Maple Mate

[Amber Gold]

What is it and how does it work?

Thanks

[Brent]

I met a factory rep at the Internation MSPA last fall. It sounds to me like it's the evaporator equivalant to the creosote burning logs that you see advertized on TV. The logs have been shown to be totally useless except to line the pockets of the manufacturers.

The Maple Mate guy gave me some copies of testimonials from maple users, mostly in New Brunswick. I am still sceptical. A 5 gallon pail is priced at about $150 and should last a few seasons. It's granular. A bit like fertilizer. You throw a handfull into the fire every so often.

My soot / creosote reduction proceedure the last 2 seasons has been to preheat the pans with a clean propane flame from my Lee Valley flame thrower (they sell it as a weed killer). My thinking is that lighting a barely burning smokey fire under an ice cold pan is a perfect storm for getting creosote to condense on the bottom of the pan and flues. I light this thing and stick it in the door for about 15 minutes. By then the pans are up to about 125 degrees. Then I put in the first kindling and keep the torch going until the fire is really ripping along and getting pretty hot. I have not cleaned the pans this year, but last year there was almost nothing on the bottoms and what was there brushed off real easy. I'm going to keep doing it.

That said, if I find a local dealer that will order in a pail, I'll be a guinea pig for 150 bucks. I won't take a much cleaner set of flues and better boils to justify that ..... IF it works.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Is it basically the same as kwik shot??

http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=46568

Just wondering Dr Perkins if any testing has ever been done on any products like this or Maple Mate as to it's effectiveness in evaporators and if it would cause any damage to the stainless pans??

[Haynes Forest Products]

I rent my cabin out during the summer and some renter went and paid $25 for one of the logs because the fire was smoking and then wanted me to pay for it I always felt that a good rip roaring fire will over come most build up. And a cleaning every so often with a power washer......But hey I now burn oil:cry:

[Brent]

What got me going on the pre-heating of the pans was an observation on our home woodstove. We heat the whole house all winter with the one stove and the wife has been very concerned about creosote and chimney fires. We had been getting creosote build up on the spark arrester at the top of the stack and that needed banging off once in a while. I took the stack apart in the living room and inspected inside with a light. There was nothing anywhere, except at the top where the insulated stack ended. The smoke hit the cold steel and condensed on it. I think a lot of junk on our pans gets there the same way.

[KenWP]

They say burning potatoe peeling does the same thing as the logs.I have a terrible time with cresote here as she who must be obeyed won't let the fire burn hot enough.I have to sweep it 4 times a year at least.This last winter was hard as I had to do it from inside the house due to snow.Nice mess.I tried Red devil but did not get much difference if any.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Ken Why not have her clean it or wait till she leaves and burn some nice dry oak till the pipes are red:)

[red maples]

my wood stove is in the basement so my stack goes up 2 floors to the roof. I get excellent draft and gave up on the flame arrestor and just took it off. sparks don't get that high. the arrestor kept getting full of creasote as well but not enough to clog it up and shut ti down. but you def. need to heat that stack up once in awhile to get things to either dry and fall or what ever. I only brush mine once at the end of the season and once in the middle of the season. and I use it all winter 5 cords on average 6 month -1 year seasoned fairly dry hardwood. I don't get much build up at all.

I do get a build up on the under side of the pans but thats because of the cold pans and pine wood!!! they say if you start your fire with small bone dry hard wood until things start to just boil then switch to soft wood you have less build up but I never tried it.

[saphead]

Maple Mate sounds like a really expensive version of a trisodium phosphate mixture.One little scoop in the wood furnace once a week and brush the chimney once every 2 or 3 yrs. whether it needs it or not!

[adk1]

I will probably clean my pans entirely at least half way though the season. inside and out. does anyone else do this?

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I know it works really good for people who have woodstoves but I don't want to put anything on the underside of the pans that is going to put pin holes in them or cause them to fail prematurely.

[KenWP]

Ken Why not have her clean it or wait till she leaves and burn some nice dry oak till the pipes are red:)

Where pray tell would I get oak around here. They all died off 30 years ago they say.