start boiling raw sap, then start the RO, then add concentrated sap to my pans as it comes out of the RO. This year I plugged the RO pump into an Amazon Alexa plug, which allows me to turn it on/off remotely.
My storage setup is a 33 gallon trash can in a cellar that stays around 40*. Then I have two 20 gallon trash cans for the concentrate and permeate. The only thing you have to watch for when running the RO remotely is that your needle valve is already dialed in so you get the correct 50/50 ratio. This changes with temperature, so having a fairly consistent input sap temperature is crucial.

[danfredw]

Wanted to follow up. The RO 10 unit worked great today on about 40 to 50 gallons. I had bought some food grade barrels but I couldn't get them clean in time so I ended up working just from buckets. Which caused some problems as I was constantly running back and forth to make sure that they weren't empty or overflowing, both of which happened. I started in the morning while I was working from home and managed to get through all my sap once and started around a second time on some of it.

I also wanted to say that I had some great customer service with them. I had stripped one of the npt fittings on the top of one of the membranes and they fixed it for me and got it back to me within a week.

[Ravenseye]

I used the RO 10 for the first time today. Had a little trouble with a suction leak that I finally sorted out. I was very pleased with the performance although it was dicey getting the flows to match. I think part of it was the cold morning and I did have a lot of ice crystals in there so I bet that had something to do with it (I tried to order the pre-filter but they're out of stock). For the first 10 minutes or so I had to adjust the needle valve 3 or 4 times but then it settled down. Overall I'm pleased with the setup. I run everything out of buckets so there's some sorting out to do but I work far away and my time to boil is limited. This may solve a lot of that problem for me.

[red/one]

I used the RB5 for the first time this weekend and it works great. I recirculate concentrate back to my head tank. I'm looking to upgrade already. RO Bucket customer service is great! I'll post some photos once my upgrade is complete.

[Trapper2]

I went with the RO 15 which processed about 18 galloons an hour for me into 9 GPH concentrate. The problem is that my evaporator does 12-15 GPH I start the boil with raw sap as when I tried to run RO at 24 degrees ice crystals began to form in lines and get slushy. I now warm up the sugar house by boiling raw sap and then convert over to concentrate when it warms up enough. A couple times a day I have to add raw sap to keep the evaporator furnished with 2" in the pan. In the future when it gets warmer outside I will start to RO ahead 40-50 gallons to the head tank. See white head tank with RO bucket mounted directly on a shelf below it. Blue barrel is raw sap and the permeate is tubed to go outside.2120321204

[therealtreehugger]

We just got a large stainless steel sap collecting tank. It keeps the sap nice and cool. Too cold sometimes, as when I am ready to boil, it’s icy. So what I did is hang a heat lamp in there the night before, so when I start the RO, it’s not icy.

[therealtreehugger]

Can I say here how much the RO bucket kit I got saved hours of boiling time?? Now I wouldn’t be doing this - making syrup - if I didn’t enjoy the process, but it makes a big difference between having to boil until 1 am versus being done before dinner!!
I am a huge RO fan! If you are on the fence, go get one! Do it now so you are set for next year!