Mechanical Releaser Question

[TapTapTap]

I always think of a mechanical released used outside. Sure, there's problems when it freezes. But if everything is plumbed right, then problems are minimized. Outside the sap stays cold, hopefully unless the day gets warm. If you heat the releaser space then you want it just above freezing.

Is that your collection tank in the pic? It looks like a head tank.

[pete3046]

TapTapTap,
Thanks, I was thinking the same thing, the sap is cold, and it will keep the pump room cold anyway. That was supposed to be a tank for RO, but I have it mocked-up with my vacuum system. It's 200gal and I'm only planning around 100 taps on the vacuum side this year. I can get another 100 taps on vacuum, but it would be more work than then I can apply this year. I know it's overkill for the vacuum system, but I could not afford to pass it up. So, I thought my 200gal tank might suffice for a collection tank this year. Does that seem reasonable?
Thanks,
Pete

[johnallin]

If you build a small pump house, the heat generated by the vacuum pump should keep temps above freezing.

[maple flats]

My releasers have always been outside. Yes, on rare occasions they froze, but only once was it a big problem. If you do as johnallin suggests you will likely have no issues. If the pump is remote from the releaser, just build a small housing around it and keep the releaser clean. That will help. If the pump is with the releaser, put them both in, but is gas, run the exhaust outside.

[JoeJ]

In my operation, I have the vacuum pump located at my sugar house and have vacuum lines to each of the sap sheds. So using the vacuum pump waste heat was not an option. 2 of the sap sheds are completely enclosed and heated at what I would say a very reasonable cost. One 12'x6' shed cost a quarter of a 30 pound propane tank and the other shed,10' x 16' cost $31.00 in electricity. Having the whole shed heated eliminates both the releaser freezing problems and the ice in the tanks. The third shed is not completely heated, only a small 3'x3' electric releaser room. The electric releaser pumps the sap into the old 400 gal bulk tank in the cold part of the shed through a 1" pipe. This tank occasionally will have a little ice on top, but does not freeze almost solid like it occasionally did before I built the shed over it.

I have a small portable sawmill so I really do not have much cost in these sheds frames. The only real outside expense for me was the metal roofing. When I insulated the 10' x 16' shed I spent $5.00 on a insulated steel door and frame at the local recycling store, $382.00 on 11 sheets of 4 x 8 2" R-10 sidewall foam and $200.00 on 5- 4 x 8 sheets of 2" foil faced r-13 foam board and $26.00 for the milk house heater. The value gained from the $608.00 spent on the foam board and heater is a relatively small expense compared to what I have spent in other parts of the sugaring operation over the past 18 years

Joe