275 gallon totes...... help

>buck-buck-buck-buckAW!< :) So now even maple syrup tastes like chicken?!?!?! oh no!:o

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Originally Posted by Gissert

I got my first 275 this year. It contained a liquid yeast and the residual had a very stron ammonia smell. I flushed it out with water til it ran clear out the drain, then filled it with a bleach/water mixture and drove around for a few miles.

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Be very very careful here. Two things that you never want to mix together ever and most especially where ventilation is poor, is ammonia and bleach. Many people have died quickly from the toxic fumes given off when ammonia and bleach are mixed.

http://chemistry.about.com/od/toxicc...nd-Ammonia.htm

Good saftey point, and thanks! Not sure if it was ammonia or not, or just part of the yeast odor. I was not aware of the ammonia/bleach reaction. It certainly had that odor. I flushed all of that out prior to adding the bleach, and that smell was gone when I put the bleach in.

Gissert,

Did you buy those from the guy in Hopkins on Craigslist? I was thinking of picking one up but was concerned about the yeast smell. Still plan on heading over and checking them out though.

I picked up two of these this year and cleaned out with soap, hot water and a pressure washer. Still have a faint smell of the organic olive oil. Heck, maybe I won't have to use as much defoamer? Haven't boiled yet, so we'll see.

Attachment 5574

We have about 8 of them. Got ours after they had been used for Coke or Pepsi syrup. We washed them really well and left them sit with fans blowing fresh air into them for 2 weeks and they still smelled of vanilla, the main flavor in Coke. Fortunately vanillin is one of the common bacteria that make up the flavor of maple syrup. Never noticed it in the sap or syrup. It was undetectable after the first season.

We cut holes in the tops after the first season, about 2' x 2' feet and got a gutter cleaning wand for the pressure washer. Without something like this it is virtually impossible to clean the inside tops. Works great.

We have 3 in the bush with releasers on top, one for concentrate, 2 for permeate and a couple uphill for raw sap coming in.

Love them. Cheap, Lightweight.

Riley -

That was my source. It cleaned up very well.

quick question on 275 tote tanks- do they fully drain out the bottom valve?

Yes they pretty much drain out fully. Not 100% like a bulk tank but id say 98%

They would drain completely if the bottom would lay flat.
The plastic bottom on both of mine kind of have a small hump in the middle which causes some liquid to stay in the corners. If I raise the opposite side of the tank from the valve about 1" I will end up with just a tiny bit in the coners on either side of the bulge where the valve goes.