So here is my situation and solution. I tap 1700 trees on 9 mainlines with 2 different collection areas on releasers. I don't clean my lines or flush them and pull my taps and let them dangle in the wind. I tap under vacuum because I like the sound of all the leaks slowly getting fixed and watching the vacuum level rise as I get closer to finishing the section I'm on.
Now here is the problem and my solution to it. I tap and allow the cage tank to fill up with nasty sap and snots. I then dump everything that I collect and wait till its clear and then call it as to when I will save what I have. Because I take a few days to tap the entire bush even up to 3 because of conditions, time and repairs. The dilemma is that within 2 hrs I have 250 tap mainline producing nice clear 4% sap and there is 200 gallons of it in the cage tank. Then I open up the next mainline and I pollute the sap and this goes on for 9 mainlines over 2-3 days. I figure I lose about 500 gallons of sap it the season if conditions are right.
My solution is I have a 225 gallon water tank that can handle the vacuum. I will temporarily install it between the mainline and sap ladders with a site glass and good float check valve. Ill collect all the crap in the tank and once its clear Ill reconnect the mainline to the sap ladder and go on to the next mainline.
Ill be able to start collecting clean sap sooner without polluting my clean cage collection tank and relax during the tapping process. What do other people do under these conditions.