lesson learned about [clean] taps

You'd think after 20+ years, you'd have this all figured out, but its still a learning thing. End of Feb, some of the trees i'd tapped first week of Jan had slowed, some stopped. The near 70 degree days didn't help - Anyway, I took some 2 dozed buckets off & pulled the taps, went to some trees farther out, harder to get to that I hadn't tapped & did so. 1st run was o.k., almost immediately though, they start to slow up, some stopped pretty quick. I took them all down Thursday, all were done except for the last one, this one i'd put a brand new unused tap in. The taps I reused were all coated with a slimy goo, the slots sealed right off. Probably cost me a few gallons of syrup in the end, maybe this will keep someone else from repeating my mistake though. Clean taps only! All done for the season, a little over 1400 gal of sap, 200 behind last year, but good none the less.

Interesting and makes sense. I have my 30 taps soaking in hot water as I type. Wish there was a good way to remove, clean and re-use my 3/16" taps....

I'm using seasonal 5/16 for a cost of $.16 each I will replace them each year. UVM research shows huge declines in reused plastic taps.

All of my taps are new every year. I started tapping Jan 8, finished the last on 2/20. I'm still going on 4/1. You will never get that on taps that were usaed before except maybe SS taps that were properly cleaned. At the price of taps you are being penny wise and pound foolish using taps more than 1 season.

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Originally Posted by maple flats

All of my taps are new every year. I started tapping Jan 8, finished the last on 2/20. I'm still going on 4/1. You will never get that on taps that were usaed before except maybe SS taps that were properly cleaned. At the price of taps you are being penny wise and pound foolish using taps more than 1 season.

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Couldn't agree more!

Last batch of taps I bought were 1.50 ea. - I can't throw those out -

I boil all my taps at the end of season and beginning of season. Tapped late in January. I have 40 buckets with 7/16 cast and they lasted over 1.5 months... there are 3 still running!
I have 10 5/16 plastic that i reused from last year and all are still going! Tapped at the same time! But sap is getting buddy now. Turned out to be a weird but ok season.

I will be buying all new taps to as the little I have read and look into everything points to that being the best idea however I can't figure out why if properly clean and sanitize a reuse plastic tap Could be less productive the following year something more I should look into I guess or maybe not as was said $.20 is pennies per tap.

Has anyone had any success in cleaning and reusing stainless steel taps?

I used 5/16 plastic check valve spouts this year. I was going to boil them and re-use next year. But have seen from many on this forum that research shows reusing plastic taps even after cleaning reduces production.

Wondering if the same applies to stainless steel?

Mark

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Originally Posted by Hkb82

... however I can't figure out why if properly clean and sanitize a reuse plastic tap Could be less productive the following year something more I should look into I guess or maybe not as was said $.20 is pennies per tap.

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You answered your own question in a semi-oblique way. It is not so much that you can't get them cleaner and thus improve the yield from used spouts which have been cleaned. You can get cleaned spouts close to the performance (in terms of sap yield) of new spouts, however it depends on how you do it and the sanitizing approach used. People who use the "suck in solution through droplines" under vacuum, although it is relatively quick and easy, get poor results due to low contact residence time of the sanitizer. Those who do it by removing the spouts or spouts/drops use a lot of time and sanitizing solutions. Therefore doing it that way (remove and soak) is not cost effective if you have a lot of spouts, but might be "good enough" if you only have a few dozen or so. For most producers, it turns out the approach that produces the highest net profit is simple annual spout replacement combined with drop replacement every 3 yrs (or so) OR using CV spouts/adapters and not replacing drops