Homemade float valve

[Toblerone]

I just finished my homemade float valve. I borrowed ideas from RileySugarbush. It's basically a pivoting arm that push a faucet washer into a 1/2" copper pipe. I am using a small restaurant steam-table pan as a float. It doesn't have a lid, but I don't think anything will splash up into it.

Here are the pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46801370@N06/sets/72157623258145748/

Youtube video of the kitchen test coming soon.

I welcome any comments or suggestions.
Thanks,
Dave

[jrthe3]

that looks great i love to see what people come up with

[Toblerone]

Here's the test video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CFQBRq-3io

Now I just hope it works on a boiling, steamy evaporator!

[maple ridge tappers]

I started a thread looking for help on a float valve for my evaporator several weeks ago. This is what I was looking for. Awesome idea, just what I was looking for.
It's not patented yet I hope, because I'm going to use your idea.
Thanks for sharing your video, very much appreciated.
Happy tapping in 2010.:cool:

[KenWP]

Okay what the hell is the black gizmo for. Makes sense to me except the black thing. I have to look it over better and try and see if it's possible to use for my squirrly operation.

[Toblerone]

Okay.. the flickr photos now have a parts list and step-by-step instructions:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46801370@N06/sets/72157623258145748/

The black gizmo is a stainless fondue fork that the wife doesn't know I took from the drawer and cut the end off of. I am using it as the hinge pin.

[Big_Eddy]

Great work - thanks for posting. Will be copying when I get to that stage.

[smitty76]

toblerone, nice job;)

[RileySugarbush]

Very nice job! That is a bit more sophisticated than mine.

Depending on how high your feed tank is, you could probably get by with a much smaller float. I also have a 1/2 copper feed pipe and washer, and it pretty much shuts off a 6' to 8' head with a 7" diameter flat float acting directly on the pipe end. With your lever you could go even smaller.

Thanks for posting the photos.

[Toblerone]

Right now, my feed tank is the preheater pan that basically sits on top of the evaporator pan. I wonder how well this would work with a 7 or 8 foot head of pressure behind it. It already leaks a little with 1' of head. I wonder if any more pressure would make the leak rate go beyond the 20gal/hr evaporation rate of our 2x6 flat pan.

As for the float size, I basically had four criteria: 1) stainless, 2) cheap, 3) readily available, 4) could work without too much modification (i.e. no welding or soldering)... and the restaurant pan fit the bill. Someday I will be able to afford the $75 for a real float. I am hoping to have the float directly in the first channel of the pan, and maybe a being bigger will help dampen the ups and downs of being on a boiling surface. This is all just theory. I guess I'll know in 2 to 3 weeks!

As for the lever length, I probably could have gone a little shorter, but you need to strike a balance between closing force and travel distance. Ironically the faster you boil the lower the level has to be since the lever must drop to allow more sap in. But I guess that can all be adjusted with the wing nut.

Thanks everyone for all the compliments,
Dave

[RileySugarbush]

Mine will not shut off completely either, but that is OK, I don't plan on running at zero evaporation rate! It regulates very well, probably over a range of 5 to 60 gph.

I bet yours would shut off completely at 1 foot of head if you flip the washer over so the flat side hits the pipe and leave the washer screw a little loose.

[Toblerone]

In my testing it seemed to get better and better at shutting off the longer I tested it. With enough buoyancy force it shuts down to a bout 3 or 4 drops per second. I tried using a flat washer and it seemed to leak more, but it was also thinner, so maybe I should try flipping the tapered one. But the tapered one seems like it would self-center itself on the pipe, provided the screw is not too tight. Anyway I'll know better once this thing sees some action.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

With several feet of head, you could install a valve coming out of the head tank and close it off some to cut down on head pressure.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Now boys putting a valve in line wont decrease the pressure only the flow:rolleyes: On my store bought evap the rubber seals on the floats are a very soft and spongy material. Now that might be because they are bigger and need to be that way.

