Sap spy

[PARKER MAPLE]

Right on general
It’s a great option for the smaller producer. CDL wants nearly $2400 for there basic set up. And this will do the same thing.
I find it would work well. If your searching for a leak in the woods you can monitor the vacuum level as your making the repairs to see if you’ve made any improvements. For me our furthest sugarbuis 25mins away so it would save traveling back and forth time and money.
I’m going to order one today. I will let you all know how I like it.
Should get a good feel for it’s operation next week.

[sugaringman85]

Sugaringman, would you be willing to share the setup you purchased? Number of sensors and such.

The SapSpy only is one station, and doesn't connect with others. So it'll give you the basic information you need to make decisions, temperature, vacuum, and % volume in the tank. I could see how you could put others out into the woods if you wanted to as they run off a battery that will last a week or two or more potentially. They are currently priced at $895, so for me its worth knowing what that vacuum and tank is doing. As the orchard it is in is 40 min away. You can make a lot of decisions from those two data points. It also allows you to plot the data given. Which is pretty neat to see if the vacuum is staying constant or there is a decline in vacuum over time. Also allows you to see how fast the tank is filling. Have calculated the %volume in the tank, so that now I can tell how many releasers dumps have been made. On a larger new install, I may do a complete monitoring system. For the cost of this one though its well worth it.

[DrTimPerkins]

Sounds like this is a good option if you want to monitor vac, tank levels, and temp. in your sugarhouse, at a pump station, or at a releaser/tank location. Probably not the best option for monitoring mainline vacuum in the woods for leak detection. For that a basic monitoring system with several sensors is probably cheaper and more effective.

Yes, that's the slot I see it fitting into as well. Simple single location or remote areas where having a network/internet signal is impossible. Smaller systems monitoring the pump and tank. Not really designed for monitoring multiple mainlines.

[PARKER MAPLE]

Ordered my this afternoon
After a few nice chats with the owner of Sapspy I felt comfortable ordering and trying one out.
Should have it in a day or two. I can’t wait. New toys are fun

[sugaringman85]

Will have to say the owner of SapSpy has been nothing but helpful. Super nice guy and more than willing to help with any questions. Also willing to take ideas that one may have to include in potential future upgrades to the system.

[DrTimPerkins]

I agree. He was very responsive and pleasant on the website "chat" function and during a quick phone call. Shipped the product quickly and said to call him if there were any questions.

[DrTimPerkins]

Just circling back to this thread after the season. Our SapSpy units worked very well the entire season. We did have some power outages and lots of internet outages during the season, but the SapSpy monitors worked well throughout. Definitely planning to get a few more of these for a couple of new sites before next season.