I’ve stumbled upon the idea of using a de-icer in my sap tank. Not to keep it in liquid form constantly but turn it on a bit before I start boiling to thaw it out.
Any opinions on submersible de-icers?
I’ve stumbled upon the idea of using a de-icer in my sap tank. Not to keep it in liquid form constantly but turn it on a bit before I start boiling to thaw it out.
2016- 7 taps w/ cement block arch
2017- 41 taps w/ homemade oil barrel arch with a2x3 pan in a 8x8 shack
2020- Got a 2x3 wfmason arch
I use a submersible bucket heater to warm my wash tank and it gets burning hot. I'm afraid you would cook the sap that's right next to the heating element while the rest thaws out. You could wrap your lines in heated pipe tape, but if it's cold enough, the sap will freeze anyway.
I ran into this during a really cold snap last year. The temp dropped so quickly that a 1" line of moving sap froze solid within a short time of turning on the RO. I have to look back at my notes, but I think it was under an hour. In the future I'm going to make a better effort to boil everything off before the deep cold runs set in, but I won't beat myself up either if I can't. Mother Nature doesn't seem to give a crap about my schedule.
Woodville Maples
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Around 300 taps on tubing, 25+ on buckets if I put them out
Mix of natural and mechanical vac, S3 Controller from Mountain Maple
2x6 W.F. Mason with Phaneuf pans
Deer Run 250 RO
Ford F350
6+ hives of bees (if they make it through the winters)
Keeping the day job until I can start living the dream.
Radio Silence.
Last edited by amaranth farm; 04-06-2018 at 01:49 PM.
We have used an incandescent bulb in the arch to keep the unit from freezing since I was a kid. Even worked when we went below zero for a stretch. If it starts to skim add another bulb.
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