New Vacuum Setup, Well a Start aleast.

[Dennis H.]

I finally got the time and money to build the shed to hold the dairy pump that I got a few weeks ago.

This is the 1st time that the pump has been together since I cleaned it up and painted it.

Now that the pump has a new home I can now figure out how I want to run the tubing system.

I have a vac gauge on order and once that gets here I can see if my homemade vac regulator works. I tried it toady and it does regulate the vac but not sure at what level of vac.

I will keep you all posted.

[caseyssugarshack93]

Thats a really nice set up dennis, how many taps fo you plan on running on it?

[3rdgen.maple]

Darn Dennis that looks good. Wanna make a drive north and build a wood shed on the side of the sugarhouse so I can fill it for fall tapping (I think)

[Dennis H.]

This year it looks I will have only about 50 maybe 60 on vac, I know not that many for this pump.

My plan is to get the feet wet with vac this year and try to expand to another stand of maple the following year. I made the vac shed easy to move, I take out about 20 screws and the whole thing is then 6 easy to carry panels.
I still only have my barrel evap, I was hoping to get another evap by this coming season but that is no longer possible. SO I make do with what I got, FOR NOW!

The next big hurdle is to either get a small realeaser somewhere OR, Now this is what I am leaning toward, have a tank that will be under vac that the main will run to and then drain that when full.
I have a 35gal tank that I have to check to see if it will handle about 15" of vac. That will be a fun thing to check and even funner to see it fail, not that I am hoping for it to fail.

[3rdgen.maple]

Dennis exacally where is this vac house located and could you send me a diagram of where those screws are?

[Homestead Maple]

Real professional looking job there. Want to go into business?

[caseyssugarshack93]

dennis what i would do is look for a bender washer releaer it would be perfect for 60-100 taps maybe more,

[caseyssugarshack93]

http://cgi.ebay.com/SURGE-BENDER-MILK-WASHER-RELEASER-RECEIVER-JAR-NICE_W0QQitemZ360173484618QQcmdZViewItemQQptZBI_Fa rm_Supplies?hash=item53dc033a4a&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1205%7C 293%3A1%7C294%3A50



Better jump on it fast,

[Haynes Forest Products]

How many gallons a min can that releaser handle? Dennis I think you need to tighten the belt. You dont want to smoke it the first big run.

[Dennis H.]

Thanks Haynes for the tip about the belts.
I thought they were a little loose but I wanted to get it set up and make sure it ran.

Real Funny 3rdGen, I guess I will have to get a heavy cable and tie the whole thing down now, Great Thanks for even more work for me!:lol:

Casey, Thanks for the link for the milk releaser, Not bad price but man he is asking alot for shipping.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Dennis Your paint job looks great and reminds me of a fellow construction friend who painted any and all his tool new or used with all sorts of ugly colors sprayed all over them.

[brookledge]

As far as the bender releaser it is good up to 300 taps max but more comfortable with 250. They are weighted for about 14-15" so if you run more than that you need to add more weight on the float. I used them for many years until I out grew them and still have one on the shelf
Keith

[ennismaple]

Nice work Dennis. That pump can get pretty warm when it runs all day and night - do you plan to leave the doors open or will you put some ventillation in the box?

[Dennis H.]

Ennis, I am not sure what I want to do for ventilation, I was thinking about putting in a small vent with a fan that would run when ever the pump is running. The metal roofing isn't sealed around where it meets the walls so that will give some ventilation, heat rises and I was thinking that it will work like a ridge vent on your house.

The other thing I have to work out is the vac exhaust. I am not sure what and how much oil may come out once it is running. I was thinking just run a piece of pipe thru the back wall to the outside. I heard that when it is running I may get some oil out the exhaust, should I have some sort of catch can to collect this oil or just let it vent.

[3rdgen.maple]

Dennis I read some time back where haynes suggested to vent it into a can with steel wool in it to catch the oil then exhaust from there, not sure though maybe have to ask him.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I'm still working on the reverse oil bath air cleaner reclaimer idea. its back to basics oil cools moving parts and these old pumps need alot of cooling to get the high HGs so oil is the best method. the higher the HGs and CFMs the more oil will mist out the exhaust so we need to catch it. The best way to do that is as soon as possible is to get it to slow down and cool. I would exhaust out the side in to a reclaimer that will recycle the oil back into the intake oil tank. I still want to try a oil bath air cleaner but reverse the air flow so the pump oil enters the metal mesh and condenses into/onto the screen and then drops into the oil bath/tray/collector and gets sucked back into the pump. Im thinking a big diesel type semi tractor type air cleaner will work. If you look at your average fan hood that vents into your house it has metal mesh to collect the grease and oil and stop it from entering the room.

[brookledge]

Just remember not to restrict the flow of your exaust.
It will only add to the heat in the pump
Keith

[vermaple]

I'm still working on the reverse oil bath air cleaner reclaimer idea. its back to basics oil cools moving parts and these old pumps need alot of cooling to get the high HGs so oil is the best method. the higher the HGs and CFMs the more oil will mist out the exhaust so we need to catch it. The best way to do that is as soon as possible is to get it to slow down and cool. I would exhaust out the side in to a reclaimer that will recycle the oil back into the intake oil tank. I still want to try a oil bath air cleaner but reverse the air flow so the pump oil enters the metal mesh and condenses into/onto the screen and then drops into the oil bath/tray/collector and gets sucked back into the pump. Im thinking a big diesel type semi tractor type air cleaner will work. If you look at your average fan hood that vents into your house it has metal mesh to collect the grease and oil and stop it from entering the room.


Haynes,
I've never been into my flood system, but I think that is the concept of the reclaimer on it.

