Leaking sap from tap - help me solve once and for all!!!

[stimyg]

I’m a hobbyist. Been sugaring about 15 years. Run fifty taps nowadays. And I still, frequently, significantly, have leaking sap from my taps, often that weep all the way down to the ground. I usually just accept it. But I’ve had it. I want to solve this. Once and for all.

I use a 5/16 maple tapping bit. I use a cordless electric Milwaukee drill on high speed. I tap with only a slight angle. I drill in and out as quickly and cleanly as I can. I set the spiles gently using a maple tapping hammer. And still, they weep.

It’s possible my technique is off. Except for one thing:

I have 15 Zap Bac spiles with 5/16” drop lines that run into buckets. Those usually do NOT weep. A few, but not much.

The remaining 35 are on those clear blue plastic spiles, from which I hang 3 gallon maple buckets. Those are what leak. However, I recently tried some steel 5/16” spiles instead, and those leaked too.

My best thought as to why the Zap Bacs seat better is that they’re a touch softer material, and so can create a better seal than a harder plastic or steel, since they would ‘deform’ a little into each hole (if you can picture what im saying). But that’s just a guess.

I’ve also wondered if the weight of the bucket could be an issue. But it seems to happen even when the buckets are empty. At least I think it does.

I’ve wondered if maybe the spiles freezing and unfreezing might cause them to become unseated and thus leak. But by definition freezing and unfreezing must happen to everyone, since that’s when the sap runs, but nobody else seems to have that problem.

So, please, help me. I’m at my wit’s end.

[bigschuss]

I tried a handful of the blue plastic 5/16 spouts a few years and found that leaked like crazy. I experimented with setting them more firmly and that seemed to have solved the problem. I mostly use the cast aluminum 5/16 spouts and get absolutely no leaking.

IF your tap hole is drilled cleanly I am going to speculate that you are not setting the spout firmly enough. You said yourself that you set the spout "gently." Try being less gentle. I have a feeling you'll get no leaking.

[DrTimPerkins]

The rigid, light-blue plastic spouts are known for being leaky. Simplest solution would be try something else.

[82cabby]

Ditto on the blue plastic spouts. I can’t count the number of times I had a full bucket pull the spout right out of the tree as soon as I touched it. Dousing me in the process of course. They are awful, I finally threw the remaining ones away.

I’ve had decent luck with the traditional style metal ones though.

[ecolbeck]

We have been using the blue spouts with hooks and buckets for several years. We seat them quite firmly and although we do have some minimal leakage, I find that they are difficult to remove at the end of the season and we end up breaking 10% of them. At a cost of a dollar each we've just decided to put up with it.

[Z/MAN]

Tried the blue spouts one year. Only one year, all leaked. Garbage!

[kstevens]

I had the same problem after tapping last weekend. Always just used the blue plastic taps and had sporadic leaking. If I just tapped a week ago is there any reason why I couldn't pull them and immediately replace with another style tap?

[Pdiamond]

No reason why you can't replace them, if you want.

[Bullet]

I also have used the 5/16 blue spouts. I've used them for about 4 seasons and unlike others here am very happy with them. I don't observe any of the symptoms described by others in this thread. I'm rather aggressive when seating them, I tap them until I hear and feel a dull thud. After the first hard frost I make the rounds and give them another wack or two. I find this second set of wacks causes the blue spouts to seat further into the tap hole. I think a hard frost can cause them two move out of the tap hole. I also think they should be placed on a warm day when there is a little more give to the tree, and they will seat better. These are my experiences, hope it helps.

[kstevens]

Interesting. I guess I've always been gentle, having heard anecdotally about "splitting" the tap hole. Maybe I just need to giv'r a bit more. Will bring along a mallet when collecting this week and re-seat to see if that does the job.

[Pdiamond]

I use a small tack hammer. Looks just like a regular hammer just smaller.

[OnePot]

I use the black Leader tree saver spiles intended for tube systems, and don't have any leaks. Sometimes you will get leaks if your drill has a wobble it makes the hole bigger, and if you don't hold it straight it will create an oval. And if you pound them in too tight you can split the wood and it will leak. The Leader spiles are a softer plastic then the blue ones. They are slightly more expensive, but they given a different sound thunk when you have them in far enough so it makes it easy.

I just run a short tube into into a 5 gallon bucket with a hole drilled through the lid to fit the tubes. I use 1 bucket a tree so multiple taps run into the same bucket. I don't have many taps and it is mostly for giving the kids some experience so the tree saver spiles compensate for some of the issues with kids not being quite as particular. :)