when do you washing tubing

[mfchef54]

I work at an education center that has a sugar shack. I just found out that we don't wash the lines at the end of the season but at the beginning. all that i have read and been told is to wash at the end of the season. It would make more logic to me to do it while the bacteria has not yet establish it self but you know how bosses can be. The question for those with permanent tubing if you clean you lines, when do you do it. at the beginning, at the end or both?

[tyrod2]

I wash my tubing before season and after . I wash tubing with water and peroxide. It works for me and my tubing still lookes good after three years left in the woods. We eat this syrup also and would not sell syrup that I would not eat. This works for me.

[Russell Lampron]

I wash mine with water and compressed air from an oil less compressor when I pull the taps at the end of the season.

[jason grossman]

we wash our tubing the same as russ, with compressed air and water with a little cleaner. we try to hit it before the season but after is a must to keep things clean over the warm humid summer. air works good if you don't have vacuum, we also use the vacuum to pull cleaner through the taps and into the lines. cleanliness is next to godliness right?!

[dano2840]

my little bush last year only had 400 ft of main line, i took my 3.5 hp sap pump and just pumped H2O through it and it had so much pressure it blew some taps out of the trees and some water out of the saddles, that was with 5 taps pulled at the end of each main line, so it got pretty clean with just water

[Russell Lampron]

DanO back the throttle down a little on that pump. Tubing is hard enough to maintain without blowing it apart with too much pressure. I use about 35psi.

[maple flats]

I only wash after the season. I do it within a few days of the end. I tap with the main out of the tank but only for the hour or 2 I tap that main, then it goes into the tank.

[swierczt]

I wash my tubing before season and after . I wash tubing with water and peroxide. It works for me and my tubing still lookes good after three years left in the woods. We eat this syrup also and would not sell syrup that I would not eat. This works for me.


What ratio do you use of peroxide and water? Are you using plain old hydrogen peroxide?

[ennismaple]

We always wash at the end of the season by sucking water through every tap and 10-15 gallons of hot water through the end of every mainline. The sooner you clean it the better. Since it's a closed system it can be left like that until we tap next spring.

[Sugarmaker]

Like most, we wash at the end of the season with hot water and compressed air to get cleaning action. I the blow the water out of the lines with clean compressed air. We do not wash again in the spring.

Regards,
Chris

[ryan marquette]

CHRIS,
How do you get your clean compressed air? I pumped water up my lines in spring after season and the water didn't drain out of the lines. I need to do something different the lines don't look the best this spring.

[maple flats]

If you look at the wall chart at Bascom's you will notice they start the season with dark but quickly go to light. I believe this is because of less than pristine lines and taps, but that flushes out quick and then you get the light amber. Remember, all grades are the same price or real close (or were the last 6-9 months)

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I am always amazed at how people start out making dark and then go to light or go from dark to light in the middle of the season. If I make light, it is in the first half of the season and as the season goes, it progressively gets darker. Sometimes it will dark from a very dark to a much lighter, but nowhere near a light syrup. I always wash at the end of the season but just pumping water and a little calcium hypochlorite thru the lines with a hand spray bottle since my taps are scattered all over.

Anyone want to send me the details on how to build a manifold to use air. I have a 125 gallon leg tank, access to a 5,000 watt generator, a Tanaka pump and a 3 gallon compressor all of which are mine other than the generator. I would like to use air, but have never seen one of the manifolds but could probably build one or buy one off of someone if I knew how they were made??

[mfchef54]

Last year I started with some fancy and went to dark. i washed out my main pan did med for the rest of the season. I feel alot of factors go into it. what's the sugar percent, how fast a boil are you getting, how long you 've held sap, RO or Not.etc.

Brandon, I think the guy you want is Glen Goodrich, Tubing guru and washer maker. I send you his info when get home from work.

[maplescott]

After the season we leave the sap for about two weeks which we find turns slightly vinegary. Then we use air and distilled water and chlorine to blow out the lines. In the spring, we tap and once vacuum is on we suck a gallon of water and chlorine into the lines at the end of the mainline. Discard the first bit of sap and start boiling. Any residual chlorine evaporates during boiling. Since we just got an RO we will be switching to alcohol instead of the chlorine. We find the distilled water makes a huge difference. We reclaim it anyways when boiling. Permeate water will do the same thing I hope. As far as grade goes, we make extra light (Canada) til the last week of the season.