modified mason

[Stephen J]

I added a smoke shelf to my mason evaporator which includes an opening in the flue to hold the warming pan above and behind the boiling pan. I tried a metal shelf on a prototype which works fine and now use 1 inch fiber board. I have some metal expansion issues to resolve but the pan boils over its entire surface. The warming pan gets boiling too. The smoke shelf reverses the flue so the chimney is above the fire door. The original flue exit is not used. There is a 2 inch space under the pan. I lined the stove with half inch fiberboard before 2 inch brick. And I raised a cast iron grate on firebrick. I use very little wood. I haven't posted before but hopefully this makes sense and a photo is included. Bill made the modification according to my drawing.

[asknupp]

Add a pic of the inside of your arch so I can see what you got going. Gonna be making an arch this off season.

[Stephen J]

The stove is bricked as a simple firebox with the ceramic fiberboard and then brick against the sides, ends and bottom. I used one inch brick on the bottom. The modification section is 3 inches high over the stove and suspends one inch fiber board horizontally over the firebox. I made the modification with stainless because I had the metal. The pan sits on top of the modification. I left a 2 or 3 inch gap across the back end of the fiberboard to allow the fire to pass over the fiber board and under the pan to the chimney which is over the stove door. I did this to get a longer flame path. So the entire pan has just a two inch space under it. I won't be able to get photos until the season ends. I may add a damper to divert the fire straight up the chimney if I need to stop heating the pan. I hope this makes sense to you. Stephen

[eustis22]

I'd like to see the inside of your arch as well

[Stephen J]

Today I checked my pre-heater tank with a digital meter. After starting with about 5 gallons and gradually feeding my pan, at about 2 1/2 gallons, the sap temp was 208. It likely would have gotten higher but I needed to add sap to the pan. If I was to do my modification again I'd make the pre-heater/warming pan integral to the chimney rather than a separate container. I might still make this modification in the future. I see a lot of attempts to add tubing to the chimney to pre-heat sap. My tank takes advantage of the waste heat without issue.
Stephen