Upgrading My Sugar Shack

[HondoLane]

I am coming up on my 3 season in my 24x16 sugar shack. Last year’s upgrade was going from buckets to 3/16 tubing on a surflow vacuum pump. Needless to say I pulled in more sap than I could have imagined. I pushed my 2x4 divided pan to its limit!

This year I’m considering a home built RO and a home built auto draw.

To start. My shack is in-insulated. I have a 275 gallon IBC outside and it’s plumbed inside to a pump where I would pump up to my head tank. The IBC is fed by my surflow which is inside. What would the best setup be to keep my surflow from freezing up? Where would I plumb in / setup the RO and keep it from freezing? How high up does the RO lift?

Thanks

[DRoseum]

I am in the process of building a temperature controlled vacuum pump box in an old cooler. Game plan for 2021 is about 75 taps on 3/16 with CV spouts. Initial tests of it were great but the real proof will be when the season starts!

I got the 3 pack of those temperature controllers on Amazon for about $13.

Short video of initial test:
https://youtu.be/Pbf35p659dk
https://youtu.be/w9BIYKwxMy4

You could do similar set up for RO in a larger cooler or plastic tote. Silicon strip heaters work great but you could also use a light bulb. Key is using the controllers to control that heat source to keep your box from freezing or overheating.

As for building an RO... do it. Great info on forums. I am upgrading from aquatec 8852 pump to coronwater 8900 which has nearly 4 times the flow rate at pressure. Using 4 of the 400 gpd membranes in series. Used it for 2 years with great results but want more speed in processing the sap (hopefully more sap from more taps and 3/16 gains).

[HondoLane]

I like that setup. Do you have wiring diagrams for your temp controllers?

[DRoseum]

I have some rough sketches that I can try to clean up and post or send via p.m..

adding diagram
21788

[HondoLane]

I was looking at my shack today... I may build an under cabinet pump station / RO station and insulate it. My question is how high can the RO pump / lift the concentrate? Can I run my concentrate line up to my head tank?

[DRoseum]

It shouldn't be a problem at all. How high up is your head tank from the planned exit from the RO? Every 27.7 vertical inches of water equates to 1 psi. You will have friction forces to overcome as well, but if you are talking a handful of feet, this is only going to equate to a few psi to overcome which shouldn't be a problem for the RO pump at all.

[maple flats]

What is your RO pump? All commercial RO's will have no issue, if on a shurflo, it should still be OK but that may depend on the pressure on the RO.

[HondoLane]

Dave... glad to here from you. Your help last year with the 3/16 and vacuum yielded huge gains!! So much that I could use an RO now!

I’m going to build my own RO. Was going to go off the plans from on here using the sureflow and (4) 150 membranes. I plumbed my vacuum pump into the shack and it’s about 12” off the floor. From there it’s pumped outside to my 275 IBC. I was planning on bringing it from the IBC back into the shack into the RO then pump the concentrate up to the head tank which is about 9’ off the floor.