Question about freezing valve on head tank

[SeanD]

Your can drill a hole in the side of a ball valve to allow the sap to drain from the ball when its in the closed position. It won't affect the operation of the valve either.

That's brilliant.

I like the plug on the end of a rod, too.

Two great ideas.

[LMP Maple]

Does anyone have a picture of a ball valve with the hole drilled in it? Maybe this is very straight forward. I have a stainless head tank that it would be nice to leave sap in overnight if i had the next day off to boil instead of pulling an all night boiling party for one. I just purchased a new stainless ball valve for the tank and I am worried about it freezing in the closed position if the temps drop. I have heard of this method but never had the guts to drill a new 50 dollar valve. Maybe if I saw a picture my nerve might grow. I assume in the closed position you are aiming for the center of the ball for lack of a better word. I do try to boil all the sap in nightly but this would be a nice option if I could figure out the drill point. Thanks

[Super Sapper]

Close the ball valve and come in from the discharge side and drill a hole in the center of the "ball".

[OldManMaple]

Remove the valve from the outlet, install a length of tubing on the outlet long enough to have the end higher than the tank. Install the valve on the end of the tubing and tie or secure it so the valve is above the liquid level in the tank. The tubing may freeze but the valve will be dry.

[raptorfan85]

Close the ball valve and come in from the discharge side and drill a hole in the center of the "ball".

You can do it this way, but what i do is this. Close the valve so the open part of the ball is going sideways. Then drill a small hole in the side of the valve body that lines up with the hole in the ball. That way when the valve is closed the liquid drains out the side and when the valve is open the ball covers the drilled hole.

[maple flats]

Another method I've used is to have 2 ball valves in series. When shutting down, close the valve closest to the tank, then open the second valve to empty it, then close that valve (now empty) and open the valve closest to the tank and leave it open. Freezing will not burst it because the expansion is free to move towards the tank. I did this method on 1.5" lines coming to the road from a tank 900+' away and about 15' higher. I never had a valve fail when I used this method. In that case the 1.5" transfer line was blue maple tubing. When using the method on a tank, make sure the valve is close to the tank, or it must have some maple tubing between the tank and the valve. Maple tubing can take the freeze thaw, a long length of copper for instance would burst.

[Arctic Fox]

I have yet to try the two ball valve idea, but I really like it and will keep it in mind for future setup.

[LMP Maple]

Thank you for the reply's. I definitely understand the concept now and will try it on the valve. I really like the idea of the two valves in series as well. I would never have thought to do that but it makes sense. I will def. do that when I expand the sugar-house ( I hope my wife did not see me type that
Looks like I will finally tap this weekend or by mid week. Thanks for all the valuable advice as usual.