[Haynes Forest Products]

VerMaple do you have pictures of your system. I like seeing what others are doing to get the max out of their systems. Most dairy pumps didnt have very big reclaimers and they were not ment for the higher temps and vacuums we are asking them to do.

[Dennis H.]

I finally got a day to mess around with the vac again.

I got the vac regulator and gauge all plumbed in and I have found that my homemade vac regulator works great, I can adjust it from 0 all the way up to around 20". I am planning on running 15". I now need to plumb the inlet to the outside of the shed for the mainline.

I also got my exhaust manifold made up I just forgot to pick up course steel wool to pack it with. I used two 3" PVC pipe T's with the middle leg being a 1 1/2" stepped down to 1 1/4" which it hooked up to the exhaust of the vac pump. Then the other 1 1/2 leg going outside of the vac shed. It sounds a little strange, I will take a few picks and post them later.

I worked alittle also on my Bender Milk Releaser, still have more to do with that.

[vermaple]

VerMaple do you have pictures of your system. I like seeing what others are doing to get the max out of their systems. Most dairy pumps didnt have very big reclaimers and they were not ment for the higher temps and vacuums we are asking them to do.

Haynes,
Sorry I missed your question. I do not have any pictures, but my pump is a DeLaval 76 vacuum pump that I bought at a farm auction and sent it over to Leader to have a Flood System installed on it. It came back from Leader looking almost like the one in their catalog. I run it with a 3 HP motor at about 22" HG. I've used it for 5-6 years with no problems with the pump.

[Parker]

Dennis-supper looking job-I run sp-22s and have a couple of suggestions,,,,these pumps get real hot,,the big pulley is a fan that blows cold air on the head to keep it cool,,,I would put some expanded meatel on the sides of the box for full free flow air,,,,#2 I never go thru more than 1/2 a quart of oil in a 24 hour day (unlike vane pumps-used to go thry gallons) I would not try to reclaim the mist that comes out the exhaust and run it thru the crank case agine,,it gonna be full of moisture and other stuff,,,might cacth the oil to dispose of it properly,,,,,,,#3 might want to get another evaporator,,I have an sp-22 on 670 taps in one spot that gave me 20 gal sap/tap (at 22"),,,,,,agine supper job

[Dennis H.]

Thanks Parker, Yeah I think a new evap is right up there at the top of the list. Just so many things to have and do & so little time to get them or do them.

The exhaust thing is just to keep the oil from making a mess. It would be nice to try and reclaim the oil but I was thinking along the sam eline as you, it would most likely have all sorts of junk in it.

I was think of adding a small fan in there to help cool the pump. Where the metal roofing meets the walls there is plenty of space for fresh air to get in, it is just that I want to be sure the air gets directed towards the pump.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I reclaime my oil and dont have a problem with water build up. Most of the DeLavals recirculated the oil into a tank built into the frame of the pump. If you start out with a clean system what kind of junk are we getting into the system? I reclaime my oil from about 3" off the bottom of the tank so moisture is at the bottom and can be drained every night if need be. Dennis why are you only going to run 15 HGs?

[Dennis H.]

Should I be running more?

I thought that these will run forever at 15". I didn't want to kill the pump and I was concerned about heat.

[KenWP]

Do vane pumps have those glass oilers so you can see and set the oil drip for the oil lines. I used vacuum pumps for years that had those but they were for pumping water into tanks not sucking air from plastic lines.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Ken,
I haven't used them for maple, but the last 2 dairy pumps I had were vane pumps with the little drip oilers that could be adjusted. One a surge alamo and the current one, a boumatic with a 7 and 1/2 horse motor on it. My understanding is that this drip is not adequate to cool the pumps at the 22 to 24 inch vacuum we are trying to achieve. Thus the change to a flood system.

[KenWP]

They don't work worth beans for a Honey wagon either. I had to use hydro Trans oil fianlly to get it to flow right and still they burnt out the vanes which cost just about $800 bucks a set at least once a year on me. These pumps run at more then 40 hg but you don't run them more then a few minutes at a time and it takes a couple guys with no brains and a strong back to pick just the pump up.

[Dennis H.]

I now hae the vac shed wired and ready to go.
I have a switch in the sugarshack to turn on the vac.

I am still working on the releaser, I need to get 2, 1" check valves. I found a place on the internet that sells clear PVC swing check valves that do not have any spring in them so I will be ordering 2 of them shortly.

I also have a lead on a whole milking system. I stopped by the other day to ask if they were willing to sell. They haven't had dairy cows in there in I would say about 10 yrs. The gentleman is going thru a rough time with cancer, which I didn't know when I stopped, so they said they would get back with me shortly on that.

[Dennis H.]

I finally got the manifold made that I will use to bring the mainline to the releaser.

I am planning on attaching the vac line to the top single fitting and the bottom single fitting will be attached to the releaser. There will be a check valve in that line.

As you can see I made 3 holes for mainlines, I will just plug the if not used.

I used 4" test plugs for the end caps. I was going to use cleanouts but I figured that they would more of a pain to remove and the best part I found that the test plugs cost less than the cleanouts.

I think I have about $10 in the manifold.

[lastwoodsman]

Dennis
Did you ever try your manifold? How did it work?


Woodsman


I finally got the manifold made that I will use to bring the mainline to the releaser.

I am planning on attaching the vac line to the top single fitting and the bottom single fitting will be attached to the releaser. There will be a check valve in that line.

As you can see I made 3 holes for mainlines, I will just plug the if not used.

I used 4" test plugs for the end caps. I was going to use cleanouts but I figured that they would more of a pain to remove and the best part I found that the test plugs cost less than the cleanouts.

I think I have about $10 in the manifold.

[grumpy]

great set up. i have one just like it. very important to know your rpms with that pump. you will be happy with it