Inferno Evaporator

[sirhart1]

Hi all
I need some help. I have a 2x6 wse and im looking to do some type of upgrade. If it be an airtight front or a whole new inferno.
Need input from others that may have done one of these before. Thanks all Hope you had a good season..

[jrmaple]

Did you consider adding on a steam away pan or piggyback pan, they can increase your evaporation rate up to 75%, or even a steam hood with parallel pre-heater if you don't have one already. Do you have a blower on your arch?

Zach

[500592]

You would better off selling hat 2x6 and getting the patriot or other 2x6 mod I know a phanuef will get 40 gph

[ebourassa]

I'm getting an averageof 48-50 with my 2x6 with a hood an prheater an homemade blower

[Greenwich Maple Man]

You would better off selling hat 2x6 and getting the patriot or other 2x6 mod I know a phanuef will get 40 gph

Just wondering the reasoning why the Phanuef gets more?

[nymapleguy607]

The WSE model pans are Leaders economy package, if you go to a set of Patriot raised flue or king drop flue pans it gives you a 7" flue instead of a 5" which I believe the WSE has. That adds up for evaporation. My evaporator runs in the low 40's including start up and shut down. An inferno arch would add a little but you would be wasting heat due to lack of surface area. So if you really wanted GPH increase I would upgrade pans and keep the arch.

[500592]

Phaneuf has 10 10 inch flues that is why there is the extra gph

[DaveB]

The WSE model pans are Leaders economy package, if you go to a set of Patriot raised flue or king drop flue pans it gives you a 7" flue instead of a 5" which I believe the WSE has. That adds up for evaporation. My evaporator runs in the low 40's including start up and shut down. An inferno arch would add a little but you would be wasting heat due to lack of surface area. So if you really wanted GPH increase I would upgrade pans and keep the arch.

When I upgraded to a 2x6 several years ago, it was the WSE model and back then they had 7.5" flues, just like the regular pans. I don't know if that has changed, but I did upgrade to an American set of pans before going with the Max pan expecting to see an increase in GPH but I didn't. I still got around 38-40GPH. I keep being told that is really good but I think it has to do with how and what I burn. I only burn wood that has been seasoned 2-3 years and 2-3" in diameter. Once I get a good fire going, I only put 4-6 pieces in there and my pans seem to roar! I also have a good draft, no forced draft.

I seem to do OK with that but that's my 2 cents.

Dave

[motowbrowne]

I think that for less money than a piggyback or a new arch, or new pans you could add forced air and get a pretty good increase in efficiency. Depends on what you are looking for, and how much you want to spend. I would buy a new (used) larger evaporator before I got a new arch if speed is your main concern. If you want more efficiency and speed out of what you have I think that adding forced air, either Air Under Fire, or both Under and Over would be a good option. I haven't done any of these upgrades myself, but I've been really thinking about adding an airtight front and a blower as soon as I can manage to do it, and from my research on this site and the great document from the Proctor Maple Guys, http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/Combustion.pdf, it seems pretty doable for a reasonable price, certainly less than a whole new arch. Yes, it's true that bigger flues will get better GPH, but air will help a lot over natural draft, so I hear.

[jrmaple]

Another easy way to increase your rate is a parallel pre-heater, you can buy a professionally made one or you can make on yourself or have somebody that has experience with copper piping make it, it is pretty simple design and is a nice addition, it can heat your sap up to 200 degrees before entering the flue pan. Good luck.