Shurflo's capabilities

[RileySugarbush]

I was surprised how well they work too. I was unsure if they would work with vacuum, but they do. I bought mine from Menards for a couple of bucks. Cheap imports I am sure, but I washed them to remove any oil and I'm happy with them. They are listed as red brass, which is an alloy of copper and tin and may or may not have a couple of percent lead, so that may freak some people out. The sap is in contact with these fittings for a fraction of a second at low temp. Material is similar to the fittings you find in the plumbing department at the hardware store, like faucets and barb fittings.

[Waynehere]

This is my 3rd season with Shurflo pumps and 1st season using the recirc line to help keep the diaphragm wet. What a difference that has made. The last warm period, we got 600 gal sap one day and 550 the next. That is on 270 taps. Use to only get 3-350 per day.

We have been using the cam-lock fittings. We use 5/16th for the main and laterals with runs up to 600'. I have not measured the actual vacuum, but I know it is pretty high. I use a piece of 1/2" pex to one of the shurflow barbed connectors, then a 1/2" pex to a 5/16th star fitting to hook my sap lines up.

http://www.camlock-fittings.com/poly...couplings.html

With the recirc lines though, I have been manually turning these systems on and off as the lines tend to freeze up in the tank during the cold snaps. So I drain what little sap is in the tanks, pull the inlet side of the pump apart and run the pump dry to keep the pump from freezing. On a warm up I will head out and hook things back up. I use to rely on the temp controllers, but had too many problems with the recirc lines as you need a puddle in the tank in order for them to work. But it has been well worth the little extra effort.

[Cedar Eater]

This is my 3rd season with Shurflo pumps and 1st season using the recirc line to help keep the diaphragm wet. What a difference that has made. The last warm period, we got 600 gal sap one day and 550 the next. That is on 270 taps. Use to only get 3-350 per day.

We have been using the cam-lock fittings. We use 5/16th for the main and laterals with runs up to 600'. I have not measured the actual vacuum, but I know it is pretty high. I use a piece of 1/2" pex to one of the shurflow barbed connectors, then a 1/2" pex to a 5/16th star fitting to hook my sap lines up.

http://www.camlock-fittings.com/poly...couplings.html

With the recirc lines though, I have been manually turning these systems on and off as the lines tend to freeze up in the tank during the cold snaps. So I drain what little sap is in the tanks, pull the inlet side of the pump apart and run the pump dry to keep the pump from freezing. On a warm up I will head out and hook things back up. I use to rely on the temp controllers, but had too many problems with the recirc lines as you need a puddle in the tank in order for them to work. But it has been well worth the little extra effort.

Thanks. In my case for now, the pumped vacuum will be at a sugarbush that is so far away that I don't want to drive there whenever it might freeze. So I was thinking that I would skip the recirc until I can find a way to make it work with a temperature controller in the system. But I do like those camlock fittings.

[awpoolco]

Guys, I have two lines each 500 feet, with 87 taps on one and 53 on the other, all 5/16 tubing with about 30ft of natural elevation. They are tied together at a 1/2" header. One runs like i expected with gas bubbles and sap. The other no gas bubbles and sap slowly trickles through. It seems like I have an air leak but cant find one anywhere. How can I find it? can I use a compressor at the end of the line and go walk until i find the hiss? or is there another way? idk about to give up

[BSD]

Guys, I have two lines each 500 feet, with 87 taps on one and 53 on the other, all 5/16 tubing with about 30ft of natural elevation. They are tied together at a 1/2" header. One runs like i expected with gas bubbles and sap. The other no gas bubbles and sap slowly trickles through. It seems like I have an air leak but cant find one anywhere. How can I find it? can I use a compressor at the end of the line and go walk until i find the hiss? or is there another way? idk about to give up

how about a stethoscope?

[mspina14]

Guys, I have two lines each 500 feet, with 87 taps on one and 53 on the other, all 5/16 tubing with about 30ft of natural elevation. They are tied together at a 1/2" header. One runs like i expected with gas bubbles and sap. The other no gas bubbles and sap slowly trickles through. It seems like I have an air leak but cant find one anywhere. How can I find it? can I use a compressor at the end of the line and go walk until i find the hiss? or is there another way? idk about to give up

I made a "leak tester" for my 5/16 tubing:

leak tester.jpg

Used a vise grip and a brass door hinge.

I run the pump (a Lunchbox) and turn off all the lines (using a valve in each line) except the one with the suspected leak. I start at the pump and walk along the line with the leak tester, clamping it on the tubing every 25 feet or so to stop the vacuum. With the Lunchbox, if the pump doesn't stop running when the line is clamped, the leak is between that spot and the last spot I clamped the line.

Not sure if a shurflo pump works the same way.


Mark

[Super Sapper]

Guys, I have two lines each 500 feet, with 87 taps on one and 53 on the other, all 5/16 tubing with about 30ft of natural elevation. They are tied together at a 1/2" header. One runs like i expected with gas bubbles and sap. The other no gas bubbles and sap slowly trickles through. It seems like I have an air leak but cant find one anywhere. How can I find it? can I use a compressor at the end of the line and go walk until i find the hiss? or is there another way? idk about to give up

It sounds more like you are plugged than leaking. If it were a leak you would have more bubbles and running faster.

[Super Sapper]

I collected 1340 gallons over the last 3 days on 340 taps. I have 280 on 3 separate shurflo lines with 3/16 and 2 run into 3/4 inch mainlines. Yesterday out of the 710 gallons collected I got 1 gallon per tap on the bags and 5 gallon containers (mostly yard trees) and 2.3 galloons per tap on the shurflo with 3/16. I use 2088 pumps and have 22 to 25 inches on the lines when running with 95 taps and 150 taps. The one with 35 taps I do not have a gauge on. I would have collected more on Sat. and Sunday but I had issues with the line with 150 taps both days but not on Monday. About 1/3 of the taps on the shurflo with 3/16 have no slope or very little. I have found that on the longer runs I only loose 1 to 2 inches on these at the end with no slope and up to 25 taps.

[awpoolco]

Well here is a new twist, I switched the valve on and off between the two lines and found that it will back feed the line with vacuum and not the other way around. What doe you suppose that means? Clearly something is different between the two lines. sap runs down this line but not in little columns like the other. It's like the sap is just poring down the line with air moving above the sap. I am going to take my air tank with about 15 psi from the bottom of the run and then check every seem. What do you think of that idea? Maybe i should rum air down from the top first to make sure it is clear all the way down? 45 deg today so I have to try something

[awpoolco]

Ok folks, I found a cut line and repaired it. No sap flowing so I couldn't really see if I found the whole problem. I used compressed air in my portable tank to feed air into the line. the lever nozzle fit perfectly into a tap. now several days to wait for some more sap to run...