Leaks

[Tap&sap]

How much do small leaks affect vacuum system, I went out and replaced leaky taps, where taps had cracked, but did not notice a change in pressure. I have about 400 taps and found several cracks in my plastic taps. Overall my pressure is good, but I know I have more of these small air leaks. How much are these impacting my sap output

[BreezyHill]

When you say good what is good in your eyes?

Last season I hunted a leak for nearly all season. It was keeping me at 24 rather than 28+. That difference cost me in the area of 25% production on 800 taps... so in a normal season around 100 gallons.

every inch is worth around 5-7% increase in production per tap over the course of a season.

Last season we had to pull out early due to purchasing another store for our business.

Chace the leaks... in the end it costs you $$$.

[madmapler]

If you have a pump that puts out more than enough cfms then you may not notice any difference at the releaser with smaller leaks such as leaky taps and those leaks won't matter so much however, if you have leak in a lateral then the whole lateral suffers a vacuum loss and even beyond that to a degree even though the entire system may not suffer, it's more than just that tap.

[Clinkis]

I installed 2 ladders in my tubing system this year I was rather proud of how well they were working. I then proceeded to spend time repairing several small leaks only to see a decrease in vacuum and pooling below my ladders. I was then forced to introduce a small amount of air to mitigate the problem. From my observations, if you have enough CFM's a few small leaks are not a problem. I'm pulling 25" at the pump and releaser and 22"-24" below my ladders at the furthest points.

[Tap&sap]

Thanks for the info thus far, my pressure is 20 inches, pump deadhead ed is 22 inches. Some laterals I have found two or three slight leaks, how much is that affecting sap production on the laterals

[madmapler]

Thanks for the info thus far, my pressure is 20 inches, pump deadhead ed is 22 inches. Some laterals I have found two or three slight leaks, how much is that affecting sap production on the laterals

That's all relative to the severity of the leak and the amount of cfm's available. The estimate is around 7% sap loss per inch of vac. You'd have to check things out with a vac. guage to be certain.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Thanks for the info thus far, my pressure is 20 inches, pump deadhead ed is 22 inches. Some laterals I have found two or three slight leaks, how much is that affecting sap production on the laterals

Your entire system is losing 10 to 12% of potential production. The particular laterals where you found leaks, probably a great deal more.

[Tap&sap]

Thanks, i am finding the laterals with leaks really suffer and just don't move the sap as well