SP 11 running 25"

[backyardsugarer]

I have 600 taps on brand new tubing. The pump is pulling 25" at the releaser. I did not think those pumps would run that high. Is this too high? Should I put a regulator on it so I do not hurt the pump? She is running warm but not hot yet.

Chris

[Moonlitemaple]

Those small pumps werent designed for high Vac. I would say 18" of vac. would be enough for that pump. I milk my goats with a SP 11 and at 13" of vac., inside the barn, running for two hours it gets pretty warm. I run a little extra oil in mine, about half a pipe full in the glass tube.

[tuckermtn]

I have my sp-11 running at 23-24" (at the relaser) right now... ran for 36 hrs straight over the past two days...so far so good. I run amsoil compressor oil in it- not essential, but I like the little bit of insurance knowing it has wicked good oil in it.

spit on the head of the pump- if it sizzles, it too hot...

[danno]

Those Surges are piston, not vane - correct?

I know you cannot run the vanes very high, but have heard guys run those surges quite high without problem. My neighbor has a 22 that he runs 24-26 and has had it for years. I'm looking for one.

[Brian Ryther]

I am putting a sp 11 on line today. My question is where do you put the oil in, and how do you know when you have enough, and what is the dial with the spring on the top???

[Russell Lampron]

I run my SP 22 at 23" all of the time and did so last year too. I change the oil weekly even though it never looks like it needs to be. The side of the cylinder that is farthest from the fan is warm not hot. The cover over the valve at the top gets hot but spit won't sizzle on it.

Bryan there should be a tube that you can see through under the muffler. That is where you check the oil level. Unscrew the muffler and pour the oil in through there. Surge says that the oil should be 3/4" up the tube. Dial thing with a spring? Might be a regulator but I'm not 100% on that. I don't have anything like that on my SP 22.

[markcasper]

you have a bb2, or rv2 pump if it has the spring and knob on top

[backyardsugarer]

Put the oil right down the exhaust. I am glad to hear the rest of you are running vac that high without trouble.

Chris

[sfsshadow]

tried to speed up my sp 11 by changing the drive pully to 3''. pulled 25' for most of the season....till it threw a rod...found another sp 11. changed the pully back to 4". runs around 20"now.i dont think these pumps were made to run too fast

[Bucket Head]

I know for a fact that a SP-22 is rated for 400 rpm. I read that in an owners manual for one a couple of years ago.

I would bet that most, if not all the dairy pumps out there should be kept at that speed, or a little less. They are not high rpm units.

Steve

[Brian Ryther]

Markcasper,
You were right it is a BB2. I got hosed by the dealer. He told me it was a sp11. I know nothing about the surge pumps so I took his word for it. What can you guys tell me about it? I have it on 600 taps and spent all day chasing leaks. I have it up to 11" Is this the best I can expect? How many CFM is it rated for? Any info would help.

[markcasper]

A bb2 is s;ightly smaller than an sp-11. I don't have the exact specs. I have some of all of them laying around here, but only use the newest ones. Pretty bad when the newest ones are 60 years old.

The spring and knob were meant to reverse the air flow, thus making an air compresser basically. I have never tried that, but I know thats what it does.

I have a sp-11 on 570 taps which is a few too many, but I manage to get 15-18 " vacuum depending on the day. BB2 is a little small for 600, but better than nothing.

[lpakiz]

Mark, or anyone,
I have a SP-11 that I started running last Saturday. After 45 minutes to stabilize 200 taps, it was at 22 inches. I was very happy. Did that on Sunday and Monday, too. Today it won't get over 18 inches unless I pull the hose off the releaser and put my thumb over it. It climbs right to 23 or so then. Walked the lines but can't find any more leaks. Seems like about the same amount of air versus sap going thru the releaser all days.
Could it be weather related, like barometric pressure? Bender releaser dumps regularly. Will better sap flow (today) make it run less vacuum?
Any way to find leaks in a mainline? I found several squirrel punctures the first day, which I fixed. (Also screwed 4 rat traps to trees--got 2 of the culprits already) Also found a few SLOWLY leaking lateral fittings or taps that I put back in order. All laterals entering the saddles look good-bubbles moving very slowly. How can I detect a leak under a saddle? What am I missing?

