Help with extractor connections

[Brent]

I just got a used Dominion & Grimm, no model on the nameplate. The tank is 36" x 12" with clear domed plastic top and bottom.

The question is how to connect it. At the bottom is a single hole threaded for about 1". Near the top is a maze of what must be every pipe thread size from 3/8 to 1".

There is also a Jenkins check valve to prevent something from going back into the tank.

I am assuming I should connect my sap-sucker to the port at the very bottom and have it actuated by the float switch. Seems straightforward at that end.

There is a 1/2" hose barb in the very top, which I assume is the best / driest place to connect the vacuum pump line.

In the maze there is a 1" hose barb that I think I will remove and cap off. Beside it is a 3/4" hose barb, I assume for the 3/4 mainline to come in.

So what is the check valve on the other side of the tank for ?
http://duffyslanemaple.ca/Making-syrup/extractor-1.gif andhttp://www.duffyslanemaple.ca/Making-syrup/extractor-2.gif

We have had a freeze here the last 2 nights and should get a run tomorrow. Even if it's buddy I want to get this thing debugged if I can.

Any help / comments would be appreciated
http://www.duffyslanemaple.ca/Merlin/RO-system.html#extractor

[Brian]

You hook the pump to the lowest point of the releaser, the vac hookes to the verry top. off the pump discharge you need a tee,one end hookes to the chech valve on the side of the releaser the other end goes to the tank. The pump you need to wire to the float on the top of the releaser. I belive the other holes are were the main lines are hooked in. good luck
PS if you take the chech valve out and get a 1/2 inch fitting with a barbed 5/16 fitting and the same on the pump tee, you can use a length of tubing to connect the pump to the releaser, this will help the pump prime every time. Sometimes the check valves fail and the releaser will fill up and put sap into the vac pump. what this will do is pump alittle sap back into the releaser to purge the air out because the pump has to over take the pull of vac.I hope this makes sense.

[Brent]

Thanks Brian
I will be using a sap-sucker style pump at the bottom, a peristaltic pump that needs no priming. In fact that pump by itself was pulling 19" of vac on 160 taps before I got this extractor. But that pump 'eats' expensive hose so I can't leave it running full time.

I think I need a check valve between the tank and the sap-sucker to prevent draw back.

I think you and I are on the same line ... the check valve near the top on the side is not needed. Just plug that hole.

Anything else tp watch for ?

[Grade "A"]

Brent, I think (only after reading it here) that the check valve is hooked up to your sap pump some how so it can over come the vaccum and pump the sap out. I just found a post from Big Maple: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You need to put a check valve on the outlet side of the pump and a 1/2 or 3/4 piece of tubing out of one of the drains on the pump towards the top of the tank with a check valve that only allows the vacuum to suck the sap through the pump and up the tube. That keeps the pump primed and allows it to overcome the vacuum.