dry line wet line

[red maples]

OK I was reading the north american manual and came across the wet line dryline set up. I don't understand. I know its a parallel set-up but why a dry line and how's that set up?

[maplecrest]

the dry line is to run vacuum deeper into your woods and maintain higher levels over greater distances. your wet line can be smaller. for instance say you have 800 taps. a 1 inch pipe by it self would be required[but not big enough] to get the vac over the sap in the pipe. but on a full flow the vac cannot transfer over the full pipe. so a 1 inch dry line and a 3/4 wet line will handle the full flow. if the 3/4 line is full the over flow will come down the dry line. i have the two lines hooking togather every 1000 ft. or at each jct. [branch line] that is comming into the wet dry line. for instance right after a thaw out and sap is really running. sap will be comming down both lines.

[red maples]

ok I think I get it I didn't know there was another vac involved now it make sense.

[220 maple]

Red Maples
Only one vacuum pump is needed. Every 1000 feet you have a vacuum booster, which can be a 6 inch piece of Pvc pipe a foot or more longer with the dry line hooked in the top of the booster the wet line is hooked in the bottom, Some boosters have vacuum gauges on them so you know how much vacuum you have at that booster. If you don't have much vacuum you have a leak on the pump side of the booster. I have heard of people having vacuums that run on gas out in the bush, just another way of keeping high vaccum to every tap.

Mark 220 Maple

[red maples]

so then if thats the case then even if the lines are frozen then the sap should still flow through the dry line until the wet line thaws and clears out right?

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Yes. It is important to insure that the dry line is as well sloped and as tight as the wet line so that there are no sags. If that happens, your vacuum is cut off to points further out on the line. If your wet line is frozen, sap can flow down the dry line but its primary purpose is the transfer of high vacuum further into the bush.

[KenWP]

Finally somebody explains a dry line. Made no sense to me untill explained. so if you really want to go hole hog you could have a wet line,a semi wet line and a dry line and never loose vacuum.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Jeez Ken, complicate it some more!;)

[Haynes Forest Products]

Come on guys why not complicate it thats what we do best. Its all about the pressure differential. High pressure will always flow to the low pressure. Liquid flowing has more friction than air and vacuum has the least. So when you turn on the vacuum pump removing as much air as possible what your left with is almost nothing in the dry line:) I think what confuses people is terms like vacuum booster the larger tank that is installed at the connection points from the dry line to the wet line is better described as a vacuum breaker/anti siphon tank. It might act as a vacuum resevoir but is ment to keep the sap from getting sucked up into the dry line. A vacuum booster like on a trucks brakes helps multiply the pushing force of the brake pedal the tank in the wet line doesnt boost the amount of vacuum (HGs) you get from your pump.

[vermaple]

The object is to provide line capacity to allow and maintain equal vacuum throughout the entire system.

[3rdgen.maple]

I had some wet buckets and some dry buckets setup last year. It was not by choice just worked out that way. I have to wonder though would Ken's idea actually work. Wet line, Semi wet and dry line. It would be one long booster ( i don't like that description either it gives a false image of what it is)
How about sap trap.

[vermaple]

I had some wet buckets and some dry buckets setup last year. It was not by choice just worked out that way. I have to wonder though would Ken's idea actually work. Wet line, Semi wet and dry line. It would be one long booster ( i don't like that description either it gives a false image of what it is)
How about sap trap.


That basically describes what a dry line does. Bypasses any sags on your mainline that restricts the flow and shuts off the vacuum, thus equalizing the vacuum.

[jason grossman]

ahhh finally!! haynes thank you for your explaination on the wet/ dry and "booster" terms. at least one other person knows what's going on!! being that i install tubing systems for a living i am constantly running across people who think a "booster is needed and will help them increase the "Hg. what you get the pump is the best you'll ever do! i wish people and companies would use correct non cofusing wording. it makes my job longer when someone needs re-education!

[brookledge]

Boosters will increase Hg" in the bush if there is a reason you are losing it like turbulance in the wet line. But you are correct that you will never get more than you have at the pump
Keith

[Haynes Forest Products]

And I would agree with that statement. I still dont like booster though.

[jason grossman]

if you need a "booster" to help in the turbulence department your system is undersized. a very common problem. too many people opt for the cheaper smaller line and try to squeeze as many taps on them as possible. in the end you may save a few pennies but will lose dollars in syrup.

[caseyssugarshack93]

how can one tell if they have turbulance in the system even if you can't see inside the pipe to know what is going on?

[maplecrest]

you see it flowing in the releaser

[caseyssugarshack93]

would i need to do anything different if i have a 3/4 " mainline running 1200' away to the very end with 500 taps on it and the same Hg at the end of the mainline as at the pump? what can i do to inprove it?

[Haynes Forest Products]

Now we have a delema because we have "turbulance" does that mean the sap is not flowing in a orderly fashion or does it mean the sap is flowing so good that it is flying down the mainline? I often wonder when Im sitting out in the woods with a cold Coors Light looking at the lines pondering life itself..................does air move sap or does sap move air...........then from the truck comes that scream from the mother of my children Chuck get in the %^%$^%$#ing truck their waiting for sap lets go or your walking back.

[KenWP]

Now we have a delema because we have "turbulance" does that mean the sap is not flowing in a orderly fashion or does it mean the sap is flowing so good that it is flying down the mainline? I often wonder when Im sitting out in the woods with a cold Coors Light looking at the lines pondering life itself..................does air move sap or does sap move air...........then from the truck comes that scream from the mother of my children Chuck get in the %^%$^%$#ing truck their waiting for sap lets go or your walking back.

Coor's light is the problem. Try diet coke and you can get figure it out. Which came first the chicken or the egg. Maple syrup or burnt pans. I can go on.

[jason grossman]

ah turbulance! sometimes could describe most of our relationships with our wives during sugarseason. but in this case i would describe it as a chugging in the lines, you see it as a pulsing of sap in the releaser. if your system is right the sap will flow in the releaser in a constant stream half or less the size of the pipe it is flowing in. most all systems work well but in principle a line should not be more than half full (except maybe a wet/dry system). the idea is to provide uniterrupted continuous vaccum to the 5/16 lines. i have pondered long and hard with a coors in hand watching my lines in the pumphouse, and have come to the comclusion that no matter how we do things, the same or different there is no better place to be!:D

[caseyssugarshack93]

So what is your guys experience that do this for a living on the Max. # of taps that one could have on a 3/4" mainline before it becomes turbulant that i start to loose my Hg at the very end 1200' away. i still want to be able to hold the same Hg at the end of the mainline as i have at the pump?

[jason grossman]

casey, that's a hard one to answer i know the is a recommended amount but i have found in my experience that it depends on the amount of sap in the line and not the number of taps. the tighter the line and the less sags and better the slope the higher the volume of allowable liquid. if the line runs full, you have too many trees on it.