Quote Originally Posted by Mooneybc View Post
Looking for a bit of guidance on some issues I’ve been trying to trouble shoot. I have 850 taps on high vacuum. I use stubbys with 1/4 inch reducer adapters. This is the first year where I’ve had this problem. It seems like at least 30% of my tap holes are faulty. I’ve used the same drill and style drill bit (bits are new each year) that I’ve used for several years without a problem. I’ve walked my woods several times and it seems like every 3-5 taps has a micro leak (can see air bubbles coming out of the tree into the tap rapidly and the saddle loops at the beginning of the later line indicate a leak as well. Also walking my woods today there were many taps that had a large freezing of sap under them as if the tap hole was bleeding, but these trees have been tapped for about a month now. I’ve tried tapping the taps in a bit further and even drilled new holes in a few trees but nothing seems to be helping. The odd thing is that I am still keeping great vacuum at the pump at least. What are your thoughts?Attachment 23033Attachment 23034Attachment 23034Attachment 23034Attachment 23034

I find if trees are in "thaw mode" the thawing sap in the tree structure will also release gas bubbles that are frozen. I feel sometimes this happens faster then normal. I've gone back to lines after thawed completely and they slow to normal. But there seems to be a short period where the flow is accelerated and I believe it's due to thawing . I would check them in the afternoon after the trees are completely thawed.

Sometimes they will bleed if pressure develops because trees thaw quickly and the saddle loop is still frozen as is common on a sunny morning, trees will always thaw before lines when they're in the sun, creating pressure in the lines.

I think there can be a fine line between a thawing tree and a micro leak