Leader Revolution

[upsmapleman]

I will be upgrading my pans on my 3X12. I have gotten prices from several companies and am interested in the Leader Revolution because it has same side draw off which is a big plus for me. Also need to stay with a drop flue. Anyone have one? Pros and cons about them.

[Bruce L]

I went with the revolution this year,very simple to run,can change flow direction in probably about 20 seconds or less

[Jeff E]

How did the pans perform? Did you improve your evaporation rate? How did the reversing direction go regarding niter build up?
I had some concerns that the back pan does not reverse, and that the concentrate I run would lead to a niter build up in the flue pan if I could not reverse that as well.

[Bruce L]

Jeff,on a better longer year I would be able to give you more answers.The evaporation rate improved significantly,but I went from a natural draft Lightning with 7" crimps to a Leader Vortex with Max Flue 11&1/2" crimps.I tend to have a tremendous amount of niter from our bush,even Bruce was amazed at how fast it began building up.I may have to clean the pan with acid on a longer season mid-season because of this.I had no issues this season,pan reversal is extremely simple,my only problem came at the end of the season when I ran out of the Atmos defoamer Bruce brought along,I was actually squirting canola oil into the pan for the last day,the foam wouldn't go down so I had constant mixing,therefore the pans quit flowing properly.
Bruce
Also,could you leet me know more about your vacuum system?

[markcasper]

Also need to stay with a drop flue. Anyone have one? Pros and cons about them.

Why are you staying with drop flue? I need to decide pretty soon and was thinking of doing a raised flue this time, just wondering, maybe I should stay with a drop.

[upsmapleman]

I need to stay with a drop flu because of height. I have a intenso fire arch, pans, steam a way, hoods so don't have a lot of room left without doing work to the rafters.

[Jeff E]

Also,could you leet me know more about your vacuum system?[/QUOTE]

Sure, PM me if you would like or reply here, regarding vacuum. I really like vacuum!

[Greenwich Maple Man]

Also,could you leet me know more about your vacuum system?

Sure, PM me if you would like or reply here, regarding vacuum. I really like vacuum![/QUOTE]

Not sure if you are thinking about a Max Flue Pan. My 2 cents. I have one and it dose boil very fast. However, they tend to make darker syrup. Alot of fluid versus a standard seven in. flue. I have a Inferno Arch so am getting plenty of heat. I plan to turbo the box more this year so as to give a faster boil and hopefully lighten up the syup a little. Somthing more to think about.

[sugaringman85]

I have a 3x10 inferno arch with revolution pans, drop flu in the back. we run about 6-10% concentrate in our pans. last year on the best year we have ever had there was a lot of niter build up in all the pans. this year with only about 2/3 crop niter wasn't that bad. we run an auto draw off with a movable probe, instead of inserting the probe through the openings in the side of the pan. we love it. we couldn't have any other pans due to the sugar house lay-out. switching sides is wicked easy, and would recommend those pans to anyone

[Thad Blaisdell]

Niter will vary from year to year and it will have nothing to do with the pans. Last year I had to wash the pan every 200 gal of syrup made, this year I never washed, and never switched sides. I had no niter.... strange.

[upsmapleman]

Thanks sugaringman85. I really wanted to hear about reversing flow. If it was as easy as they say or nor. Do you just switch the valves or do you need to draw off some sweets and dump back in. Also any feed back on max flu pans would be appreciated.

[maple maniac65]

Thanks sugaringman85. I really wanted to hear about reversing flow. If it was as easy as they say or nor. Do you just switch the valves or do you need to draw off some sweets and dump back in. Also any feed back on max flu pans would be appreciated.
To swirch sides you always have to draw off some and put it back where you want it. Switching the valves only takes seconds. Just like a standard pan a sugarmaker will favor one section over the other when making syrup. I myself prefer the cross section on the revolution for making syrup. It is 100% in the heat all the time.

[sugaringman85]

I switch sides before we start up the next day. We usually switch sides ever 20-30 gallons cause its so easy. We plug off the flu pan the night before because we found that the whole pan dilutes to the same concentration after sitting for 12 or more hours, or even within a couple of hours. So we plug off the flu pan and the syrup pan is then about the same concentration. It takes about an extra 20 minutes maybe to get things flowing the right direction again. We make a bigger batch, around 1 to 2 13 quart buckets for our first draw off, then its back to normal batches of about 1-3 gallons. So ours is as simple as switching two valves, making sure the sap is moving the right direction, and moving the draw-off probe the the right side. Takes all of 30 seconds.

[upsmapleman]

I figured you needed to draw off some. We usually make 50 to 100 gallon in a day and wanted to be able to switch mid boil. We do it now but have to go around to other side. We draw off some and move it to the far side and keep going. Doing it all from the same side would be great.

[sugaringman85]

you would love the revolution pan then, if your making 50 to 100 gallons a day then i would draw some off like normal and go from there it would be easy, i've noticed the cross pan makes syrup faster, and can be more dangerous if your running low levels. found that out the hard way the first year.

[brookledge]

I have a 3X12 raised flue with rev. pan. Like many have already said the biggest plus is the ease of reversing flow. When nitre becomes heavier than normal I will reverse my flow every 1 to 2 hours. With concentrate (RO) you will be drawing off in about 15 minutes when you reverse flow. I set mine up so that sap entres on one side and syrup draws off the other side. I also off set the arch so I havew more room on the draw off side. You don't really nee much room on the other side.

[upsmapleman]

I'm thinking of going with revolution pans with a max flu pan. Would need to do some work in sugar house but could make it work. I keep hearing darker syrup when using a max flu. For those of you that have one what is your thought.

Dale

[jrgagne99]

This year, a friend of mine who went to a Max flue pan (2x8) finally made A-light for the first time ever. Of course he did switch to stainless gathering tanks at the same time, so maybe that was a contributing factor.

[Buffalo Creek Sugar Camp]

Dale,

I had a new Max and Revolution set of pans for this past season. 85% of my crop was medium. A little Fancy, and a little dark amber, but nothing darker. I do boil 16% concentrate though.