house filter for sap

[markct]

i have a whole house filter im gona use for filtering sap between my milk tank on the ground and my 75 gal feed tank up top. i will be using a submersible utility pump and was planning to let the line drain back to prevent it from freezing, most of it will be run inside the wall of the sugarhouse but about a foot will be outside going to the tank. my question is will this bit of backflow thru the filter cause any undesirable effects? seems to me its basicly just backflushing it a little so i dont see a problem but just checking

[sapman]

I don't see any problem with doing that. If you use paper type sediment filters, and had enough back pressure (not likely), it may bulge the filter and weaken it. Although you could just take the housing off and let it drain into a pail, too. One caution on filtering, keep an eye on the flow rates. Those filters can plug without you knowing, and suddenly you're out of feed sap.

Tim

[Haynes Forest Products]

dont use the carbon filter it will clog in about 100 gallons and then your out to get another one I use the spun cotton filter and it lasts all season. I use a cheap sump pump for transfering. I must be lucky I have never had my evaporator room freeze over night. I tend to boil till 12:00 most days so it stays warm for hrs.

[mapleman3]

I use one and never had a problem, mine drains back enough it only leaves a quarter full, so it it were to freeze it has expansion. I use it just to get the little bugs and whatnot!

[tyrod2]

Someone told me you should no use a submersibal pump because it is sealed with a oil in it and it could leak into your sap. I do not know if this oil is poison or not. What Do You Think? Has anybody else heard of this?

[Haynes Forest Products]

Yes SOME DO but not the cheap ones. It will say on the pump specs if it has oil in it. The oil is to keep the pump cool. I use pumps with oil in them for water features and of all the pumps that fail I have never had oil leak out of the pumps into the water.

[markct]

thanks for the heads up on the sump pumps with oil in them, i knew some had oil and hadnt given that a thought! as for the feed rate slowing down this is why i want to put it in the line feeding up to the feed tank, not in the gravity line from the tank to the evaporator. i figure this way i will have enough time to change a filter while it runs from the top tank, and i wont have to worry about it slowing down and catching me by surprise feeding it

[brookledge]

markct
You are on the right track. Filter the sap as it goes into your head tank vs inline to your evaporator. Filtering it inline to the evaporator is a disaster waiting to happen. There will come a time when you need sap and fast and the filter will be too restrictive.
That is why most evaporators are designed with larger than needed feed lines. It is so the sap can flow fast and unrestrictive when the float calls for sap.
Keith

[jrthe3]

i to use a hole house filter between the pump and the head tank but be careful when you try to change the filter well the head tank is full i took a sap shower one time the head tank was full and i wanted to chande the filter i started to unscrew it it let me have it like 30 gal sap covered from head to toe made for a long night of boiling so the next day i made the trip to the hard ware got a drain valve taped a hole in bottom of the filter housing and also shortened the feed line into head tank so it would not back flow

[cncaboose]

I use a whole house 5 or 10 micron filter in the line to the feed tank. I have a valve about 6" from the filter housing that I turn off to change filters that avoids the sap bath. I found an oilfree submersible pump at Northern Tool (wasn't too expensive either if I recall) that I use to fill my overhead 60 gallon feed tank. Works great. Using the small pore filter on the sap may save some on the filtering of the completed syrup.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Some of the filters have bypass valves on them that make filter change easy and if they clog and your under the gun to fill the tank you can divert past the filter its nice for cleaning the system without getting the element dirty.
Remember to drain and throw the filter out if you dont You will be in for a world of stink if it sits thru the summer it can gag a maggot.