Leo
02-19-2012, 11:26 AM
Yesterday I made some slight tweeks to my block arch based on the recommendations from Greg, Mike, Ed and others on this sight. I increased my stack height from 10 to 14 feet; used a couple of fire brick in front of my stack to divert the heat up and to the sides, and I increased the size of my fire box by 20%.
I put 20 gallons of water in my 34"X64" pan and lit it up. Within 30 minutes the pan was boiling all the way to the back! I had planned on doing a test for a couple of hours, but by the time the pan had been boiling 30 minutes I had already added another 10 gallons of water and it was boiling to beat hell.
So, I stopped firing after 30 minutes of boiling and let it cool down. It continued to boil for another 20 or so minutes after I stopped adding wood.
When it cooled off I measured and I had boiled off over 15 gallons. I am delighted. When I pulled the pan off the inside of the arch and bottom of the pan looked almost clean, it had even burned up all of the soot.
Now all I need is for the sap to start running in Minnesota!
Thanks for all of the great advice everyone!
Leo
I put 20 gallons of water in my 34"X64" pan and lit it up. Within 30 minutes the pan was boiling all the way to the back! I had planned on doing a test for a couple of hours, but by the time the pan had been boiling 30 minutes I had already added another 10 gallons of water and it was boiling to beat hell.
So, I stopped firing after 30 minutes of boiling and let it cool down. It continued to boil for another 20 or so minutes after I stopped adding wood.
When it cooled off I measured and I had boiled off over 15 gallons. I am delighted. When I pulled the pan off the inside of the arch and bottom of the pan looked almost clean, it had even burned up all of the soot.
Now all I need is for the sap to start running in Minnesota!
Thanks for all of the great advice everyone!
Leo