steam hood height

[davey]

How high above my sap pan should I hang my steam hood? it is a 2 1/2 x 8 oil fired if that makes a difference.
thanks
Dave

[royalmaple]

Dave-

Most anyone I know has their hoods right on the top of the flue pan, like a lid on a pot.

Syrup pans are different with the hoods above the syrup pan enough so you can see what is happening, and react to "stuff".

Alot of guys on here have hoods and you'll get some input.

[Brad W Wi]

Davey, I had the same question out there a short time ago. I was told about 10" to 12". I imagine that you also have the type of hood that does not sit tight on the evaporator. I figure I can fine tune it when I do a test run with water in a few weeks as I'm still in the process of setting up a 2x8 wood fired unit.

[davey]

I recently bought a hood that was on e-bay. I don't know if the link still works but this has/had a picture of it. I think it is the type that is suspended abve the pans and not mounted directly on it. If I am wrong, please let me know.

http://cgi.ebay.com/MAPLE-SYRUP-STAINLESS-STEEL-EVAPORATOR-STEAM-HOOD_W0QQitemZ260045106050QQihZ016QQcategoryZ36346 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Davey,

It should work fine but the stack needs to be at least 2 to 3 times as large since it is suspended. :)

[davey]

Ive got some 12 inch stack pipe I could use if that is large enough. I would just need to enlarge the hole on the hood itself too. alternatively, a friend of mine gave me a brand new vent fan for a large steam heated bread oven that is supposed to be able to handle a pretty large volume although I do not know the cfm, it was designed to push steam. Has anyone ever tried something like that or am I better off just using the bigger pipe?

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Davey,

What size is your evaporator??

[davey]

It is an old Small Bros. 2 1/2 x 8 that I am converting to oil

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Davey,

If the hood is just for the sap pan, 12" should be enough. If it was sitting tight on the sap pan, 12" would be too much but with it being suspended, it sucks a lot of air besides the steam. If you could modify the hood and mount the steam pipe on the top vs on the end, it would draft even better. :)

[davey]

Thanks, I was thinking the vent was in the wrong spot too and thought I might change it to the top towards the back. The guy sold it as and it will work as a steam hood, even has stainless tubing built into the hood as a preheater, but I'm not completely sure that was the original use.