[markcasper]

If your lines are fuller on sap then you will have less of a reading back in the woods. I would not think if the gauge on the pump is lower it would be related to air pressure. I am not smart enough to tell you an answer.

How is things running with this light rain with vacuum? Better than it has been?

It will be Thursday before I can get any vaccum going on here.

Try bringing a spray bottle of water along and squirting around the saddles or anyplace else. It has helped me more than a few times.

[lpakiz]

Mark,
I left the woods at 6Pm and it was running "nicely" Not sure what GREAT would be-first time with vacuum. The pump runs 3 hours per tank of gas (2 quarts) so it would have shut off at 9 PM or so. It's 7 miles to the woods, so I don't baby sit it. I'll see tomorrow how much ran since 6PM.
Thanks for the spray bottle tip--simple to try.
I read a post a few days ago by you where you said if you had serious air leaks, the Bender wouldn't work well. I guess any air that enters the system has to exit thru the releaser. Sure makes the float jump around when a bunch of air enters the jar. I have the inlet and exit at the bottom of the jar, just like when it was used in the milk house. Wonder if it would be smoother to use the wash-out port for inbound--air wouldn't cause as much turbulance because it wouldn't have to go up past the float. Would have to re-plumb the system--not an easy task as I have minimal slope and really can't afford to raise the inbound 10-12 inches to reach the wash-out port.
If you have any more thoughts, I would be glad to hear them. THANKS!!

[markcasper]

2 of the 3 that I run have the sap coming in through the wash port. The one comes in as it would in a milk house. I do not know if it makes that much difference, I would think you'd have better vacuum transfer on the top due to the vacuum wasted to 'lift' the sap up into the jar.

You are correct.......getting the bender to function so you can find the leaks can be a real pain. If I can get it up to 8 pounds, it usually works where I am not constantly running back down to the bender. Last year I did vacuum checking on the first day and the sap was running pretty good. The extra sap in the lines displaced enough of the air from leaks and was able to find the big ones quickly.

I have alot of tubing spinning on the fittings in one woods, that will probably cause a problem until enough bacteria grows in the lines and seals them off. The other woods recieved brand new drops, that was nice to tap them and went fast.

The spray bottle takes a little practice, but if you are getting 18", thats pretty good. It could be a number of things. I have had to rehammer every spile in some years, especially after a real cold snap, but we have not had that yet. What are you using for spouts/adaptors? Last year I had lots of new 7/16-5/16 adaptors that were leaking, another job, had to go around and find the bad ones and replace the whole spile and adaptor.

I will have vacuum on every thing by Friday, this rain and 38 degrees is eating me up. The trees love a light rain and they will run copious amounts with conditions such as this and on vacuum. Got my RO fired up and it is ok, thank God!

[Brian Ryther]

Keeping the BB2 @ 22" is a daily workout. It can be done. It ran at 22" for four days straight then it dropped to 18". I took an hour and walked up the hill. I found three new chew marks and one loose spile. Back down the hill to find 22". The BB2 can not over come any air leaks.

[backyardsugarer]

On a new tubing system the little sp ll can pull 24" everyday. The smallest leak drops the vac. big time as I have found out. Seems like it is down to 15 or 18 everyday I go out, find 1 leak and right back up in the mid 20's.

Chris

[lpakiz]

OK, I'll look some more. I was so happy at 22" and then to drop to 18 overnight was frustrating. I can find numerous SMALL leaks (just see the bubbles moving a bit too fast in the lateral loop at the saddle) but will keep looking for more bigger leaks. Not much fun in this slush and fog/drizzle THANKS!

[markcasper]

Larry, I got one of mine on line tonight with sp11. I started out at 5''. Found a tree that wasn't tapped, the drop hanging out. Immediately went to 12". Found some other chew marks and electric black taped them. After about 3 hours of doing a run through in the dark and fog, I was up to 19", good enough for tonight. Ny pump was only getting 21" after the releaser.