pre heater build

[lakeview maple]

I just recieved about 80 ft of 3/8 soft copper for nothing and was wondering if I could get a few ideas about how to put together a preheater.I have built a stainless 2x3 hood for my flue pan with a stack and damper,the hood also has a drip edge for condensation on both sides, I would just like some ideas as to how to put together the pre heater.Thanks for any help,Al

[sugarman3]

My 1st preheater was homemade.i laid the coil back and forth the length of the flue pan,laying them on 2x4 square stock,making sure one end was 4 in and the other 2 in with a small catch tray on 2 in end to catch the water that condensed on coils from boiling,thatway it was not dropping backin flue pan

[Spanielslovesappin]

Whatever you do don't just try and run 100% of you sap through the entire length in one run. Split it up into multiple passes. Say 5 lengths 16' long. Then make a manifold for the inlet and outlet. use 3/4X3/8X3/4 copper tee's to make the manifolds... 5 tee's for for inlet and 5 for out. then just bend the soft copper with a tubing bender or slip a spring over it to make 180 degree bends back and forth. make all 5 chunks identical and then sweat them into the manifold. you will want the inlet to be the lower pipe and the outlet to be the upper pipe. you will also want to leave a bleeder valve on the outlet (higher end) to vent off and air or vapor. then stick it into the hood, and iron out the mounting and condensation drip tray. 1000 different ways to do this... hope this helps!