raise the verses drop flu

[CTsugarMan]

can anyone tell me the benefit or the difference between the raised and drop flu pans

[sugarman3]

more surface area with a raised flue,used both and the raised flue is what prefer,seems to boil faster also

[CTsugarMan]

Thanks i kinda thought that.... with a drop fue how do you get the SAP out of the channels?

[Starting Small]

Do you need to run a raised flue deeper so the flues are submerged?
-Dave

[CTsugarMan]

Dave, 9th your asking me I have no idea... im running a barrel with two flat pans, but need to upgrade this summer. I was going to build my own arch, but in doing research i found a Lapierre Mini Pro Evaporator 19 in x 48 in on line... might be easier to just buy one, and this one has a bunch of features.... can anyone offer advise?

[Middleton Maples]

Do you need to run a raised flue deeper so the flues are submerged?
-Dave
Yes, that is why there is two float boxes. CTsugarman, Lapierre makes nice evaporators, I would recommend it.

[CTsugarMan]

Thanks for the info,is it difficult to empty out drop flue pans... how do you do it?

[Middleton Maples]

If the flue pan is small, pick it up and turn it over:mrgreen: Some I think have a drain in it. I don't like drop flue, seems to be more of a pain in the neck to me.

[spencer11]

Thanks for the info,is it difficult to empty out drop flue pans... how do you do it?
I've got a raised flue but the drop flues I've seen have a drain on the back of the flues the that comes out one side of the arch

[foursapssyrup]

we have drop flues, but they do not have a drain on them. to empty, we siphon out as much as possible and then take the pan off and flip t over (we only empty it at the end of the season).

personally i like them a lot, they allow us to run a 1" depth with no intermediate float. it boils like crazy, and meets our needs perfectly.

[Farmboy]

What's nice about a raised flue is I can run my syrup pan 1" deep and my flue pan at 1/4". I can really fly through the sap like that compared to if I run both pans at 1". I can get around 10gph more out of my evaporator running it shallow.

[nymapleguy607]

Its really a ford chevy type thing. Drop flues only use a single float in the rear to control the pan levels for both the syrup and flue pan. Most have a drain pipe in the flues to empty them. Raised flue pans use 2 floats to control the liquid level, this will let you run the flue pan at a lower level while still keeping the syrup pan at a set depth. Some people say a drop flue will boil harder than a raised flue to me thats debatable I like that raised flue pans dont run the risk of being hit hit by wood when you load the firebox.

[Daves Maple Farm]

Mine is a Smokey Lake drop and he puts a drain on the pan, open the valve into a bucket.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I have drop flue and it has drain on the rear and drains itself. Advantages to both but takes less sap to fill a drop flue. May be able to make a touch lighter syrup with a drop flue due to have less sap in the flue pan but I am just speculating.