Washing tubing & Check Valves

[ennismaple]

We're doing our own 500 tap test bush with the check valves this year and I was wondering about how they affect the need to wash the tubing as the check valve adapters will reduce/eliminate bacteria in the lines from contaminating the taphole. We vacuum wash so the check valves aren't an issue like they are for those who pressure wash. I know some of you don't wash your tubing at all but many of our lines are flat so we chose to flush them out to keep the crap from building up. We probably over wash our tubing by sucking about 1/2 cup of hot water through each tap. I was thinking that we could reduce the amount of time spent washing lateral lines by sucking a cup of water through the end tap at the head tree to push the fermenting sap through the line and then sucking just a little water through each other tap to get the dropline clean.

Thoughts? Comments?

[Haynes Forest Products]

I have friends that clean there tubing with a cleaner that they use in the milk house and they have more squirl damage. They think that its the salts in the liquid. Now on the other hand I hear all this talk about leaving sap in the pans to ferment and it falls off the sides of the pans. Why doesnt the same thing apply to tubing. It ferments and then drys up some making snots that get sucked out of the lines.

Does the fermentation process create alcohol that cleans the lines some what?

[NH Maplemaker]

Thats what I have been told . The sap ferments and that cleans the lines ! I don't know anything about it, but I like clean lines!! There is a larger producer a little north of me and there not cleaning there line at all any more!

We also clean with vacuum, start at far end and work our way home! Jim L.

[maplecrest]

this year i did not wash my tubing. over the summer wter that was in the drop lines i would empty. the water smelled like vinegar. i will say the tubing looks cleaner than it ever did. no green slim in drops ect.but do not know about the main lines

[maple flats]

Dr Tim Perkins had at least 1 bush they did not clean last year (I think as an experiment on the new CV adapters. He can likely answer this after the season. If you are to clean from the bottom you will need to remove the adapters, but they will need removing before the next season anyways. I think the big question might be if your T's have a plug stub for the stubby spout?

[Haynes Forest Products]

I dont clean my lines and we start pulling taps at the far end and suck them as clean as possible. I will go out on a limb and say that if you clean your lines with a biodegradabe cleaner and you run it thru your lines and seal them up and there is bacteria that is in the tubing pores over time the cleaner will quit qorking and the lingering liquid in the lines will grow bacteria.

I know its better to clean the lines and reduce the amount of crap BUT if you reclean the lines in the spring. And I tap vac and throw out the sap until its running clean how far apart are we.

[Brent]

Last year was my first year with vacuum so my experience is limited but I took a bunch of fresh water to the bush on the gator, ran the variable pressure pump to just enough pressure so I could see water coming out the top, walked around and pulled each tap until the fresh water came out. Let it sit a couple days and then let it drain.

Then I repeated the process with the SMBS membrane preservative. Pumped the whole system full of it. Might have use $ 10 of SMBS for 160 taps and I had lots left over that I just left in the tote tank in the bush.

Right now the entire system looks as clean as the day I put it up. We'll see how start up goes after draining and flushing again.

[Jeff E]

Brent, any squirrel problems?

[Brent]

Squirrels ?
Yeah they drive the dog nuts.

But I have not had one chewed that I could see, and I've been looking. That stuff is Sodium Meta Bisulhate so I have been concerned about the sodium attracting the tree rats. We'll see when I put on the vac. Actually I'll likely see when I pull the old drops to put on stubbies and check valves.

[ennismaple]

We've got tee cups for each dropline so we'll vacuum wash and leave the old adapters on the stubbie until the following season. I refuse to wash our laterals and mainlines with anything but hot water. We've got over 12 miles of laterals and probably 5 miles of mainline so I don't want to have the critters chew on them any more than they already do out of curiosity.

Has there been any research done to quantify the benefit, if any, of washing tubing vs simply pulling the taps and capping them off until next season? I can pull 4000 taps in a day but if there's a benefit of more sap and/or better syrup the following season I'll take the extra couple days to wash up.