Originally Posted by
TreeTapper2
Dogpatch I noticed my end taps pulling air into the lines right from the trees. The taps are snuggly set. Is it normal to pull some air from the trees? Not all taps were giving sap today. Vac ran about 12" up to 19" at the pump. How do you find leaks? From my observation the lines that had less sap hindered my vac reading so I'm assuming the shurflo pump needs a lot of sap flow to build pressure. Is this correct.
Leppell are you building your own evaporator. As far as filtering goes I batch boil and pour into a bucket when near syrup. I then let it sit a week or two to settle out the niter. Then pour of the clean syrup, reheat, and filter through orlon filter. It comes out crystal clear.
You will see some gasses coming out of the trees. With leaks you are looking for sap speed more than how much air is in the tubing. When trees are just starting to wake up there will be more air in the tubing. However, under vac your lines should move at a moderate pace. Any lines that are racing along have a leak somewhere. I usually look for where the racing sap starts and that is where my leak is. On my bush I usually pull 12-15" on the main with Shurflo.
Camp Wokanda
Peoria Park District
2023 - 210 on 3/16 shurflo, sap storage shack w/ 1100 gallon tank - 123 gallons
2022 - 210 on 3/16 shurflo, homemade vac filter & water jacket canner - 104 gallons
2021 - 215 on 3/16 shurflo, added 2nd membrane to RO - 78 gallons
2020 - 210 on 3/16 shurflo, upgraded hp pump on RO - 66 gallons
2019 - 150 on 3/16 shurflo, Deer Run 125 dolly RO - 73 gallons
2018 - 120 on 3/16 shurflo, 2x6 raised flue w/hood, homemade arch w/ AUF & AOF - 34.5 gallons