Mason Flue pan

[TDVT]

I was looking at another thread & saw a flue pan by WF Mason in Maine, He runs tubes horizontally through the pan & directs the flue gasses through the tubes (I think).

http://www.wfmasonwelding.com/images/270_Drop_Tube_Evap.jpg

He calls it a drop tube pan but it's not "drop tube" in the sense that I have seen before. I'd probably call it a "through-tube" but at any rate, a search didn't yield much.

So do you guys who have them, like them?

Comparable to a typical drop flue as far as rate, better/worse?

[tuckermtn]

when I spoke to Bill a few weeks ago he says figure that it will boil at the same rate as a standard drop or raised flu set-up. Don't have any independent verification, but that is my understanding of how to compare.

[Haynes Forest Products]

They still use the same type of tube set ups in boilers...........BOILERS yea thats what we are using in a way I like the idea. I wonder what the math shows on surface area.

[briansickler]

They still use the same type of tube set ups in boilers...........BOILERS yea thats what we are using in a way I like the idea. I wonder what the math shows on surface area.

You get a lot more of surface area out of those tubes than you think. I was doing the math. If you have 1.5" diameter tube the circumference is 4.71" times say a 48" long pan equals 226 sq in. per tube times 16 tubes = 3,616 sq in. divided by 144 gives you a total of 25 sq ft of surface area just for the tubes. That doesn't count the rest of the pan (sides botom etc.) You can figure another 12 sq ft or so for the sides and bottom of the pan. 37 sq ft of surface area. That's not to shabby for a flue pan design that simple to build in my opinion. He's putting blowers on these things too. I'd like to see one boiling. Check my math though. I'm quite sure Cicumference is still pi times Diameter. Pi is 3.14

Brian

[wiam]

Very happy with mine last year. With very agressive air under fire and a preheater with not tight hood I was pushing 60 gallons per hr. I will let you know how it works with aof and tighter hood soon.

Will

[morningstarfarm]

60 gph? how big is your setup?...that is a very respectable number

[killingworthmaple]

I talked to him about them in the past and he said that they were boiling so good that he had to put splash gaurds around them. His quote was that they boil "pretty good" and he doesn't seem the type to toot his own horn.

[Dill]

Yea Bill is very unassuming about his products. All he does is deliver a great product at a decent price when he says he'll deliver it. Its a terrible way to do business. :lol:

[RickinFarmington]

In viewing the photo of Bill's pan, I am assuming the pan shown is the sap pan and that another syrup pan is used in conjunction with it. Or is this a 2x6 single pan and the tubes only run along the back half?

[Dill]

Yes he uses a 2 pan system. Its just the flue pan showing.

[saphead]

Bill is making use of the age old Scotch marine boiler or Horizontal
Return Tube Boiler(HRT) without the "return" part.Great surface area and real easy to clean.If turbulators were added to spin and slightly slow down the flue gasses even more efficiency would be gained.See the attached video on this concept being using in a wonderful outdoor furnace.http://www.portageandmainboilers.com/gasification.html

[wiam]

morningstar it is a 2x6

William

[RileySugarbush]

I can see why he calls them droptube since it is dropped into the flue gasses like a drop flue and has tubes, but Bill's evaporator could be better termed a Fire Tube evaporator to distinguish it from the drop tube evaporators many of us have made with pans and vertical copper tubes.


This link to Wikipedia shows some nice cutaways of Fire Tube Boilers used in locomotives. Same thing, but closed to pressurize the steam rather than let it out through our cupolas!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire-tube_boiler

[ronr]

Anybody know what size (diameter) the tubes are in the Mason pan?

[wiam]

2 inch

William

[Cuseman1000]

Does anyone else make a drop tube pan?

[TimJ]

Another question - how deep does the pan drop? I guess I could get a one-off shorter if necessary - just curious.

[marc]

I've had great results with my 2x8 drop tube. Granted I have only used a flat p an in the past, no experience with a flue pan. With that being said I love mine. With the blower at 1/2 speed and dedicated wood loading timing with dry wood I can do 50 gals per hour, but I tend to do more like 40-45 being a one man show! not sure about cleaning the back tube pan after the season, with the agressive boil it is still clean after 73 gals. of syrup. I will update you after the season is over. Bill was a real great guy to talk to. I plan to have him make a hood and preheater for next season.

[wiam]

Another question - how deep does the pan drop? I guess I could get a one-off shorter if necessary - just curious.


This is from memory. I think around 6".

William