[Toblerone]

In a related float project, I attached a standard sump pump switch (http://www.amazon.com/Wayne-Pumps-Pedestal-Switch-56396/dp/B00062BTI4) (with a similar steam-table-pan float) to my preheater that connects to a small bilge pump (http://www.amazon.com/Rule-20R-Marine-800-GPH-12-Volt/dp/B000O8B854) located in the sap tank.

The cool part is that I calibrated the nuts on the float to allow it to pump 1 gallon each time the float switch gets activated. And, since the sump pump switch has an extra pair of contacts, I wired it to the equals (=) button on an old calculator. Then I setup the calculator by pressing (CLR) (1) (+) (=) to set it counting by ones. Now every time the pump gets activates the number on the display increases. So I should be able to see how many gallons have gone through. Now I realize I could just check the level on the tank, but this is much more fun!

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Haynes,

I might be wrong but in my experience, if you restrict the flow down enough, you are also cutting down on head pressure because you have a much smaller stream of liquid pushing thru the valve down the line. I may be wrong and it wouldn't be the first time.

[Haynes Forest Products]

WVM I would say a compromise is in order. Under flow you will have less pressure on the partly open valve with a valve regulating the flow but once the end valve closes the pressure will build to its maximum level. :)

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Haynes,

I agree with you also. Guess I didn't phrase what I was wanting to say correctly but was getting it slowing the flow down to close to what is going in the evaporator to reduce head pressure if it gets to be too much.

[Toblerone]

Well, my first boil of the season finally arrived and the homemade float valve performed beautifully. Much better than I could have ever hoped for. I was worried that the float pan (a small, floating steam-table pan) wouldn't get enough buoyancy sitting directly in the first channel of my 2x6 flat pan, but it was perfect. I was also worried that the boiling sap would interfere with its operation, but since the sap coming in was preheated only to about 100 degrees, the pan wasn't boiling vigorously under the float and it didn't interfere at all.

My little calculator-gallon-ometer worked really well too. It was nice to just look up and see the count. I boiled 135 gallons in about 7 hours.

[PeddlerLakeSapper]

Where do you get a calculator like that?

[Toblerone]

I found that calculator at the bottom of my kids toy bin! Then I just took it apart, scraped the traces on the PC-board that go to the equals (=) button, and carefully soldered wires to them. Then I tacked the wires in place with hot glue since the traces and the solder joints are fragile and easily torn off by those big wires. Then I melted grooves big enough to get the wires out, put it back together and filled the holes where the wires come out with hot glue, and added enough clear tape to keep it all together!

[Toblerone]

I boiled another 125 gallons on Friday, and 90 on Saturday, and the float valve worked flawlessly. Words cannot describe how happy I am to have removed that variable from the process. Next I have to insulate the doors (why is this not standard practice?) so they'll quit sticking, and maybe my next project will be an auto drawoff alarm, or even an auto drawoff valve in the future!

[Brookmaple]

Toblerone,

When you get a minute, post some pics of this float valve. I'd like to try something similar on mine.

Thanks--

[Toblerone]

Sure thing:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46801370@N06/sets/72157623258145748/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CFQBRq-3io

If you have trouble with the flickr photos, I'll be happy to find another place for you.

Or did you mean the other float valve that keeps my warming/feedtank pan full?

[Brookmaple]

Toblerone,

Absolutely brilliant! The photos and video were excellent--very helpful indeed.

Thank you,

[TRR]

I just built on except I used spongy gasket material to get it to fully shut off and I used a 2 quart stainless steel dog dish as a float.

Thanks for the idea.:)

[gar]

Head pressure is easy. 1pound for every 2 feet above where you are measuring at. i.e. If the level of your sap is 10 feet above your float valve you have 5lbs pressure at the float valve. your set up should easlly handle that. Them #'s are for water, might be a little more for sap because of sugar.Nice job!