CDL Releasers

[Amber Gold]

Anyone using CDL releasers? Wondering how they compare to Bernard/Lapierre.

Is a double vertical adequate for 2500 on high vac.?

[Randy Brutkoski]

I have 2 Lappierre releasers and 1 CDL releaser and I like the CDL the best. The CDL is the only one that didnt fail this year. And you would think it would be the other way around with the CDL having so many more moving and mechanical parts. But it might be the luck of the draw with what you buy. good luck

[Haynes Forest Products]

I have 2 Bernard double releasers and Only hade one malfunction when the tank lid fell jamming the pivit arm:mad: 1 bunji cord later I was up and running

[PATheron]

When I buy new I try to buy horizontal ones now just becouse its easier to clean the ice out in the mornings plus they dump straight down. I bought the new 4000 cdl one last year, horizontal, and it was a real nice releaser but kept sucking sap up the suckline feeding it initially. I lowered the float all the way down and put a couple pieces of tube up under the splash guard under the continuous vac port and then it worked real good. Never have had any problems at all really with the bernards other than the float freezing inside them and then you cant take the lid off. Theron

[802maple]

You can with a big enough pry bar as I seem to remember, right Theron

[PATheron]

Yeah, only problem is then the float comes off. I like the big guy you gave me the best. Theron

[Randy Brutkoski]

Mike Christain told me about that. I never knew a releaser could explode into a million pieces. That must have been a sight.

[DrTimPerkins]

Mike Christain told me about that. I never knew a releaser could explode into a million pieces. That must have been a sight.

Don't know the story....but wouldn't mind hearing it (vacuum level, style of releaser). One small detail though....a releaser under vacuum would implode, not explode. Same result though....lots of pieces all over the place.

I had a small vacuum chamber (2-3 gal) I was standing next to implode one time several years ago. Fortunately I had just turned around and was facing away from it. A few seconds before I had my face right up to it looking at samples inside the chamber. Took a few hours for my hearing to get back to almost normal and was pulling plastic from my hair (back when I had more hair) for a while. In looking at the remains, it became clear that the borrowed chamber had gotten heated and deformed in one area at one point at the base. This was the point where it failed.

This is also a good precaution for people. If your releaser has some imperfection (dent, crack, area that got hit hard with a sharp object or overheated/melted), it'd be best to either get it fixed or replace it. When these things let go at high vacuum levels....you don't want to be around.

[PATheron]

I think Mike was talking about my double bernard. I went out to the shed one morning to check it after being up real late, etc, etc. Pulled the flap open on the bottom of it without thinking and it was the side under vac. There was maybe 27" of vac and when I opened it it blew the float upwards with such force it broke a lot of the mechanism on the top of the releaser. Theres real heavy duty molded plastic or whatever it is that makes up the rocker mechanism and all that was snapped in half and broke. I was able to fix it later on but had to buy some new parts. It was my fault and an absent minded move checking for ice all tired out. Theron

[Amber Gold]

I've heard that there were issues with the lapierre horizontal and last years cdl double vertical. Has anybody else experianced any issues with those?

Aside from dumping vertically, is there any other reason to go with a horizontal vs. a double vertical? It seems the horizontal would be better because of less moving parts, but I would think the double vertical would maintain more consistent vac. levels.

[Brent]

The experiences of members with releasers over the last few years may not be valid for current models. I was told that the old guy "Bernard" wanted to retire and tried to leave the business to his daughter, who screwed around a bit then sold the rights to someone else who promptly changed the design and introduced some new problems of his own.

I got 3 new small mechanical Bernards for this past season and had to add weight to the floats on all of them to get them to drop and re-open the vac valve. I don't honestly know who made them ( before or after the daughter act ) but they were dated from a couple years back. ... guess the dealer had them in stock a while.

[caseyssugarshack93]

Bernard's are made by lapierre that i know of. so really lapiere and Bernard's are built by the same people

[Brent]

Not challenging what you say but all this was reported to me as happening in the last 12 months or so. So they may not all be made under the same roof today.

[Haynes Forest Products]

My 2 Bernards were built 3 years apart I think and they are identical. Love them:)

[caseyssugarshack93]

theres a very good possibilty ur correct brent, I have no idea, i just thought it was all bernard and lap