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sweet spot maple addict
01-07-2022, 09:54 AM
Hi folks
Need your input on this one
I have never seen someone on the forum raising this as a concern but .....
I have plumb a recirculation line on my 4X40 , it is tee in between the filter and the pump inlet.
My 200 gallon sap tank is 3 feet above , will that create enough pressure so that it will back up into the recirculation line ?
I know procon are positive displacement , and the filter decrease the pressure a bit .
I am asking .....better be safe than sorry !!!
Thanks for your input , and the best of sugaring to you all

maple flats
01-07-2022, 02:38 PM
What I'll say about it is that Deer Run RO's (by Ray Gingerich) have a recirculation line. It starts just before the high pressure needle valve, Tees in and goes to just before the high pressure pump inlet. It has it's own needle valve. On a 250 gph RO it uses about a 1/2" inlet hose feeding the high pressure pump and a 5/16 braided hose for the recirculation. On other size units I don't know the sizes.
In use it works well, but certainly not as well as recirculation on it's own pump like the better RO's, but it works well. You first get circulation going with the recirculation needle valve closed, then each time you open the recirculation needle you need to adjust the main needle valve to get up to a good pressure.
I ran my 250 at 270-275PSI, as I started recirculation I would open the smaller needle maybe 1/3 turn, then bring the main pressure back up to 270-275, I repeated 2 or 3 times, adjusting each time. I think about 1.25 -1.5 turns on the little needle was about the most recirculation I did, but that, while reducing the concentrate flow, gave me a higher sugar %.
There were no back flow issues.

sweet spot maple addict
01-08-2022, 08:57 AM
Thanks for sharing
After many second thoughts ...each 2.5 feets of elevation gives about 1 psi so
it should not be a concern , and the new set up should be fine
Have a great season