Flow Meters - NEW

[BradWilson]

Morning All,

I searched the forums and the newest post is from 2020. So I'll ask for an update.

I have new sap tanks and the volumes are estimates from the manufacturer. My goal is to get an estimate of the actual gallonage and make a "gallon meter" so I can know what I'm starting with and know what I'm evaporating per hour. I see that the GPI meters are the recommended but I'm too small to be able to afford those. What are you guys using that it a "close second" and reliable?

Thanks in advance.

[Bucket Head]

No flow meters here on sap. My "close second" is my evaporator feed tank. It was only supposed to be temporary, but it works very well, so it's still there. I have a plastic, white/opaque, 55gal. drum that has the gallon markings on the side. Five and ten gallon increments, and since it's see-through, I can see the sap at any level. I just time how fast we go through an increment and then do the math.

Steve

[johnallin]

No flow meters here on sap. My "close second" is my evaporator feed tank. It was only supposed to be temporary, but it works very well, so it's still there. I have a plastic, white/opaque, 55gal. drum that has the gallon markings on the side. Five and ten gallon increments, and since it's see-through, I can see the sap at any level. I just time how fast we go through an increment and then do the math.

Steve

I installed a clear 3/4" ID milk hose from a T at the bottom of the tank drain going up the side of the head tank. Then placed marks in 5 gallon increments. Sap seeks its level and we always know what we're using.

[BradWilson]

I installed a clear 3/4" ID milk hose from a T at the bottom of the tank drain going up the side of the head tank. Then placed marks in 5 gallon increments. Sap seeks its level and we always know what we're using.

How did you measure out the 5g increments? Buckets?

[johnallin]

How did you measure out the 5g increments? Buckets?

I found a tank volume calculator online that gave me gallons per inch depth after I entered some data...tank shape, width, length and height.
I've got a CDL 165 Gal stainless head tank, measures 2'x4'x3' tall I believe.
Using a yard stick held against the tank, I was able to mark the side of the tank with a paint pen.
It's pretty slick. We note gallons in the tank at "start fire" and take notes on the hour during a boil and what's left at "stop fire".
Tells me roughly what the GPH evaporation is.

[littleTapper]

I found a tank volume calculator online that gave me gallons per inch depth after I entered some data...tank shape, width, length and height.
I've got a CDL 165 Gal stainless head tank, measures 2'x4'x3' tall I believe.
Using a yard stick held against the tank, I was able to mark the side of the tank with a paint pen.
It's pretty slick. We note gallons in the tank at "start fire" and take notes on the hour during a boil and what's left at "stop fire".
Tells me roughly what the GPH evaporation is.

Known as a calibration chart. Always near the bulk tank in a barn's milk house :)

I didn't feel like paying $150 for an official one for a bulk tank I bought, so used an online calculator like this. From everything I've done, it seems to be dead-on.

https://odayequipment.com/tank-calculator/

or this for elliptical
https://www.blocklayer.com/tanks/horizontal-ellipticaleng

[johnallin]

Known as a calibration chart. Always near the bulk tank in a barn's milk house :)

I didn't feel like paying $150 for an official one for a bulk tank I bought, so used an online calculator like this. From everything I've done, it seems to be dead-on.

https://odayequipment.com/tank-calculator/

or this for elliptical
https://www.blocklayer.com/tanks/horizontal-ellipticaleng

There you go, that's exactly what I was referring to.
Thanks for sharing.

[TapTapTap]

I developed my own Excel file for different size round bottom tanks. I'm pretty confident that it's accurate but nobody has ever checked it. I also modified it to show %full and I used my tank level monitor readings to calculate the flow rate into my raw sap tank. I would share it but I don't know how.


Ken

[BradWilson]

Thanks for the charts. I just input the data for my 4'x8'x4' tank. CDL says the tank holds 774 gallons. The chart says it's 752. Now my OCD is really spun up.

[maple flats]

I don't get that concerned as to need a flow meter, however I've always had a site level gauge for my head tank, as well as one in my back pan. (the back pan one only has a line at 3/4" above the flues) The one on my head tank is one a T just inside the sugarhouse wall, the tank sets on a platform tight against the sugarhouse wall. Then I have a cut out in the siding where the sap line runs in (almost always concentrate in the head tank) then the T in that feed line has a 3/8" clear vinyl tube attached , it extends up and out the top of the wall and baqck down to about platform level. When I first put a site tube on I only had it to just above the top of the head tank, but i found that as I pumped into the tank, concentrate shot out the top, thus the long tube) On the tube I have just 3 level marks, even though the tank holds 100 gal, I have one for 10, 20 and 30 gal, I msrked them by filling a 5 gal bucket and dumping it in to measure. Near the top of the head tank I had the manufacturer weld an overflow fitting. That connects a 3/4" maple tubing, back to the sap tank, just in case.
My sap tank is an old dairy tank and it is marked 300 gal, that's all I need to know. I do however have 2 IBC totes just in case, each hold 275 gal.

[BradWilson]

Thanks everyone. I'm not looking for "flow rates", I want to make gallon measurements on my site level gauges. As I said above, the tanks come with estimates but I'd like to measure them out. The charts don't match the tanks. All I wanna know is, how much sap I have in each tank by gallons. Eventually it will help me determine my evaporation rate.

[VT_K9]

My Dad likes a mathematical challenge and caluclated the volume of the round bottom CDL tanks we used. We have a 4x8x4, 4x12x4, 4x16x4, and 4x16x5 tanks. He has done charts from the bottom to the top and top to the bottom. When running the RO and calculating the amount in the permeate tank (4x12x4) and the primary holding tank (now 4x16x5) we find the charts are in agreement in the volume. We have a CDL round bottom 230 gallon tank which we haven't run the calculations on. It is our feed tank.

If you figure out the radius of the round area you can work towards the sqaure inches. Then you can work on the length of the tank to determine the volume. It would be nice if CDL did it once and then added hash marks on the ends of their tanks.

Edited to add: I would be interested in a flow meter in the woods to measure the amount of sap pumped to the tanks by the releasers.

Mike