Discouraged and down

[wildlifewarrior]

Hi everyone,

So we have a little 2 acre lot with about 1200' of 1 inch main and probably only 100 taps or so. Last year we tried to run a guzzler and after walking the lines for days only got about 7'' out of it, that was after turning the ladder off. This year we got a hobby releaser for our delaval 73. It ran awesome for a few days (spitting tons of oil though). Initially it was able to pull 27'' so we idled it down and leaked it to 20'' so it wouldn't overheat. We let it run for a long day because of better than ideal weather. When we went to start it up the next morning, it pulled 20'' then about ten minutes later vac dropped down to 17, then a few minutes later nothing! So we are in contact with Ben who has been great at helping us figure out what is going on with our delaval. So I grabbed last years guzzler in hopes that since the delaval was able to pull so many inches that the guzzler should do well also…. apparently not….ZERO inches!!!, there must be leaks or something but we redid our setup to increase gravity's help and still nothing! It is a new diaphragm and when I turned the mainline off about 3 feet from the pump, I could hear it starting to labor, so I know the potential for work to be done is there. Does anyone know potentially why there is such a difference, other than a leak somewhere?

I don't know if anyone else has had as many issues as us. We seem to hit road block after road block, and it is so stressful, and we are so tiny! People with 20 taps on buckets are getting almost as much as we are getting with 100 on high vac! We are at our wits end.

Thanks
Mike

[CampHamp]

If the pump starts to labor only after you close off the main line, then the tubing/taps are more likely an issue than the pumps, I think.

[gmcooper]

As said if you dead head the pump and it starts laboring your issue is leaks in the woods. Could be squirrel chews, taps popped loose, saddles leaking. Those diaphragm pumps can not over come much for leaks. The Delaval pump should be able to handle much more leaks as it would have substantially more cfm. If you have multiple shut offs you can isolate areas where the biggest leaks are.

[maple flats]

One of the biggest offenders is many types of saddles. They may not seal well. Try tightening the saddles a little.

[wildlifewarrior]

Thanks guys, and classically the season is just getting going and everything stops working.

I also forgot to mention with the guzzler I could see the lines pulsing, the sap would go up and down about an inch.

I appreciate the info.
Mike

[bowhunter]

I think I would add 3-4 valves to the system so you can isolate the problem area. Then start the system up with all the valves closed off. Open the valves one at a time until you locate the section which causes you to completely lose vacuum. I don't have any experience with vacuum on maple sap collection systems, but have battled vacuum problems in industrial applications for many years. You might also use an air compressor to pressure the system to a very low pressure i.e. less than 5 psi and walk the lines listening for the leak. Good luck.

[BAP]

I second what Bowhunter says about installing some valves to isolate sections. It makes it much easier finding leaks putting all your vacuum to one section at a time.

[morningstarfarm]

On lines that long I put a ball valve and a vac gauge every couple hundred feet..it will let you do a vac check on each section...and keep everything flowing up to the bad section...

[blissville maples]

not sure about the guzzler don't even know wha tthey are, but if its pulsing, i would maybe think that there a point where its losing its vacuum suction, and the vac level fluctuates. as far as you were describing the vacuum starting at 20, down to 15, then down to nothing.........i bought a 78 years ago and learned this same way. 25 overheats them, i ran mine 25 first year with same thing happening, they overheated and would not slide freely in and out of slots so many days i had to open housing and free them up in am, i kept trying this and eventually same thing happened ended up at nothing. i believe they overheated and became damaged so i bought new ones for 75 bux online and ran no more than 20, ran fine for past 3 years. mine was rapping pretty good as they were sticking since when they stick they lose contact with housing and when enough centrifugal force is applied (about halfway thru housing) they slide out slamming the housing creating the "rapping" noise many speak of. get new veins, make sure housing is smooth burr and nick free. it only takes 10 minutes to change them, soak newones in oil overnight

[1arch]

I don't have vacuum either but can individual laterals be pinched off systematically with a vice grip or something until the culprit is identified?