Bender tubing

[Bricklayer]

What type of tubing do I need to get to install the check valves and tee.s to my bender? I was able to find 1/2" clear vac hose for the vacuum line for the top vacuum line.
The bottom of the glass jar has about a 3/4 or slightly bigger nipple on the glass. Can I just use 1" OD reinforced clear pvc tubing? The glass nipple has a lip around it too so I was thinking of heating the tubing up and forming it to the nipple and then installing the hose clamp.

[Ontario Ian]

by reinforced do you mean braided?

[Bricklayer]

This is the reinforced PVC

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[Ontario Ian]

I've tried that stuff before, it collapses with higher vacuum.

[Bricklayer]

It's really the only thing I can get to fit. Maple mainline is to stiff. There really isn't any of the tubing fully exposed to vacuum as the tubing is basically only holding the fittings. And it's only used for 1 fitting on the bottom of the bender. All others connections are rigid pvc. I'm going to try it and see how it holds up to 22". Don't plan on running the bender higher then that

[maple flats]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the bottom fitting the dump fitting? If it is, the braided or a plain PVC will work, it should never have vacuum on it. You may want to try 7/8 ID, I think Lowes and Home Depot have it..

[Bricklayer]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the bottom fitting the dump fitting? If it is, the braided or a plain PVC will work, it should never have vacuum on it. You may want to try 7/8 ID, I think Lowes and Home Depot have it..

The bottom fitting is both the dump and vacuum line. Off the bottom of glass jar it has a tee with a check valve and a check valve for the dump line. I really only need to connect the glass jar to the t with the tubing. The other check valve is connected to tee with such 40 pvc soI think the pvc tubing will work fine since fittings barbs will be touching each other and the tubing is basically just a union to connect them with hose clamps. Should have it set up in a couple days to try out so I will find out. I can't think of another way to connect it to the bottom of the glass bender jar.

[WESTMAPLES]

i use 7/8 or 1 inch inside dia. clear reinforced hose/ tubing ... i bought mine at home depot in the plumbing section it came in 12-18 inch lengths, warm it up slide it on and clamp it. and i run all my benders at 25 + in vac , i use the bottom glass nipple for the dump check valve only, i use the nipple on the side ss top hat as my intake with a check valve just before it. it works great .... all my pumps are on timers for on/off and for when they turn off i have a T just before the intake check with another checkvalve so when the pump goes off the bender jar drains fully so it wont freeze up ( ive had them freeze, they dont break , its just takes alot to thaw) and the sap can flow gravity while pump is off. good luck benders work decent for a small price

[Bricklayer]

i use 7/8 or 1 inch inside dia. clear reinforced hose/ tubing ... i bought mine at home depot in the plumbing section it came in 12-18 inch lengths, warm it up slide it on and clamp it. and i run all my benders at 25 + in vac , i use the bottom glass nipple for the dump check valve only, i use the nipple on the side ss top hat as my intake with a check valve just before it. it works great .... all my pumps are on timers for on/off and for when they turn off i have a T just before the intake check with another checkvalve so when the pump goes off the bender jar drains fully so it wont freeze up ( ive had them freeze, they dont break , its just takes alot to thaw) and the sap can flow gravity while pump is off. good luck benders work decent for a small price

I am using the 1 of the original bender check valve tees with the ball in it and I have to add another check valve for the dump. Only clear pvc check valves I can find have the spring in the flapper. Can I still use these style check valves or do I need one without springs?

[WESTMAPLES]

honestly i used spring loaded CV and it truely adds alot of restriction , i changed all mine over to the clear pvc flapper style CV and liked them alot better just for the fact they had no restrictions when the sap was flowing like crazy . and if you have any issue with the bender float hanging open or boncing between cycles add more weight to the float shaft, i doubled the weight on mine so it could cycle smoothly under high vac. i put half the weight above the top clip on the float shaft and the rest right on top of the float itself .