Lunchbox Vacuum Releaser

[skinny78]

Has anybody seen or used this compressed air powered pump by Northwood SugarWorks? It is some sort of pump mounted in a cooler to prevent it from freezing. Runs on 30 some psi and is good for 100 taps. Sounds like something great for small producer. I am interested in what kind of pump it is? Does it have diaphragms that will need to be changed? Does it run in oil? What do you guy think?

http://www.northwoodsugarworks.com/about.html

[maple flats]

I looked at them at the Verona Maple Conf. They look to be small diaphragm pumps. You want at least 1 spar diaphragm on hand.

[markct]

Sounds like an air operated diaphram pump in the box. Personaly the idea of running my compressor all season sounds like alot of wear and electric expense!

[Acer]

I looked at them at the Verona Maple Conf. They look to be small diaphragm pumps. You want at least 1 spar diaphragm on hand.

Hi Dave,
Testing has shown this not to be the case. The diaphragm should be good for 100000 gallons and does not appear to be susceptible to ice damage. Thanks for stopping by in Verona.
Dean

[Acer]

Sounds like an air operated diaphram pump in the box. Personaly the idea of running my compressor all season sounds like alot of wear and electric expense!

Hi Markct,
Thanks for your comment. For those worried about wear and expense on their compressor,
a reference point is my 5cfm Dewalt runs every 15-30 minutes on 35 taps. Only when the sap is flowing though. The Lunchbox automatically matches itself to the sap flow, and stops using air when the sap flow stops.

Dean

[Acer]

Has anybody seen or used this compressed air powered pump by Northwood SugarWorks? It is some sort of pump mounted in a cooler to prevent it from freezing. Runs on 30 some psi and is good for 100 taps. Sounds like something great for small producer. I am interested in what kind of pump it is? Does it have diaphragms that will need to be changed? Does it run in oil? What do you guy think?

http://www.northwoodsugarworks.com/about.html

Thanks for the inquiry skinny.
it is an air diaphragm pump.
so far no need to change diaphragms.....
I do not understand your question about oil, the cooler is filled with clean water which freezes at 32f. Sap freezes at 31.7f. That difference though small is enough to keep the sap liquid in the pump at all times during the sugar season.

You can expect 15-20 inches of vacuum.
Thanks

[Clan Delaney]

Dean-

Is the frozen water in the box freezing just around the lines or the pump as well? Any issues or concerns with the pump housing getting tweaked by the expanding ice?

[skinny78]

I didn't know what kind of pump it was and therefore wondered how it was lubricated. Diaphragm pump = no lubrication.

[Acer]

Dean-

Is the frozen water in the box freezing just around the lines or the pump as well? Any issues or concerns with the pump housing getting tweaked by the expanding ice?

Hi skinny,
Thanks for the question, the ice does form around the pump but does not cause any problems.
My guess is that the water has somewhere to go when it is freezing so it doesn't exert much pressure on the pump.
also the pump housing is more robust than the cooler side....
The ice should only form downwards a couple inches from the lid. If its looking like its going to freeze more solid than that so that the pump is engulfed in ice its time to warm it up. That would be a rare long cold spell to freeze it that much.

The attached pic was from march 20 2014.
It was cold here. These are the AVERAGE temperatures from the preceeding days
date temp
3/12 33.5
3/13 21.3
3/14 18.8
3/15 30.9
3/16 28.4
3/17 16.77
3/18 20.1
3/19 27.0
3/20 35.4

The average temp was below freezing for 7 days before I opened her up to take the pic.
Lunchbox ice.jpg

I just wanted to add that the pic is of a prototype and not reflective of the quality of the production product!

Dean

[skinny78]

I have injected spray foam in cooler lids, this may help even more.