Pan Thickness

[tjintheshop]

Folks

I have a 24 in by 30 in finishing pan that we built last year out of 12 gauge stainless. Made five gallons of syrup with it and no issues that I could tell. All tig welded. I want to build a 24 by 48 drop tube pan (2 inch tubes that was used for milk lines in dairy barns- Free) for the back of it arch. Got a really good price on more 12 gauge but hear that alot of people swear by the lighter material. What would be the drawbacks to going with the heavier stuff?

Also just installed a blower off of old gas hot water heater in the Arch with a sliding dampener. How much will that increase the heat? Thing really blows the air. Arch is getting all bricked and fireboarded before we start.

Thanks


2 by 7 homemade arch

[twitch]

I've got a 2x4 evaporator that is made out 20 gage i work in a fab shop. I think the only draw back of using thicker material would be that it may not transfer heat as fast to your sap.

[Ausable]

Hey tjintheshop -- I can't think of any - might heat up and cool down a bit slower -- but so what. -- Mike

[Mark]

Metal is an insulator but a poor one. I gave a guy a pan that was made out of 1/8" and he gave it right back after trying it out. The second guy kept it but he was new at it.

[BoarsNest]

I made a 12 ga ss pan for finishing last year, but it seemed to need a lot of heat to bring to a boil. This year I have a 20 ga finishing pan and I know it will work better. It all depends on how much time you have and how much heat you want to use.