New CDL vacuum pump

[Bricklayer]

Was thinking of upgrading my vacuum pump on one of the bushes this year. Bush is about 500 taps on a mechanical releaser with 1 large sap ladder carrying about 250 taps. It’s been run on a delaval 73 for a couple years and worked fine. But would like to get a little more vacuum then the 22-24” that the 73 will do.
I got a pretty good price from CDL for their high performance rotary vane pump but not too impressed with the specs at the higher vacuum that I would like to run at. Obviously I’m not gonna run it at 29” of vacuum. Don’t think my releaser would like that too much. But I’d like to run it at at least 26-27”. CFM specs for the pump don’t really look to good at those levels.

Here are the specs for the pump

CDL vane pump 1HP with air inlet filter kit 1/2'' factory install. 120V wire + plug factory install.
Capacity of 650 taps.
14 ACFM.
Max vacuum of 29.8''HG.
Performance:
7.5 CFM at 15'' HG. 4 CFM at 20'' HG.
2 CFM at 25''HG.
1 CFM at 27HG.
0.75 CFM at 28'' HG.
0.25 CFM at 29'' HG.
8.5A 110V, 4.25A 240V.

[spud]

I’m in the process of setting up two new sugar woods. I went to CDL and their price was best, but there is a problem. The CDL dealer that I was talking too just replaced his CDL pump with a Busch pump from Lapierre. Seems he has nothing nice to say about the pump he sells. I talked to another CDL employee and he told me to stay away from the CDL pumps. That’s two CDL employees sending me to Lapierre. It’s safe to say, I’m buying two new Busch pumps for my two new woods. CDL sell great equipment, but apparently there pumps are not the best.

Spud

[Bricklayer]

The pumps from CDL are just re- branded Becker pumps. Exact same.

[spud]

I need to clarify what I said in my past post. My CDL dealer did not talk bad about the CDL pumps. I did have another CDL employee from Saint Albans tell me they were not reliable. Maple Trader is a forum for sugar makers to share thoughts, concerns and ideas. This is what I was doing when I made my post. My hope is a sugar maker will make the best decision in purchasing his or hers equipment. In past years I have been told by large and small sugar makers as to what to buy and what to stay away from. This information helped me to make the best decision with my money. I’m sure that many post have been made on Maple Trader that was disliked by certain maple equipment companies. The only way a person is going to know for sure as to what’s good and what’s bad is to talk to the people that have used the products. This is where Maple Trader is the most helpful.

Spud

[darkmachine]

I need to clarify what I said in my past post. My CDL dealer did not talk bad about the CDL pumps. I did have another CDL employee from Saint Albans tell me they were not reliable. Maple Trader is a forum for sugar makers to share thoughts, concerns and ideas. This is what I was doing when I made my post. My hope is a sugar maker will make the best decision in purchasing his or hers equipment. In past years I have been told by large and small sugar makers as to what to buy and what to stay away from. This information helped me to make the best decision with my money. I’m sure that many post have been made on Maple Trader that was disliked by certain maple equipment companies. The only way a person is going to know for sure as to what’s good and what’s bad is to talk to the people that have used the products. This is where Maple Trader is the most helpful.

Spud

I think you are right, in the end we are all out to make syrup. Sugar makers measure efficiency in time and in $, and some are happy to sacrifice efficiency and $ for memories, which is all great. Just like any other agricultural enterprise, you do your research, talk to folks who have the gear you are considering, sometimes there are deal breakers, sometimes what works great for them, won't work for you. Maybe if you live in a maple heavy area you have a Ag extension agent who can help. I'm always weary of brand reps pushing their product (yes that's their job) I would say you have a good dealer if they want you to have something that will work for you instead of just pushing a sale. We aren't making Leader syrup, CDL syrup, or Lapierre syrup....it's Maple Syrup! use whatever tools will get you there the way you want to get there :)

[ecp]

The pumps from CDL are just re- branded Becker pumps. Exact same. That is good information.

[collinsmapleman2012]

don't be afraid to run that releaserr at 28.5", theyre built to run there and they actually seem to be more reliable at higher vacuum.
a big thing with the rotary vane pumps like this is having a really good moisture trap, that increases reliability. i haven't had great experiences with a gas CDL pump, but i attribute the issues to the gas motor causing issues more. the electric pumps should be more reliable and Becker does make a good pump as long as it's maintained, i know of several around that work well. that being said, you may want to look at Atlas Copco or busch as i have several seasons on each of them with great luck.

[VT_K9]

We have a smaller sugarbush with about 750 taps now. We are looking to expand (as time allows) to 1,000-1,200 taps. We cover a larger area to reach a few trees here and there.

