Small pump to feed evaporator

[bryankloos]

Hi All,

I have a mason 2x4XL with a preheater on it. The pre-heater has an input with float control (toilet float type mechanism) that can regulate fill.

In my system, I RO into 55 gallon barrels and then dump by bucket into the preheater. I'd like to eliminate this step.

I'd like to use a small pump that can draw from the barrel of concentrate and feed the float control on the preheater.

Maybe a small submersible or a diaphragm pump? It will need to be happy with constant pressure and flow no more than 15 gallons/hour.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Bryan

[SeanD]

If I'm picturing it right, it sounds like you are ready for a head tank. Take one of those 55 gal bbls and elevate it above the preheater. Then pump from your RO right to that head tank. At 15 gph, you'll set a dribble going into the preheater and watch it like you do now or set up a float for the concentrate going into the preheater.

How big is your preheater? Is it a pan that sits on the back of the back pan by the stack?

[bryankloos]

Head Tank would be great, but I'm boiling in the driveway. I'll move to the garden (soon to me sugar shack next year) which has a loft and will house a head-tank.
Having an elevated tank in the driveway worries me as the kids and wife and dogs are surly going to get squashed.
The preheater is a separate pan that sits behind the main continuous flow pan, and has a built in float to control entry into the preheater.
I'd love a decent pump that can move fluid this year and then be repurposed for the sugarhack the following year.

[Z/MAN]

I have a pump in my concentrate tank that pumps sap to a line over and into my preheater. I have a push button switch hooked up so it only pumps when I hold the button down. Tried an on off switch but always forgot to turn it off and had many overflows.

[therealtreehugger]

A header tank is the way to go, in the future. But for this year, how much higher does it really need to be? Only a little bit above the height of your preheater. Say, on the top of one of your 55 gal barrels? Or in the bed of your truck? (It’s not like you will be going anywhere while you are boiling!)

Or, RO directly into your preheater, using an on/off switch, then you will be using the pump from the RO. Or put it on a timer, a half hour and it turns itself off automatically, no overflows, like Zman mentioned.

[Brien]

I would think a shurflo pump would work well. It has a built in pressure switch so it would build up with pressure and when the float valve drop enough the pressure switch would kick in and fill up the float box. Although I could picture this this constantly cycling, but it might be worth a shot.

[ronintank]

I run my ro right into my pre heat tank. my pre heat tank gravity feeds my evap. pan. i set my ro to recirculate just enough sap so it feeds my pre heat tank to the same amount i evaporate off.

[ebliese]

My thought is start building your head tank now, use it this season, and then put it on the loft of your sugar shack for future seasons. Maybe use the back of a truck like was suggested? Or build a temporary stand out of construction lumber and secure your head tank so it can't squash people or animals below? We use a 20 gallon food-grade tote from a restaurant supply store and built a platform for it in our sugar shack. The tote can't roll so it's not coming down unless we take it down to rinse it after a boil.

We used to fill our feed pan with 5 gallon buckets so we know what that's like. The head tank and float box is definitely a step up. Hope you find a solution that works for you.

[maple flats]

Rather than in the loft, I far prefer a head tnk on the north side of the sugarhouse, butted tight against the sugarhouse. Then run the sap (or concentrate) line directly into the sugarhouse. Have it on a platform that is 18-24" above the preheater inlet. Then use your RO to pump into the head tank or if no RO, use any small pump to fill the head tank, from there gravity will push the sap (concentrate) thru the preheater and into the float box. A roof or shade cloth will help keep the head tank cooler.
That is how I did mine all the years I boiled sap, except my 1st 2, those were made difficult by frozen feed lines too often.