barrel heaters?

[maple flats]

As I sell more and more syrup, I find I am needing to pack from bulk that is very cold. I use my filter press recirculate feature to draw from the cold drum and pump to my finisher for heating. When the syrup is in the 20's this is REAL SLOW. Do any of you use an electric barrel heater? If yes, details please. My biggest issues are 16 gal SS,30 plastic and 40 gal SS bbls. If you use a bbl heater, is there one that can be used on all 3? Do I need to enlarge my RO room and put the bbl to be pumped from in there a day or 2 ahead? The cost of electric is not an issue, I have lots of solar, net metered and on a commercial meter my credits just roll, they can not be redeemed. Thus my only way to use them is to consume them (or I could attach them to my residential meter but we choose not to do that.)

[PerryFamily]

In my simple mind I would think the most cost and time effective solution would be to put them in the RO room to warm them up. My guess is that it would take quite a bit of time to warm a barell with a heater? Dunno

[lpakiz]

Could your containers be hoisted or placed into a "bathtub" (like a bigger barrel), equipped with a high wattage heating element? The water surrounding the syrup container would give even, fast, and safe heat transfer.
I have used a stand alone gear pump to transfer. It is just the motor, the pump, 2 pulleys and the belt, easily handled.
I am going to build another unit, using an old, worn out Oberdorfer. I am thinking that it will pump cold, low-pressure syrup just fine. Not 20 degrees cold, tho. Just room temperature.

[Machinist67]

Dave,

Do not know if this would work for you. You may be able to find them cheaper but I do like the thought of have an adjustable thermostat.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200577769_200577769

Eric

[Sullydog]

Dave, I only keep stainless drums and sell the plastic in bulk. I point my 110,000 btu ready heater at the side of it and box some other metal around it to keep the heat in. It heats up pretty fast and goes right through the filter press. I just pull the cap off so no pressure builds. Takes about 10-15 min. By the way I notice your not that far from me I would love to come see your operation sometime. Jack

[wrushton]

would a heat tape work ? did any one ever try one in plastic tank

[maple flats]

Dave,

Do not know if this would work for you. You may be able to find them cheaper but I do like the thought of have an adjustable thermostat.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200577769_200577769


Eric

I looked at some of these in 1500 watts. My RO room has no extra room, and besides, if I put a 40 gal bbl of 20 degree syrup in, the 300 watt heater would not be able to keep the RO from freezing. I could put the 16 gal SS bbls in but would need to pull out the pressure washer, then I'd need to drain the pump. My sugarhouse is so crowded until I put on my long over due addition next year, I'd have no safe spot to run a ready heater. I even have one that is 150,000 btu propane, but in the crowded space I wouldn't dare.
What I'm asking is: Has anyone used a barrel heater successfully (or unsuccessfully)? If good, what size barrels and which heater?
I really only need to warm it to about 55-60F for it to pump well and with a barrel heater and an outer barrel over the heater jacket I think it would work well. Anyone do this?

[optionguru]

As long as they all have an opening in the top you could use an aquarium heater. They are adjustable and submersible. I used to use them in my salt water aquariums. They look like a large cigar tube and they make them in many different wattages. Easy to handle and relatively inexpensive.

[jmayerl]

I spoke to my uncle for you he works at hillshire and they use barrel and tote warmers all the time for honey. He said the barrels warm up in about 15 mins and the totes take a hour. Not sure how warm it gets to but you can imagine 275 gallons of honey in January is quite cold and hard to pump before being warmed

[gmcooper]

Dave there are several different barrel/drum heaters on the market. Also can get them for 5 gallon buckets which might fit a 16 gallon drum. As jmayerl mentioned honey industry uses drum heaters frequently. In a cold room a heavy blanket covering the barrel with heater will certainly be more effective.
Mark

[maple flats]

I just picked up a 1500 watt infra red heater to try. If that is too slow I'll try a barrel heater.
Right now I'm going to try the Infra red and place it about 10-12" away from the barrel and turn it on high. As I say, I'll order a barrel band type heater if necessary. I really only need to bring the temp up to 40-45, at that temp it pumps fast enough.
I looked up the barrel heaters, I found sizes up to 1500 watts, if I end up needing one, I'll look further to see if I can find a 2000 or even 2500 watt for faster heat. Who knows, I might end up putting the infrared heater in my RO room and set it on low. I now use 3x100 watt light bulbs and that works well, but I need to check the bulbs often because they don't seem to last very long. For some reason, I go thru 4-8 bulbs a year and incondescents are getting as scarce as hen's teeth..

[Z/MAN]

Flats. They still sell 100 watt rough service bulbs. You can buy them in any auto parts store for drop lights.

[maple flats]

I may get some, thanks. The 3 bulbs in my RO room 2 are in clamp on lights, 1 is wall mounted. They just don't last very dependably.

I tried the Infra red heater a little yesterday. I only ran it at about 10" away from a 30 gal plastic bbl and let it run maybe 10-15 minutes. (from now on all of my new barrels will be SS, they will heat faster for sure). The surface of the barrel was nice and warm, but I did not try to pump. I think it will work fine. I may make a little shell hut to enclose 3 sides and the top to help get the whole barrel warm faster. It will need to be collapsible for storage but should speed the process.
Thanks to all for your input.
Dave