Bigsap Warning 2010

[caseyssugarshack93]

sounds like a regular email theron i havent hurd of any scammers with earthlink internet but i dont know

[PATheron]

Casey- So you think I dare click on it. It says I have a personal message just like normal when I get one but it says its from that instead of a trader name. Theron

[PATheron]

Still getting sap here at Pierce and sons. Good news, looks like its going to be around 75 thursday and my taps seem to do best when theres no freezes to slow them down so hoping for a big run. Plus be nice sugaring with all that warm weather. Working up another 3000 gallons of sap tonight. Made somewhere near 100 gallons today but had to WANNNNN IT!!!!! Only slept 3 hours last night and 5 the one before so a little tired but still making product thats the main thing. Still havent made any off flavor I dont think. Im making every drop I can. Hoping the price might be good this year. Theron

[KenWP]

Email the person back and if he responds hes legit.

[PATheron]

Ken- I clicked on it and it was Ok. Thanks Theron

[802maple]

Theron, you have got to squeeze it tighter, my neighbor made 220 gallons in 6 hours 2 nights ago and 100 gallons in 3 hours last night on his 3x12. He is still making border line fancy with a great flavor, he says if it isn't 24 percent then it isn't worth boiling. LOL

[Buffalo Creek Sugar Camp]

802- How long of a life span is there on the membranes concentrating to 24%? I took mine to 17% or so this year recirculating sap. The permeate sure gets slower and slower as the sap gets sweeter. Should I do an acid wah more often? With recirculating sap, does it pay to have the membranes profesionally cleaned each year?

[maple connection]

802- How long of a life span is there on the membranes concentrating to 24%? I took mine to 17% or so this year recirculating sap. The permeate sure gets slower and slower as the sap gets sweeter. Should I do an acid wah more often? With recirculating sap, does it pay to have the membranes profesionally cleaned each year?

Just rinse your membrane with more water. Min 400 gal for 8" membrane. then wash the membrane as long as you can. Start with cold water and let it wash until you reach 120 degrees. Cold water lets you wash longer.
An Acid rinse will help if you have alot of mineral build up. It is a good Idea to do a acid rinse if your production won't rebound after a wash. Remember it is very important to use a ph meter. When you do a acid wash you should be at 2.1 ph. As the water temp starts to rise on the acid wash cycle the ph should go down ( or be more acidic) this means your membrane is cleaning up. If the ph goes up you need to add more acid to stay at 2.1 until the minerals are released. DO NOT go over 120 degrees. Acid washes should only have to be done about twice a year. If your membrane still is not at full production you need to us a sanitizer wash. This will kill the bateria that is growing. Do these three steps at the end of the year and put the membranes in a membrane storage solution in the storage canister and in the basement they go until next year. Hope this helps. THe higher the brix's the more mebrane pressure is needed to acheive equal flow. The life of the membrane might drop a very little. Just don't over pressure the membrane and you will be fine.
Kevin

[802maple]

Those membranes are still going strong at 9 years old. The key is as what was said above. Quite a few people think I wash and rinse excessivly, but the proof is in the pudding as those membranes are beat up every year and they have all come back from the cleaning at Lapierre every year at over 100% flow rate. They have not gone back for a cleaning every year, I think they have missed 3 years in that amount of time. We rinse with a warm rinse after the first 4 hours whether they appear to need it or not for 15 minutes and then followed by about 15 minutes of cold rinse. They are usually done concentrating after the second 4 hours and then we wash followed by 4500 gallon rinse for 6 membranes.

[Buffalo Creek Sugar Camp]

What is the best type of ph meter? Should I leave the acid wash solution soak for 24 hours after the acid wash like the book says? Also, I really figured the 1000 gph machine would be plenty big enough for my setup. Should have 10000 next year. Had 6500 this year and it wasn't a great crop. The 1000 gph machine had to really run steady to recirc the sap into high concentrate. If I would have had a great season, the ro wouldn't have been able to keep up. Do most operations use way oversize RO's when they recirc sap and stay with small evaporator? Also, how much do you typically loose in terms of GPH when the concentrate get say 20%? will the machine loose 25% capacity? Also what should I use as a sanitizer wash? My RO came with acid, soap and preservitive. What pressure do you guys typically run the RO at when it gets to 20%. Sorry for so many questions, but you guys always offer so much great info. Thanks for the input.