Questions on drilling and CV taps

[Biz]

I looked at all the CV spouts that I took down this year. Of the 69 that I had out, there were 18 that had issues. I'm thinking many could have been my fault. This has probably been covered before.

Two had the ball jammed towards the tree side so no sap could flow at all. Not sure when this happened. You can see the two taps at the left of the photo where there the jammed ball is obvious. Not sure how this could have been my fault but you never know.

16 taps had small wood chips that prevented the ball from seating. I'm thinking this is operator error. I use a 5/16 tapping bit and high speed Milwaukee drill, drill in quick, out quick, per standard tapping procedure. The bit is a few years old and could be worn. Would a dull bit cause the wood chips? Should I be inspecting each tap hole for chips? If so what is the approved way to remove them.

I use 3/16" runs, some gravity only and some on a diaphragm pump, used some with fitting for 5/16 drop and some with 3/16 fitting. Any advice appreciated.

Dave
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[Maple Man 85]

There could be a number of variables here...

We tap our trees when the wood is frozen (this prevents tearing of the wood fibers) the fibers I see don't look to be from bit shavings (these appear to be much smaller). Another thing to look at you already touched on was the drill bit. We use leaders 5/16 tapping bits and they work well for us, as the bits dull we've noticed you'll see the bit not cutting properly by looking at the hole at the 5 and 11 o-clock marks. When removing chips DO NOT blow in the hole carry a piece of wire or twig sanitation=yield.

The stuck check balls could be direct from the factory tough to say...