Into the woods by 5:30 AM to cook. It was 10. As dawn broke, the temperature dropped even lower. We knew the pipes would be frozen, but hoped the heat gun could thaw them. But as it got colder, the heat gun lost effectiveness. The temperature was forecast to rise as the morning went on so we returned to the farmhouse by 6:30 AM to wait until it got warmer. It was sunny and the tanks are on the South side of the building so they would also warm from the sun as the morning progressed.
Back into the woods by 9:45 AM. Temperature 23. The heat gun was effective now. By 10:15 AM the R/O was going.
With the obstruction removed from the pipes, the stream from the tank to the evaporator flows freely. It was much easier cooking.
The day cooking
10:15 AM R/O start
11:00 AM 3”
11:55 AM batch into 2018 milk can
12:00 PM 6”
1:00 PM 7 ¾”
1:00 PM R/O done
1:15 PM batch
2:00 PM 5 ½”
2:25 PM batch
3:00 PM 3”
3:30 PM 1 ¾”
3:40 PM batch
4:00 PM done
We’re separating this day cooking into its own milk can. It’s a darker grade because we used the tank heater. The sap was about 50-55 F for over 24 hours. It didn’t freeze in the tank, but the elevated temperature causes darker syrup. It’s still good syrup but a grade darker: Robust instead of Rich. We noticed the R/O temperature was about 10 degrees higher too. We isolated this cook and hope the grade rebounds for the next.
Also resolved the unexpected R/O shutoff during the wash cycle from two days ago. We have a tank heater on the wash tank the heats the water to 100 F. When starting the wash cycle the temperature surges to 106-108 F. The pump streams the water through quickly with little loss to the vessel or membrane. After a few minutes heat is absorbed into the vessel and membrane and the temperature recedes to the mid 90s. Over the next 6-7 hours the R/O slowly heats to 113 F before shutting off at the high temperature mark. It was close to 70 that day so the R/O was already warmer then normal. When the heated water started cycling through, the temperature reached the auto shutoff value. By the third attempt the water had cooled just enough to keep the temperature below 113 before receding.
Back to the farmhouse by 4:00 PM.