Flow Meters - NEW

[BradWilson]

Morning All,

I searched the forums and the newest post is from 2020. So I'll ask for an update.

I have new sap tanks and the volumes are estimates from the manufacturer. My goal is to get an estimate of the actual gallonage and make a "gallon meter" so I can know what I'm starting with and know what I'm evaporating per hour. I see that the GPI meters are the recommended but I'm too small to be able to afford those. What are you guys using that it a "close second" and reliable?

Thanks in advance.

[Bucket Head]

No flow meters here on sap. My "close second" is my evaporator feed tank. It was only supposed to be temporary, but it works very well, so it's still there. I have a plastic, white/opaque, 55gal. drum that has the gallon markings on the side. Five and ten gallon increments, and since it's see-through, I can see the sap at any level. I just time how fast we go through an increment and then do the math.

Steve

[johnallin]

No flow meters here on sap. My "close second" is my evaporator feed tank. It was only supposed to be temporary, but it works very well, so it's still there. I have a plastic, white/opaque, 55gal. drum that has the gallon markings on the side. Five and ten gallon increments, and since it's see-through, I can see the sap at any level. I just time how fast we go through an increment and then do the math.

Steve

I installed a clear 3/4" ID milk hose from a T at the bottom of the tank drain going up the side of the head tank. Then placed marks in 5 gallon increments. Sap seeks its level and we always know what we're using.

[BradWilson]

I installed a clear 3/4" ID milk hose from a T at the bottom of the tank drain going up the side of the head tank. Then placed marks in 5 gallon increments. Sap seeks its level and we always know what we're using.

How did you measure out the 5g increments? Buckets?

[johnallin]

How did you measure out the 5g increments? Buckets?

I found a tank volume calculator online that gave me gallons per inch depth after I entered some data...tank shape, width, length and height.
I've got a CDL 165 Gal stainless head tank, measures 2'x4'x3' tall I believe.
Using a yard stick held against the tank, I was able to mark the side of the tank with a paint pen.
It's pretty slick. We note gallons in the tank at "start fire" and take notes on the hour during a boil and what's left at "stop fire".
Tells me roughly what the GPH evaporation is.

[littleTapper]

I found a tank volume calculator online that gave me gallons per inch depth after I entered some data...tank shape, width, length and height.
I've got a CDL 165 Gal stainless head tank, measures 2'x4'x3' tall I believe.
Using a yard stick held against the tank, I was able to mark the side of the tank with a paint pen.
It's pretty slick. We note gallons in the tank at "start fire" and take notes on the hour during a boil and what's left at "stop fire".
Tells me roughly what the GPH evaporation is.

Known as a calibration chart. Always near the bulk tank in a barn's milk house

I didn't feel like paying $150 for an official one for a bulk tank I bought, so used an online calculator like this. From everything I've done, it seems to be dead-on.

https://odayequipment.com/tank-calculator/

or this for elliptical
https://www.blocklayer.com/tanks/hor...-ellipticaleng

[johnallin]

Known as a calibration chart. Always near the bulk tank in a barn's milk house

I didn't feel like paying $150 for an official one for a bulk tank I bought, so used an online calculator like this. From everything I've done, it seems to be dead-on.

https://odayequipment.com/tank-calculator/

or this for elliptical
https://www.blocklayer.com/tanks/hor...-ellipticaleng

There you go, that's exactly what I was referring to.
Thanks for sharing.

[TapTapTap]

I developed my own Excel file for different size round bottom tanks. I'm pretty confident that it's accurate but nobody has ever checked it. I also modified it to show %full and I used my tank level monitor readings to calculate the flow rate into my raw sap tank. I would share it but I don't know how.


Ken

[BradWilson]

Thanks for the charts. I just input the data for my 4'x8'x4' tank. CDL says the tank holds 774 gallons. The chart says it's 752. Now my OCD is really spun up.

[maple flats]

I don't get that concerned as to need a flow meter, however I've always had a site level gauge for my head tank, as well as one in my back pan. (the back pan one only has a line at 3/4" above the flues) The one on my head tank is one a T just inside the sugarhouse wall, the tank sets on a platform tight against the sugarhouse wall. Then I have a cut out in the siding where the sap line runs in (almost always concentrate in the head tank) then the T in that feed line has a 3/8" clear vinyl tube attached , it extends up and out the top of the wall and baqck down to about platform level. When I first put a site tube on I only had it to just above the top of the head tank, but i found that as I pumped into the tank, concentrate shot out the top, thus the long tube) On the tube I have just 3 level marks, even though the tank holds 100 gal, I have one for 10, 20 and 30 gal, I msrked them by filling a 5 gal bucket and dumping it in to measure. Near the top of the head tank I had the manufacturer weld an overflow fitting. That connects a 3/4" maple tubing, back to the sap tank, just in case.
My sap tank is an old dairy tank and it is marked 300 gal, that's all I need to know. I do however have 2 IBC totes just in case, each hold 275 gal.