Lowering vacuum level for marginal temperatures, checking for leaks

[Jeremy Steeves]

I run pretty high vacuum, usually about 27.5 " Hg or higher.
Sometimes have trouble with freeze ups, mostly at periods of lower flow when temps are close to freezing. Also trouble during initial vacuum leak checks because 5/16 lines freeze from microleaks. Anyone lower vacuum slightly during these periods, and to what level? Maybe 24" or such?
I have atlas gvs pumps.

[Brian]

If the vacuum in the woods drops, I run the woods to get the vac back up. If the micro leaks are froze then the vac is up and no sense in running the lines until it gets warmer. If the sap is not flowing very well it can be tricky to find leaks, but no I don't turn my vacuum down. When tapping I flag any thing that looks like it might be a problem, then go back through when the vac is on and ckeck things over. It takes a few trips through the woods to get things tightened up.

[Jeremy Steeves]

Good advise, I do the same thing, except I repair as I go.
I flag taps occasionally if they are easy to find again along a road or trail, if I think I got too close to previous year or hollow. If the taps are not easy to find I cap the drop off for the year. I also have 50 smartrek sensors some 2 port so I am monitoring about 70 mains, drylines, pumps. Also pretty big help! Hard to imagine what it was like before sensors....

[GeneralStark]

I run pretty high vacuum, usually about 27.5 " Hg or higher.
Sometimes have trouble with freeze ups, mostly at periods of lower flow when temps are close to freezing. Also trouble during initial vacuum leak checks because 5/16 lines freeze from microleaks. Anyone lower vacuum slightly during these periods, and to what level? Maybe 24" or such?
I have atlas gvs pumps.

When you say you have trouble with freeze ups, what do you mean exactly?

[BAP]

If you are getting freeze ups from micro leaks, lowering the vacuum level is not going to reduce them. The only solution is fixing. You will still get the micro leak freezing at almost any level of vacuum.

[DrTimPerkins]

I run pretty high vacuum, usually about 27.5 " Hg or higher.
Sometimes have trouble with freeze ups, mostly at periods

Perhaps I'm missing something, but this seems akin to not filing a barrel full because it has a leak in it. Why not fix the leak instead?

At some points the lines are going to freeze if the temperature gets low enough....there is no stopping that. If you have a microleak, it'll freeze faster, but fixing the leak is the best solution.

[Jeremy Steeves]

I do check at those low temps, good to find micro leaks. Get dialed in.