First boil on block arch evap

[Kacey small scale maple]

I tested this with water last night.i had a couple of questions. I have this in a sugar shack and as you can see the steam was pretty bad I have windows but does anybody have any suggestions for a solution??? I also noticed the the fire was going right out the stack should I put something in front of it to keep the flames hitting the pans?:emb:

[Kacey small scale maple]

Sorry forgot to post the pic

[Ausable]

Kacey - Always a good idea to do a test boil on a new rig - as you found out. Even on one you have used last year. You pickup on potential problems. In your case - I would have a steel plate - with a handle of sorts - that you can slide across the front so you have more control on your air flow - You will find a location where it burns the best and you have the most efficiency. Fire shooting out the stack is wasting a lot of heat. Grated - this is not a wood heating stove for the house - but - it is not a Blast Furnace either. I have a home made arch and flow thru pans and I use my ash clean out door for an air supply. I always ran it with this door wide open and last year I started burning ash slab wood - wow! what a difference - I had to damper back the air flow for the first time cause the fire was getting away from me. Normally - folks are adding fans on closed systems for forced draft and hotter fires - my little rig and yours apparently don't need fans. Yet...lol. Have fun making Maple! ------Mike-----