Test boil guestion about evap rate?

[team40]

we did a test boil on my new 2x4 and we used water and i boiled down about 20-24 gallons per hour
my question is does sap have a diffrent evap rate then water?

[boondocker]

No because you are evaporating water out of the sap untill it reaches 66% sugar.

[team40]

No because you are evaporating water out of the sap untill it reaches 66% sugar.

Then anwser this how come my evap rate is so high all i did to the arch is firebrink/arch paper and very dry wood it seems very high
for a 2x4? i am not complaining just wondering how it is so high.

[325abn]

Try another test boil maybe your time keeping was off.

[psparr]

I have a 2x6 flat pan oil tank arch and get 23 gph with real dry wood. No blower.

[boondocker]

With all the insulation in it now the heat is staying inside the arch instead of comming out through the sides. It makes a huge differance when a arch is insulated. Everything you just listed increases evaporation rate.

[team40]

With all the insulation in it now the heat is staying inside the arch instead of comming out through the sides. It makes a huge differance when a arch is insulated. Everything you just listed increases evaporation rate.

i thought i might have been going crazy but the pre heater could empty every 20 min or so. we are doing another boil tomarrow so we will
see how that goes. is anyone else getting theres kind of numbers with a 2x4 flat pan?

[acerrubrum]

I'm not getting anything like that rate. I too have an insulated arch with 2 x 4 flat divided pan and I guess I get around 10 gph.

[team40]

I'm not getting anything like that rate. I too have an insulated arch with 2 x 4 flat divided pan and I guess I get around 10 gph.

wow i am getting alot more i dont know what i did to get that much. but when i was done i could not see any ash in the fire
box so it burnt all the wood righ to nothing and i did not stur it the whole time.

[325abn]

How long was your test boil?

[team40]

How long was your test boil?

we boiled for about 2 and a half hours or so maybe longer

[Ren]

I don't know how you could possibly getting those numbers off a 2x4 flat pan. My Phaneuf drop flue 2x4 is getting 25 gph on average. When I was boiling on my flat divided pan it would see 10 to 12 gph. That was on a fully insulated arch with a blower , burning dry hardwood. How are you calculating those numbers?

[325abn]

I think to get a good accurate number you need to average out over maybe 10 -20 hours of boiling. Then you will really know.

[team40]

I think to get a good accurate number you need to average out over maybe 10 -20 hours of boiling. Then you will really know.

we did another test boil tonight and we had the sap evap rate as last night. we are getting the hang of things

[325abn]

Good deal man! I am still waiting for enough sap to sweeten my pan. :)

[team40]

Good deal man! I am still waiting for enough sap to sweeten my pan. :)

yeah i am to i taped here today and so far i think i got about a gallon between all 25 buckets still early though,

[Lazarus]

When you did your test boil, did you start with an empty evaporator? And end with a full one? If so, did you account for the sap it takes to fill it and subtract that out (as what you were left with did not boil)?

[PeddlerLakeSapper]

we did another test boil tonight and we had the sap evap rate as last night. we are getting the hang of things

Are you running your sap trough a float box, or just running it in out of a preheater tank?

[team40]

Are you running your sap trough a float box, or just running it in out of a preheater tank?

we were using water but the sap come out of the preheater pan by a manual ball valve

[PeddlerLakeSapper]

Without being able to control the exact depth of your pan with a float, it would be really tought to measure gallons per hour.

I could start out with an inch in my pan, dump 5 gallons into it in 1 minute and raise the level to 1 1/2 inches. This would caluclate to 300 gallons per hour.

As others have said those are crazy high numbers for your pan.

Once you start trying to boil down a 100 or 150 gallons or so, you might come up with some different numbers. If not let me know, because I would love to be able get those numbers.

Regardless if it is 2 or 200, have fun and enjoy.

[team40]

does anyone know how we are getting such a high evap rate? we will tell if anyone cant quess.

[Ren]

Let me guess. You are calculating the GPH after a dozen boiling sodas? :lol: Please tell us!

[325abn]

Do tell Grasshopper! :)

[team40]

we use a chimney damper and we also covered the fire bricks with cement.

[Bill'sSugarShack]

That rate dose sound high for a flat pan..
As for the question of if it'll be different with sap as apposed to water, YES..when you boil sap part of it stays and thickins to syrup ...where as plain water all evaporates.
(hope i said that so it's understood) I know when batch boiling, as it get's closer to being syrup, the boil rate is way lower than with raw sap.

[maple flats]

I think your rate is clouded by faulty measuring. Imperfect height measurements in the pan and pre heater. As said before, you will need to average over a much longer time period. Also, you don't really get the rate the first hour on wood fired because everything in the arch is heating up and your glowing coals are building up. I suggest you will get a better rate, when you have sap on an all day boil. Start after the start up 1st hour. and then begin the "test". To be honest, what you draw in syrup is not really included in the boil rate, but should be deducted. However most of us count that too in our boil rate. In the end however, this is just something to do until you have enough sap, and it helps keep the pans clean and ready to go to work, and it makes you feel good.

[twin6]

Can you tell us the rate at which you draw off syrup? At 20-24 gph evaporation on a flat 2 by 4, knowing what you average for production over several hours will help all understand what is going on.

[bowtie]

ok, i get the damper but what does the cement coating do ? i used refractory cement and archboard in my evap, maybe this what you mean. i may try a chimney damper, worth a try. still need a bigger evap. there is no replacement for displacement!!