Sap feed line size

[West Sumner Sugar]

What size line is everyone feeding their evaporator with? On our 2x6 we used a 3/4" braided stainless line coming from our head tank with no problems. Now with a 2x8 we are questioning if this will be enough. It seems like a 3/4" line should flow around a gallon a minute? I dont think we would evaporate at that rate? Thoughts...

[tcross]

i have a 2.5 x 8 raised flu...boil about 60-65 gph my feed line is 1 1/4". that is what the float outlet is set up for... thus that's what i went with. i feel it is far, far better to have more sap supply than you'll need, vs the other end! when the rig is up and running at full tilt, the sap is pouring out if it!

[wmick]

Gallon a minute sounds like enough... Curious - where did you get that number? I presume its gravity feed. How much ft of head do you have?
I previously used a 1/2" line, and found out very quickly that it wasn't enough when my tank was getting close to empty and the boil got raging... Not enough head pressure. (luckily no catastrophe)
I increased it to 1-1/4" and am much more confident now, that I can get a decent jag in a hurry, if something starts to go wrong and I need it.

PS - I think I average about 20 GPH on my 2x6.

[West Sumner Sugar]

Gallon a minute sounds like enough... Curious - where did you get that number? I presume its gravity feed. How much ft of head do you have?
I previously used a 1/2" line, and found out very quickly that it wasn't enough when my tank was getting close to empty and the boil got raging... Not enough head pressure. (luckily no catastrophe)
I increased it to 1-1/4" and am much more confident now, that I can get a decent jag in a hurry, if something starts to go wrong and I need it.

PS - I think I average about 20 GPH on my 2x6.

That number was a complete guess. I will probably upgrade to a 1" line. I hope that is enough because we have a whole manifold system that our RO hooks up to that allows us to run pure sap, connect to the RO and run concentrate with just a flip of a few valves...thats all plumbed 1".

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

We use a 1” feed line. Our evaporator will do 50+ GPH. We like the clear pvc so we can see the sap. More expensive but nice to have.

[TapTapTap]

We have a 1-1/2" clear PVC. Definitely worth having a clear feed line.

[maple flats]

I have a 3x8 with a 3/4" line. When I push it hard I get up to 85 gal/hr. Never had an issue. My head tank bottom is about 24" above the inlet float box, if that helps. My feed line is about 6' long

[West Sumner Sugar]

I have a 3x8 with a 3/4" line. When I push it hard I get up to 85 gal/hr. Never had an issue. My head tank bottom is about 24" above the inlet float box, if that helps. My feed line is about 6' long

That sounds pretty darn close to what we have now for height and length so it might be ok as is. Thanks!

[ecp]

It would depend on the sap concentration I would say. The evaporation rate may stay the same but pure throughput would change as the concentration level changes. At 2 to 15% incoming sap you would be fine (that may be higher) at 30% incoming sap more comes off the rig and while that is not a huge different I would say you should upsize at higher concentration levels to give you the protection when needed. We have a 2'' stainless feed line which works well, but if I was going from scratch I would have upsized for safety as well and just filling the evap after cleaning. Hope this helps.

[red/one]

Resurrecting this thread. I have similar questions for the feed from my head tank. Sorry no photos. 275 tote, 4' outlet height, I had a 1/2" feed last year and it didn't seem like it was enough when I did a draw off. I'm max 20gph, roberts valve for a float, and a whole lot of ball valve throttling. I felt like the engineer on Polar Express when they are on the ice. :lol:
So, what I did this year was change all copper and PVC to stainless 1/2" around the pans. I put a 1/2" pex in as a feed. That goes to a "T" for my bucket RO, (I run the RO during the boil), then another "T" for the "Oh s@#t" bucket, then to my float box. Would I benefit increasing my feed line size out of the head tank to the first "T"? that piece is only about 2' long. I can try and get a photo as well. Thanks!

[VT_K9]

When we had a 2x6 we used 3/4" pipe. The head tank was about 3' above and 2 feet behind the evaporator. We had a T with plastic sight line pipe to show the head tank depth.

With our 3x19 we use a 1 1/2" pipe because the inlet is 1 1/2". The head tank is about 4' above the evaporator hood with preheater. We have a sight line tube installed near the head tank. The evaporator has a up tube to help address vacuum issues at the hood. The feed tube is about 24' long to wrap around the outer edge of the room to get to the inlet.

I think the goal is enough to feed in for emergencies or draw offs. A consideration for ease of operation is a site level and if the run is short enough it can help address vacuum issues.

Mike

[red/one]

I'm thinking I will take 1" off the head tank into the sap house. Reduce it after the RO feed valve to 1/2" to feed the pans. That way I'm not starving the pan feed with the RO.