can a hot water heater be used for a preheater

[farmer12071]

i have a brand new 10 gal.120v hot water heater that was given to me.i was wondering if i could run my sap through it before going in to my evap.i have a solar power system with 5000 watts and the only thing i run with it is two light bulbs so i can hookup the water heater in my shack.i was just wondering if anyone has tried this.thanks

[John c]

I think perhaps a gas one could be used but I dare say that the element in an electric one would build up with burnt sugar before too long! That's my opinion anyway.

John c.

[Kev]

you might be better off building a heat exchanger to pre heat sap off of the hot water from the heater. if you do it right you will not need any pumps

[3rdgen.maple]

Cleaning it out on a regular basis might be extremely hard thing to do.

[John c]

Maybe it would be better to use it for just hot water for cleaning up and such!
Having 10 gallons of hot water on hand is a beautiful thing when syrup is involved!

[Kev]

Cleaning it out on a regular basis might be extremely hard thing to do.

unless you build a heat exchanger that can be opened up and cleaned :)

[Haynes Forest Products]

Yes you can......why not...........there is no reason you cant...................why would you have burnt sugar?......................if the element minerals over clean it.

[Haynes Forest Products]

OK that first one was my rant:) The key to your QUESTION was you have spare free power so that changes the equation. If the power wasn't free than the gain wouldn't out weight the cost. You wont have alot of burnt on sugar because your heating not boiling heating 2-4% sap. Pulling the element and cleaning isn't a big deal with CLR.

Now this is anouther rant..Why not get a RO and a hood with preheater and ,and ,and.......STFUC

[Ausable]

i have a brand new 10 gal.120v hot water heater that was given to me.i was wondering if i could run my sap through it before going in to my evap.i have a solar power system with 5000 watts and the only thing i run with it is two light bulbs so i can hookup the water heater in my shack.i was just wondering if anyone has tried this.thanks

Excuse my ignorance - But - Can You really get that kind of Voltage out of a solar system - 120 volts. - I thought 12 volts was about tops. If you can and have free electricty use it to heat water as already suggested - Hot water is a good thing to have in a Sugar Shack. Lots of other good sap preheater ideas on this site.

[Ausable]

Ok - answered my own question --- Solar panels hooked together in series will give 120V DC --- Now how do we get from DC to AC?

[BryanEx]

Easily done with an inverter... same type of thing used on boats, RVs, and long distance trucks.

[John c]

The answer to solar providing enough juice is all in your battery bank. I've lived totally off grid before for 6 years and I strongly suggest running at least 3 sets of deep cell 6 volt batteries with each set (2) in series then run each set in parallel. This will provide you with much more amps, provided your inverter is 12 volt. Also be sure to use the right guage wire or you will be fighting nature and never utilize your battery bank to it's fullest potential!

As for burning sugar to the element. There is a lot of heat focused in that little 6-8" element, but I guess it's worth a try!

I think you'll find that you'll have more money tied up in batteries, wire and inverter than it's worth.

Also you don't want your batteries to freeze or get to hot and batteries contain sulfuric acid and release gases that I wouldn't want around my production.

[RileySugarbush]

Before you get too far into an elaborate preheater, remember that their benefit is very limited. You may be better off applying your ingenuity to improving your evaporator.

[PerryW]

Since the electricity is free, it would make sense to use it; but i would use something like a 1,000 watt immersion heater that they use to keep cattle water from freezing. You would immerse the heater directly into an open pan full of sap and it would be easily cleaned. Also you may even get some evaporation since the pan is open on the top (unlike a closed hot water heater)


I use a 12 volt to 120 volt inverter (1250 watts/2500 watts peak) that produces enough to run a 13 amp skill saw and run it off a deep cycle battery. It costs about $100. I also bought two 85 watt solar panels to charge them:

http://beerleg.com/images/uploaded/201103042142324d715cc8e8318.jpg
http://beerleg.com/images/uploaded/201103130346094d7c3e01b5f42.jpg

[farmer12071]

i think i might pass the water heater to a friend and get a cheap stainless plate heat exchanger and plumb it in to my outside boiler.