Hop Kiln Road 2013

[Parker]

Line up some more taps! Some fine trees around bow..study tax maps for the owner of the lost sugarbush. Get out into that snow,,pull new line...go man go...or...now that you have a squeezer a sucker might be in order..maximize that flow..don't kick back and nap like a weezer. Go man go!!!

[Russell Lampron]

25* this morning and light snow until noon, then it ran .5gpt by 5PM. Tree are still snowed in and some of the lines are buried. Still snow on top of all the tanks. Jugged 10 gal of light from the 1st boil yesterday. Still developing a system.

Well, to be honest Professor Lampron, it is a little boring. First you sit around watching the RO RO. Then, after a couple of hours, you fire the rig and crack the draw off on one side for 30 minutes and then switch sides. So it gives you plenty of time to do other things. Either I'm going to have to find a hobby or I'm going to take a bunch of beer down to the SH.

You're doing it wrong Bruce! You don't sit around and watch the RO RO. You get enough sap in the feed tank for the RO so that you can run it for a little while and then you go gather more sap to keep it going. If you have all of your sap gathered there must be something that needs your attention while the RO is ROing. I know that there is always plenty to do here.

Yesterday for example we pumped the sap up the hill. While the sap was pumping we turned the vacuum pump on. Once the sap was pumped we got the RO ROing. The wife was making maple coated nuts and wanted us to try some. They were good. The RO is still ROing. We ate lunch. The RO had been ROing for about 2 hours at this point. We flushed the sugar out of the RO then started a rinse cycle. While the RO was rinsing we went down to the releaser to check the vacuum level and to see how much sap was coming in. At that time we timed the dump cycles and found that we were getting 100 gallons per hour. The sun hid behind the clouds and the sap flow slowed. Then we went back up the hill and got the RO ROing again. Next it was time to move a cord of wood up to the outdoor wood furnace. Time to check the RO again before going in for dinner. RO squeazing just fine. Go in for dinner, lazagna, yummy. Now it's time to boil. The concentrate is at 18%, Sweet! Guest come to check out the sugar house and to take pics and stuff. Guest leave, grab a boiling soda, get wash cycle started on RO and continue boiling. Boy I'm getting tired just typing this. Done boiling and it is time to check and correct the density of the syrup if needed. Not needed tonight, density is right on the money. Run syrup through the filter press and call it a night. Too tired at this point to can the syrup!

[Amber Gold]

Ditto what Russ said, and I'm tired just reading it. While the RO's working, I'm working as well. Walking the woods, hauling sap, cleaning the SH, heating syrup, talking to customers, and etc. There's always something to do.

[Amber Gold]

Bruce, I spent the other night boiling with the cold float box dumping into the wrong side of the flue pan. Couldn't figure out why the flue pan was boiling like crap...went to switch sides the next day on startup and realized it.

[Russell Lampron]

Club Med!! Far from it! The midnight oil was burning here last night. Richard got the RO ROing too late and we had to boil less than optimal concentrate. Wish I didn't have to work my regular job. It cuts into my sugaring time too much.

[Russell Lampron]

Ran part of the night and all day, almost a gpt although I won't call the conditions all that good. Je T'aime de K-bec said her membranes really like a special soap so I took care of it. Rinsed the feed tank. And the Vanquish stayed in the garage. Filtering backing up after ten gallons or so and when the concentrate starts to get over 10% Lost a couple of pints here and there to the floor, mostly me just being giddy. My new Smokey Lake canner thermostat is being temperamental, but got a plan to modify it. However, water bath is far superior for syrup quality. So the first run, a 4gpt tease, is probably ending with the storm and wind and cold over the next couple of days and we'll start again Saturday. Bigs runs are still 2 weeks ahead. Give me a little time to regroup.

So you're liking the new squeezer I take it. What's this filtering issue? You trying to filter as it's going into your draw off bucket? I can see where a big draw off would be a problem with that method. I collect all of mine in my 22 gallon finisher and run it through the filter press when I am done boiling.

[Russell Lampron]

Picked up a gpt tonight, 36*, 8" of snow on the tanks and the pipes were running hard. And now its going to gush. Saturday might be my first day to process a 1000 gal. So Russ, if an RO passing sugar, how do you fix it?

If it's an issue with a seal on the membrane or an improper installation it can be as simple as replacing the seal or properly installing it. Sometimes the brine seal can get torn or installed in the wrong direction so that the concentrate flows past it. If all of that checks out it's a problem with the membrane itself.

How much sugar are you passing?

[SWEETSAP]

Hey Bruce, on the filtering. Next season may see a new more effective process that would work from the draw like you are doing now. Very much suited to small operators. If you can I would hold off on that big purchase. If you think you are loosing sugar it may be from boiling 10% sap, especially if you have a steam hood on your flue pan. The pan can boil hotter and pop that sugar right out of the pan. I have been looking for our sugar loss since last season. Keep checking the RO but no sugar loss there. Yesterday I was using some of the condensate from the steam hood and noticed that it was foamy. Just as a lark I tested it and what do you know 1.8% sugar in water that before I went over 5% in at the FP was always 0.0%. There may be other places we are loosing sugar too (like when we left the head tank valve opened without hooking up the line to the evaporator and pumped 45 gallons of 8% onto the ground) I am still looking! Dan

[Russell Lampron]

Not sure if I'm passing sugar yet. The sap hydrometer says .4 but the refractometer, zeroed out with evaporation condensate says 0. But I think I'm missing sugar and the ends of the membrane housing are dripping and the drips appear to be increasing. Now the seal on the membrane would be the v-gasket and the brine seal would be the o-rings on the cover ends?

To check for sugar in your permeate boil down some permeate at about a 20:1 ratio. If there is sugar in it it will be easier to measure. I tossed my sap hydrometer because the paper had moved in it and it wasn't accurate. I use distilled water to calibrate my refractometer. The condensate from the steamhood can have sugar in it.

The brine seal is the v groove seal on the outside of the membrane. If it is installed backwards it will let sugar pass and if it is torn it will too. It seems that every RO uses a different membrane housing. Not sure what you have and what is causing the leak.

[Russell Lampron]

Well Bruce it looks like it is time to tear into that RO and find out where the sugar is passing. This probably a stupid question but you are keeping the RO in a heated room right? Hopefully it's something simple. If it's the membrane it is very hard to get warranty coverage. You have to prove to the manufacturer that it wasn't misuse or neglect on your part.