Disposable Taps Leaking

[One tap short]

Has anyone had any issues with their taps leaking vacuum from pin holes this year?

[fred]

in the tap hole or in the spout? what brand?

[One tap short]

The pin holes would be in the taps.

[ennismaple]

No issues. We used about 900 Lapierre clear disposable spout adapters, 300 clear CV2 adapters and the rest the original CV's.

[One tap short]

So obviously I have this issue otherwise I wouldn't bring it up. The company said they are going to make it right. (Not completely sure what that all means). This was on a 3000 tap woods and I found some throughout the season. I have not pulled all the taps or tested them as of yet so I do not know exactly how many there are. What would you expect this company to do in order to "make it right"?

[ennismaple]

I'm assuming these were thin wall spouts? They would be more prone to leaks. Are we talking micro-leaks or obvious hissing under vacuum?

I'd be asking them to make up for the lost production - but I'm guessing they will try to satisfy you with a few bags of new spouts you can use next season.

[jakeleveto]

I had the same issue this year, maybe 50-100 of 10000 we used had a pinhole in a specific area, luckily we learned to recognize it before having 100 leaks in the woods. Have not talked to the manufacturer yet but I'm pretty sure they'll make it right as they always have with other issues in the past, still frustrating though. PM me if you'd like

[fred]

Some were made in 2 pieces and melted together. Most are made in one step with no seam.

I would assume they will give you 3000 new ones. Theres no warranty out there that they would pay for what you didnt make. They'll just chalk that up as you didnt visit the woods and fix the problems

[One tap short]

They are all leaking in one location on the taps. Both sides of the taps have the material voids but from the ones I found during season they all leaked only out of one spot. How I actually found most of these was by using my Smartrek monitoring system to its' full potential. I was noticing on the first couple days of the season than one mainline in particular was shutting down (loosing vacuum) earlier than the others right next to it. It also had around an inch of vacuum level differential from the others but it is a low slope line so I figured it may be due to sap surging in the low grade areas. The next day I went searching for what I thought was going to be a critter chew but found taps that actually had sap backed all the way up to the tap hole and a "sapsicle" running right down the dropline! I found around 5 on this mainline alone which after I fixed them the vacuum levels were near where the other main lines were running and the mainline did not freeze up like it had been before I replaced those taps.
To be clear, you can hear them hiss under vacuum or if you plug one side and blow into them. One of them I literally can stick a pin into the hole.
I have pictures and videos of everything to back this up so when this all gets settled I will post them.

[One tap short]

Some were made in 2 pieces and melted together. Most are made in one step with no seam.

I would assume they will give you 3000 new ones. Theres no warranty out there that they would pay for what you didnt make. They'll just chalk that up as you didnt visit the woods and fix the problems

I sure hope they don't take that approach. I fixed what I could myself but really don't have the time to visit every tap throughout the season. Your last statement would be the same as buying a brand new tire that leaks and because I didn't keep putting air in it I am at fault? (Not exactly the same but you get the picture.) I expect quality and depend on these big name maple companies just like every one else does.

[bill m]

I have to agree with Fred on this one. Your analogy comparing a tire to your leaking taps is no where near the same. Brand new tire leaking, they give you a new one. Defective taps, they give you new ones. You can't prove how much production you lost so how can you expect them to compensate you for it?

[One tap short]

I have to agree with Fred on this one. Your analogy comparing a tire to your leaking taps is no where near the same. Brand new tire leaking, they give you a new one. Defective taps, they give you new ones. You can't prove how much production you lost so how can you expect them to compensate you for it?

Agreed. It's not the same and I stated that. I was more after the "I didn't visit the woods to fix it" part. One guy running 3300 taps and cooking for 6000 on top of a full time job. I don't have a "crew" to go fix faulty product and visit every tap hole.

What would you expect if you were in my position?

[bill m]

New taps. It's on me to maintain my tubing system. If I had found a problem with defective taps in the first few days of the season I would have notified the supplier then went out and checked all the other taps. Do I have the time or a crew to do this for me - no but I would have either found the time or accepted the potential loss.

[One tap short]

New taps. It's on me to maintain my tubing system. If I had found a problem with defective taps in the first few days of the season I would have notified the supplier then went out and checked all the other taps. Do I have the time or a crew to do this for me - no but I would have either found the time or accepted the potential loss.

Easier said than done. The best time I had to look was when the trees were froze up. I did find around 10 or so when I looked that day. The problem with finding them was if the trees were running good it wouldn't hiss, just bubbles about twice as fast as normal tree gas.

I am accepting the loss but hope for a decent resolution from this company. I wonder how many more are out there and people never looked or knew how to find them.

[DrTimPerkins]

Any update on how this turned out?

[One tap short]

Any update on how this turned out?

Still working out the details. I am sure it will not be fully figured out until after the spring sales wrap up and that is understandable. I will be sure to update on here when this all gets sorted out.

[One tap short]

Finally came to a resolution on this. I was given 25% off my order of new taps. Better than nothing but I still wish the initial response to my issue would have been handled a little different.

The die that each one of the leaking taps was made on was the culprit. Each one of the leakers had a specific number molded in them to be able to identify them by or so I was told. That being said in the time period these were produced this style of tap had a 3.125% leak rate. I am sure many of them went unchecked or thought to be tree gas.

[DrTimPerkins]

The die that each one of the leaking taps was made on was the culprit.

Which is exactly why the different cavities in a mold are numbered. Glad it got figured out.

[One tap short]

Another year, more leaking taps. Let's just say I am done with this brand of thin-walled tap for the same price junk. Different place on the tap and different mold number leaking this time around. I guess they didn't fix the issue after all.

[DrTimPerkins]

I guess they didn't fix the issue after all.

They may have fixed the one cavity, or adjusted the molding machine settings. However changing the parameters may have helped that one spot, but created issues with others. Molding plastic isn't as straight-forward as it seems, and with the thin-walled spouts there is little margin for error.

[jakeleveto]

Thanks for the update. Last summer they replaced all of mine with new "fixed" ones, but I went with a different spout this season, so I have 20,000 new ones in a box that I haven't checked. Mind sharing the spot/mold number or pic here or in a PM so I can go check through some?

[One tap short]

I will send you a message jakeleveto. They replaced every tap for free?

Tim - I understand all that with the molds etc. Why run a design that close to having fail rates like they are? Before this style was changed to the thin walled version I had no issues.

[DrTimPerkins]

Why run a design that close to having fail rates like they are? Before this style was changed to the thin walled version I had no issues.

That's a question for the manufacturer.

[jakeleveto]

I gave them all of the unused ones plus a bag of ~100 used pinhole ones and they replaced those. They did not replace the non-leaking used ones but I did not ask them to. I've had a list of equipment issues over the years and had to make a fuss about it but so far almost everything has been fixed, eventually...

Please send that pic/mold info on a PM. I guess I've been assuming we have the same model but it might be good to confirm that too!

[jakeleveto]

Update for everyone else reading - Turns out I had a different brand/style of spout leaking last year, same pinhole problem in the same spot as OP though, maybe a common problem where the mold releases