Leader hood modification?

[Lazarus]

I've got a new Leader 2x6 this year with hoods. It's my first rig with hoods, and I can see in the flue pan especially that an awful lot of condensation is raining down straight from the stack and into the pan. The Leader hoods don't come with a "hat" over the hole to catch the dripping like CDL ones. Anyone ever put maybe a folded piece of stainless like a tent under there to grab the drips and guide them back to the rails where the drip edge can catch it? Does it help the evaporation rate or does it block the stack draw too much?

[lpakiz]

I have an up-side-down china hat under mine, several inches larger than the stack. A fitting on the point ( down under) connects to a hose, then into the drain gutter. I suspect that most of the condensation coming out the drain is from the stack, not the hood itself. The hood gets warm and doesn't condense as much as the long stack exiting the roof. It does not affect the draw of steam at all. You can see steam swirling around the china hat and going up the stack.

[markct]

On my hood I built I have a tray the whole length that catches the stack drips as well as the drips from the preheater pipes

[village idiot]

Mine has the upside down "china hat" (I would call it a funnel) that catches the drips and guides them to a tray that leads to the rail. The funnel is set on the copper pre-heater pipes so it is a few inches below the start of the steam stack. I don't get much condensation from the steam stack anyway, because mine only goes up about 10 inches.

[Lazarus]

Ah, didn't think about the distance. That's probably why I get so much. My flue stack extends about 2 ft above the roof, which itself is 22 ft. So I bet I have 18 or so feet of stack.

I'm pulling taps this weekend; trees are budded out. I can break the equipment down and take it to our weld shop to have it modified. If anyone can take some pictures of their China hats or other design that I could show my welder, that would be great. They know brewery equipment here in Cincinnati, but not maple stuff, so I have to be pretty explicit with instructions.

[mellondome]

Build a preheater and the tray under it will also catch the stack condensation. Probably the same money as just a catch pan... with the bonusbof increased boul rate.