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Thread: Vacuum options in the woods ( Battery or solar )

  1. #1
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    Default Vacuum options in the woods ( Battery or solar )

    Looking to run a mainline in the woods- far away from power and no downslope.

    Does anyone have a good solution for running a vacuum in the woods- battery or solar power ?
    2010 40 buckets- 4 gals finished
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    2013 maxed at 130 buckets- 24 gals finished
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    2015 newest max 240 buckets-+48 taps on 3/16 gravity- 22.5 gals finished
    2016 150 taps on 3/16 gravity- 23 gals finished
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    2022 385 taps on 3/16 gravity- 26 gals finished

  2. #2
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    central NH
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maplesapper View Post
    Looking to run a mainline in the woods- far away from power and no downslope.

    Does anyone have a good solution for running a vacuum in the woods- battery or solar power ?
    Look up Shurflo pump setups. We run 4 in our woods, all on marine batteries and solar chargers.
    Steve

    2017
    2x8 Mason drop tube evaporator
    420 Taps
    3 surflo pumps on 5/16
    79 gallons of syrup made
    2016
    New kitchen addition to sap house
    400 taps
    52 gallons syrup made

  3. #3
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    Wakefield,New Hampshire
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    Quote Originally Posted by whity View Post
    Look up Shurflo pump setups. We run 4 in our woods, all on marine batteries and solar chargers.
    Are you running mainline or 5/16,3/16 straight into a manifold before each pump? And how many watts of solar, Ah batter storage do you have for each pump station?
    6th season solo sugar maker in a young sugar bush of mostly red maples
    320 taps
    2x6 self built arch, Flat pans w/ dividers
    New 12x16 sugar house
    CDL hobby 250 RO

  4. #4
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    Apr 2016
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    Mapleton Twp, SW Ontario
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    I run a couple small 12 volt pumps (1.7Amp max) together on a pair of truck batteries, along with 3 40watt solar panels... I find the solar panels don't keep up, and I need to charge the batteries fairly regularly... Especially this year, with the mild temps, I've been leaving the pumps run 24 hours a day lately.

    On a side note... If its OK, I'd like to share a little related brainstorming, I've been doing... And invite any thoughts or ideas... (note: my trees are a couple miles from my home and sugaring equipment... I pump the sap to a trailer on the road and take it home)
    This year, rather than carrying batteries in and out to charge them, I left a generator in the woods to run battery chargers periodically... but it is still a pain in the butt because it takes 2 or 3 hours to bring the batteries back up, with 10Amp chargers. So a fair bit of time or trips back and forth. An added bonus, was installing a 120v submersible pump, permanently, in my sap tank with a permanent 3/4" pipe to the road... (so, no more carrying pumps and hoses in and out) Just fire the generator up to run the pump and charge batteries at the same time) ... Now, I'm thinking that I could find a generator with electric start... and get a propane conversion kit. (available for most common small engines)... With propane you don't need to "choke" it, etc... and devise a controller that will fire the generator up whenever the batteries dip below 11.5V and run for an hour or two, to run the chargers.. This would allow me the convenience of being able to run some bigger 12V diaphragm pumps, while drastically reducing the man-hours spent re-charging batteries. I've thought about running a very small gas powered vacuum pump 24/7, but even the smallest of engines will break the bank in fuel costs for me.

    Update... Just found a built in,"RV" style , propane, electric start 3400W generator on kijiji... (Canada's Craigslist) for $150 CDN. Will be picking it up tonight. Starting to come together already....
    Last edited by wmick; 04-01-2021 at 02:20 PM.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by wmick View Post
    I run a couple small 12 volt pumps (1.7Amp max) together on a pair of truck batteries, along with 3 40watt solar panels... I find the solar panels don't keep up, and I need to charge the batteries fairly regularly... Especially this year, with the mild temps, I've been leaving the pumps run 24 hours a day lately.
    Jeeze that's a minimal draw for pumps, The Shurlo 4008 says 7.5amp max, not sure what it draws on average.
    6th season solo sugar maker in a young sugar bush of mostly red maples
    320 taps
    2x6 self built arch, Flat pans w/ dividers
    New 12x16 sugar house
    CDL hobby 250 RO

  6. #6
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    Jan 2013
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    Enon Valley Pa
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    How about a battery powered timer to start the generator to charge batteries a a regular basis.

  7. #7
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    Mapleton Twp, SW Ontario
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    Quote Originally Posted by NhShaun View Post
    Jeeze that's a minimal draw for pumps, The Shurlo 4008 says 7.5amp max, not sure what it draws on average.
    Yep... but the shurflo is a much better unit with more diaphragms.... I don't know either, what it actually draws... Would be nice if someone on here has been tracking that.... I am just guessing, but with no restriction on the outlet, and just pulling vacuum, the energy required would be equivalent of 14.7 psi (perfect vacuum) or less... and according the chart in this spec sheet, that would put the pump at about 4 amps. This is just supposition on my part.

    https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1fsZQoRlVS.pdf
    Last edited by wmick; 04-01-2021 at 02:11 PM.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by wmick View Post
    ....with no restriction on the outlet, and just pulling vacuum, the energy required would be equivalent of 14.7 psi (perfect vacuum) or less...
    Pretty sure that's not the way these things work....otherwise this pump is capable of pulling over 4X a perfect vacuum. So unless you're planning on violating the laws of physics in a really big way, you'll need to do some rethinking of your calculations.
    Dr. Tim Perkins
    UVM Proctor Maple Research Ctr
    http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc
    https://mapleresearch.org
    Timothy.Perkins@uvm.edu

  9. #9
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    I have set up a bunch of these Shurflo pumps, and the 3gpm 4008's always draw between 1.0 - 1.5 amps when used to draw vacuum on a typical sap line. My controllers measure pump current draw to detect an overcurrent condition or blown fuse so the current is always known. The current does increase if flow and/or pressure increases, maybe it will see 7.5 amps in certain situations, but they will not see high flow or high pressure in a typical sap vacuum setup. The 3gpm pump will run about 35 hours on a fully charged deep cycle marine battery.

    I have measured up to 11-12 amps on a 5gpm pump when transferring sap uphill on a 550' long piece of 1/2" pipe with a 55' elevation.

    Dave

    Quote Originally Posted by NhShaun View Post
    Jeeze that's a minimal draw for pumps, The Shurlo 4008 says 7.5amp max, not sure what it draws on average.
    Last edited by Biz; 04-01-2021 at 03:19 PM.
    Mountain Maple farm
    2022 NAMSC award winning dark amber syrup
    2023: 320 taps, 70% red maples. Mountain Maple S4 diaphragm pump controller with automated sap transfer and text messaging
    Website:
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    https://www.facebook.com/MountainMapleFarm/

  10. #10
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    Apr 2016
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    Mapleton Twp, SW Ontario
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    Quote Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins View Post
    Pretty sure that's not the way these things work....otherwise this pump is capable of pulling over 4X a perfect vacuum. So unless you're planning on violating the laws of physics in a really big way, you'll need to do some rethinking of your calculations.
    I will do that.... Now you've got me thinking.... I'm aware that we cant get below 0 psia.... but I'm thinking.... With a positive displacement pump... Does it take the same amount of energy to draw a 30ft column of water as it would to push a 30ft column of water?? I'm thinking it would.... Not ??

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