Stack Cap or not?

[deckers007]

Wonder if i sould leave my stack open at the top, or add a cap, does a cap restrict the up draft at all?

[MapleME]

was curious about this too....

[cpmaple]

I know when i was boiling on a 2x6 evap i put a cap on it and yes i could see a different so i went and took it off alot better for me then. Now i have a 5x10 evap and have a stack cover for nightime when i'm done boiling its on a hinge. Thats how it came and it works great. cpmaple

[adk1]

I am alittle worried about sparks. I have alot of big white pines very close. like within 20 feet

[500592]

I have a stack cover that is on hinge and the previous owner did not install it and if it had not been ss stack and sides I am sure it would have rusted out even the casted part at the bottom is pretty rusted sat are the legs

[MapleME]

i too are near a ton of trees..granted everything is pretty frozen and/or wet during sugar season..... curious if people worry about this. thanks

[adk1]

I know I need to thin a few branches back on a huge white pine behidn the sugarhouse. as a matter of fact, there are many branches that will be within 10 feet of my stack..need to get rid of those. This tree is probably 50"+ at dbh

[Maplehobbyist]

I believe the stack cap acts as a spark arrestor, so if you're comfortable throwing sparks all over your shack roof and the surrounding woods, leave it off. I installed a 6" Duravent stainless double-walled stack on my evaporator this summer and when I bought the parts, the dealer wouldn't let me not buy a cap and I seem to remember reading in the installation instructions that it had to be used. Maybe that's just a CYA thing for the company, so if you burnt down your shack, house, woods and neighborhood, you couldn't try to pin it on them. At $85, it seemed awfully darned expensive but if it prevents a fire I guess it's pretty cheap. I guess it comes down to sacrificing some boiling rate for some added safety.

[adk1]

Yes, I was planning on using one. Just not the type that flips up when you are boiling. those have no spark arrestors on them at all

[warners point]

I found a 8 inch stack cover at Fleet Farm for $6. Last year my dad made one out of a pizza pan and it worked great. This one sits a little lower, so if it affects the draft I'll just take it of and then put it back on after the season is over.

[red maples]

honestly no matter what you do your gonna get sparks. not a big deal really they aren't going to be an issue with your roof but the pines might be an issue. you may even see some nice flames shoot out there especially when the stack is burning itself out which it will do once on awhile!!! you can see some diffeence with a stack cover. but you do need to experiment

[sugaringman85]

last year we ran a chinese hat style cover on our 12 inch stack and liked that the sparks didn't go hundreds of feet from the sugar house but was not impressed with the amount of ash that covered the roof, ground near the sugar house, the trucks, holes in our coats and piles of glowing embers in the drip line of the roof. So we took it off and now just have a hinge cover that we use. the sparks still go forever it seems and people on the main road think we're on fire...last year we had a record amount of chimney fire calls...I think over ten. Fire dept stopped coming and just took our cell phones and called us when we got called in!

[Sugarmaker]

Open stack!
Regards,
Chris

[maple flats]

I have always run a cover. My 2x6 with an 8" stack had the flip up style, my 3x8 with 12" stack has Chinese hat style. I don't know if it affects draft but my draft is always excellent. I did see sparks before adding high pressure air over fire (AOF) but AOF has stopped all sparks, everything burns in the evaporator now, no sparks and no ball of fire at the top of the stack, where unburnt gasses get new oxygen.

[adk1]

been contemplating this myself. No stack cap on right now, just bucket over until the season starts. I will have AUF in my 2x6 with a 7" stack

[bowtie]

if you are running a blower a cap will not affect your draft.i have a wood-fired indoor boiler for my house with an induced draft and a have a cap with mesh around it and it does not affect it at all. if you have a short stack and trees around i would definately run a cap with a spark arrestor because the blower is going to send sparks everywhere. better safe than burned up!!

[adk1]

yeah, that is a concern. I will watch it the first boil and see what happens. I would think that time of the year it would take alot of start a fire in a tree especially with all the snow. My gallery shows my sugarhouse and the trees around it.

[heus]

If you are worried about a chinese hat cover limiting your draft, how about just adding an extra length of pipe to increase any lost draft?

[pine ridge sugarworks]

You don't need a spark arrester on your stack, it restricts flow and this retriction results in lower temps in your fire box and could be the cause of a chimmeny fire. Take a look around at what other sugaermakers are doing. I've been involved in sugaring for most of my life and have never seen an arrester or used one on a sugar rig.As farr as i'm concerened it's a waste of money and time!

[adk1]

I got all the stack with the evap when I bought it. That is what they used and I know it worked great. I beleive there is 16' of stack or better

[wiam]

By late season there can be plenty of dry woods and grass. Be careful. I tried a 1/4" screen at the top of my stack 2 years ago. When it plugged up I had to go up in the dark and pull it off. I have been told that 1/4" stainless screen at the base of the stack will cure most of the sparks.