We started with a CDL Liquid Ring 3hp vacuum when we went that route from a Guzzler. The releaser was 750 feet away and was a CDL vertical unit rated for 750 taps (definitely not going to exceed that in that area). Worked great until regular service became evident. Then back to working great and we added a 3000 tap horizontal (better design to deal with ice issues we experienced on the vertical 750. The first year was good and then everything was a challenge...amount and ability to hold any vacuum.

In talking with our CDL Dealer we were told those liquid ring pumps looked great on paper, worked great with a single releaser, and just could not keep up with multiple releasers. I noticed the ring area is smaller than most other brands. We did the maintenance, but it just couldn't any longer.

Our CDL Dealer recommended a current CDL Rotary Vane and advised they had a 3hp single phase pump we could borrow. We did and noticed an immediate improvement. We ran it for a week and knowing the SMD (Sugar Maker Disease) we went with a 5hp 3 phase unit which could be "turned down" when appropriate. We received the unit about 4 days before the end of the season. We should have bought this unit from the get go.

A 3 phase unit can be adjusted. Just a thought. I also looked at the total length of mainline and felt the extra was worth it. Maybe a look at the 3hp unit.

Everyone has their experiences. Our are narrow to CDL because of the great customer support we have received since buying our first CDL device. Our Dealer has always taken care of us and given no reason to look elsewhere. We have looked at other brands for ideas and to see if something else fits. You need to do what's right for you and good dealer support might be the swing factor.

Good Luck,

Mike

[Bricklayer]

What is the exhaust like on these new CDL rotary vane pumps ? They seem to take a small amount of oil. Just wondering if they put off the oily exhaust like the dairy pumps do.
The current dairy pump I have now you can feel the oil in the air from like 20 feet away. Usually fill it up every two days with oil. I’ve tried to run the exhaust up and away from everything but wind always seems to move it around.

[collinsmapleman2012]

they put out very little to no oil, as long as the exhaust filter is properly maintained.
best thing you will like over that delaval is that the pumps are whisper quiet as compared to the 73 screaming away.

[VT_K9]

We vent ours to the outside of the building. Definitely need to run a little more metal pipe than we did with the liquid ring pump due to heat. I haven't run it enough to be able to compare it to our old one.

Mike

[Mooneybc]

I run a 2 hp CDL rotary vane pump and am overall pleased. It runs 26-29” regularly. It is impressively quiet and takes little oil. I plump the exhaust out of the building and it leaves a yellow oily residue. I will say I am not impressed with my CDL moisture trap as it failed 3 times last year.

[VT_K9]

We have three moisture traps. Two (one each) CDL black units in our shacks near the mechanical releasers and a 3" one at the vacuum pump. The pump is located 65' above the releaser locations and sap has never made it that far.

With that said the releasers have had a couple issues (maybe more maintenance and maybe cooler temp related) which resulted in not dumping and the traps filling. They did their job.

Mike

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

The pumps from CDL are just re- branded Becker pumps. Exact same.
Not true. Last I knew, cdl pumps were of China origin. Becker pumps are manufactured in Germany and are good quality. Their facility in the US is in Ohio. I have personally been there and toured it. I run two of the U pumps. The U5.101 I have on my 6000 tap woods. It is a 70.6 cfm pump. Typical yields are 40-45 gallons sap per tap and around 7lbs syrup per tap. Becker customer service is second to none.
Neil

[spud]

Wow, 40-45 GPT is crazy good. I wish I could get that. What’s your secret? I’m lucky to get 25 GPT.

Spud

[Mooneybc]

My moisture trap failed today and my CDL rotary vacuum pump ended up Sucking a lot of sap through it. I changed the filter and drained the pump of oil several times today but every time I start the pump the new oil immediately turns a yellowish white. Any tips or thoughts on how to get all the oil out completely?

[spud]

Drain the oil and replace it with diesel fuel. Run the pump for a few hours and then drain the fuel out and replace it with oil.

Spud

[Mooneybc]

Drain the oil and replace it with diesel fuel. Run the pump for a few hours and then drain the fuel out and replace it with oil.

Spud

That seriously works? That won’t destroy the pump or vanes?

[spud]

Yes it works. I have done it in the past. Call CDL in Saint Albans and ask for Park. He knows pumps better than anyone.

Spud

[tcross]

i clean my bb4 pump at the end of the year, or if i suck some sap up, with diesel. i usually let it run for half an hour or so, then drain and fill back up with oil. On the subject of oil turning yellow/white... i bought a large container of pump oil last season that would be clear when cold, then once the pump would run, would turn cloudy for the first 20-30 minutes, then would be crystal clear. can't recall the brand, but i was told it was normal for some oils? not 100% sure if that's correct, but my pump preformed normal with it. for what it's worth...