Ice In Pipelie Question

[OCHTO]

Is there such a thing as an ice filter? I use a 12V sureflow to pump sap about 400 ft. from a tank to my evaporator. I can't even see the ice in the sap. I put the intake hose in the bottom of the tank but soon the screen on my pump is plugged with fine ice crystals.. They must have formed the previous night. This has happened twice. I've tried to imagine what an ice trap might look like, is there such a thing?

[mol1jb]

The pump filter screen should catch larger debris and your pump should be fine.

[Sugarmaker]

I have seen folks use a filter from tractor supply vertical filter black plastic in color, in front of the vacuum pump. has a fine screen that you can remove. I think Tractor supply has them.
Regards,
Chris

[ennismaple]

We use a Banjo coarse filter on our RO feed line. That catches ice chunks and anything else that might otherwise get sucked into the feed pump.

[maple flats]

For use on small diaphragm pumps I've heard of some using a reservoir to keep the ice away from the pump screen. I think they had a container, which was closed and had some height to it. They brought the sap in at a level a few inches above where the pump connected. Somehow, this allowed the ice to float while the liquid was pumped under it. Maybe they were 2 chambers, like a septic tank is, the ice stays on one side, the liquid flows thru a low port to the adjacent chamber where the sap is pumped out.

[OCHTO]

I've thought of a whole house filter. They are not that expensive and replacement filters are cheap and come in a three pack. I could have bucket of warm water standing by to de-ice filters if they plug before my tank is empty. I read that diaphragm pumps don't like ice. How dos that go, necessity is the mother of invention. Thanks for the ideas everyone!