cool down wood fired evap

[barkeatr]

cooling down wood evaporator....does anyone have any special tricks? I flood my pans and make sure there is plenty of sap in the holding tank. I usually open the evaporator doors...but in the morning I find an alarming amount of sap evaporated during the night. Yes this is a good thing overall, i suppose..but..if valve got stuck i wouild be in trouble. I cannot boil all night like some do.
I do check on it several times during initial cool down...

barkeatr

[maple flats]

I shut my 3x8 down by stopping fueling at 18 gal in head tank. When the boiling first begins to slow, I open the infeed float and put it all in the rear pan. This brings the level up about 1" max.
If I shut down with more in the head tank, I stop fueling and leave the floats the same. After the boil stops I cover the pans, close the head tank valve, drain the feed line into the rear pan, lock the door and go. My usual level is 3/4" above the flues and after the boil stops (in 45-60 minutes) I lose up to 1/4" only from heat in the bricks. I used to flood the pans but then discovered it not necessary.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Just have to learn the evaporator. If you lose and inch over night on a normal boil, then leave 2 inches of sap in all the pans before you leave. That 1" you lose is a good thing. Just remember, if you have firebrick in the entire evaporator, the longer the boil, the more heat will be in the brick.

[Uncle Tucker]

Be careful when you leave sap in your feed tank or feed line. If you have a freeze at night and add sap to a tank with a frozen feed line you will look ready to boil but the sap will go no where. My rule of thumb is to drain every thing (holding tank, feed tank, feed lines, and preheater) every night, just in case. The alternative is a bed situation!

[barkeatr]

thanks all for the tips...very helpfull!

[PerryW]

cooling down wood evaporator....does anyone have any special tricks?
barkeatr

I usually stop firing right at the last take-off. After my last firing, I simply let the evaporator run for another 15 minutes. During this time, I wash up all my prefilters and filters, remove the sap filter from the tank, close up the woodshed, label the drums, and record the tally for the boil. By the time I have done all this, the fire has pretty much died down, so I run an additional 1-2" in the front pan and an additional inch in the back pan. Then shut off the valves and pull the floats and I'm all set to leave the sugarhouse.

If I am expecting a deep freeze or an extended warm period, I take a little longer and run the tank dry and drain the pipe between the tank and the evaporator.

[michiganfarmer2]

I stop putting wood in my 3x12 and give it 45 minutes to calm down, then I flood the pans a couple inched deeper than the feed pipes in the float box, then I plug the from pan.