How can I watch my vacuum without walking the lines?

What a vacuum reading tells you

The gauge at the pump tells you the pump is working. It does not tell you what is happening a mile away at the end of a mainline. A sensor on each mainline does. When one line drops and the rest hold, you know where to send someone.

Where to put sensors

• At the pump or releaser: the reference reading. If this drops, the problem is at the pump house.
• On each mainline: a reading well below the pump means a leak on that line: a chewed lateral, a pulled spout, a fitting that let go in the cold.
• On the sap tank: level, so a tank is hauled before it overflows on a big run.

Remote pump houses

Many pump houses have no internet and run from a generator. A monitoring panel with its own cellular connection and a battery will report vacuum, tank level, pump house temperature and whether the generator is running. Tell us about the cell signal at the site before we build. If there is none, there are other ways to get the signal out, and it is better to know first.

What the alerts look like

You set a vacuum limit and a delay for each line. During a run you get an alert such as "Mainline 3 is 18 inHg, limit 22". You also get alerts for a full tank, a stopped pump, a pump house near freezing and lost power.

Is it worth it for a small operation?

It depends on how far the woods are from where you are during the day. If you can see the gauge from the evaporator, you may not need it. If the pump house is a drive away and you work a day job, one saved run usually settles the question.