Help insulating cast iron arch door?

[vtwoody]

Hey all...trying to stay ahead of the game as it starts getting cooler...

Last years last minute arch purchase and preparation ended up working fine for the limited season we had (4 boils for me) but I would like to take advantage of the preseason time I have to make as many improvements as possible (imagine that? lol).

I was extremely satisified with the performance of my older 2X4 arch (1 pan but drop flue sap pan, continuous flow into syrup pan in front with draw off valve) after successfully blanket insulating and firebricking....It was amazing how quickly a boil would start after the fire was lit and how cool the sides of the arch stayed all through the boil, even with the raging inferno inside...

Weak point (one of many) is that the doors are neither airtight nor insulated. I was thinking of drilling the doors to allow for bolting in place some insulated blanket material and wanted to hear thoughts/suggestions on how drill holes in the cast iron doors without wrecking them....


Additionally, I was wondering if woodstove gasket material would stay in place with gasket cement around the door perimeter without a groove to sit in...thoughts? alternatives?

Thanks!!!

[Dennis H.]

I did away with the double cast doors and made my own airtight door.
It is 2" thick and filled with 2 layers of blanket.
The door gasket is just glued to the face of the angle iron that the door is made out of. If memory serves correct I had to only spot glue a corner mid season.
With the cast doors there was no easy way to make them airtight and I felt that I didn't want to modify them in any way that I couldn't reuse them the way that I got them, o Fab in up a door was the answer.

[vtwoody]

I guess it would be a good opportunity to learn how to use that stick welder i picked up 8 years ago and used once....thanks for the thought. If I have time....maybe later in fall or early winter.....or maybe next year...lol

[red maples]

no reg cast doors aren't air tight. but you can insulate them what I did was my doors have a thicker webbing about 1/2 wide going into the hinge or pin hole. that webbing goes across the entire door drilled 4 holes in each door and tapped it for a 10/24 machine screw and got the biggest fender washers I could find cut some ceramic blanket to fit and put it on best thing I ever did. saves on gloves I will tell you that. I add on a new piece of ceramic every year. works great!!!! I highly recomment it if you can do it. one thing macke sure you get Stainless screws and washers as anything else just can't take the heat!!!

[Tweegs]

Can’t help with making the door air tight, but used ceramic blanket to insulate the door.

Drilled holes in the door to accept a 3” long, small head nail (finish nail).
Through the door, through the blanket, then one of those big push on type (captive) aluminum washers.
Clip off the excess nail.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Can’t help with making the door air tight, but used ceramic blanket to insulate the door.

Drilled holes in the door to accept a 3” long, small head nail (finish nail).
Through the door, through the blanket, then one of those big push on type (captive) aluminum washers.
Clip off the excess nail.
Any thing else but stainless will not last. The heat is so tremendous there it will eventually warp and fall off. The nail thing will work but probably have to replace them often.

[Sugarbear]

We did the doors on our evap by cutting out a piece of stainless sheet metal the same size as the door. then we drilled and bolted it to the inside of the door sandwiching the insulating material in between. Its been no problem for several years now and it sure made the doors not as hot as before.