Leader Half Pint Draw off Questions

[DonMcJr]

OK I know I've heard a lot that it's hard to draw off finished syrup with a leader half pint and have been drawing off almost finished and then finish it in the house on the stove.

last night i was toying with running it low and got down to 3/4 of an inch and pulled off at 218 F.

now those that get draw off temps with a half pint and test it with a hydrometer how low are you running the pan level and how fast are you dumping the fresh sap in from the preheater?

boiling point of water was at 210.7 F last night so syrup by the 7.5 F above that should be just over 218 F and at 60 F my hydrometer bottomed out so it's not even close... not to mention the last 2 years I've had to hit 222 F to have 2 different hydrometer say it's syrup...

[NTBugtraq]

I've never heard the boiling point of water being below 212F...how was it 210.7F? Honestly asking, what do you think caused that? Most hydrometers will work up to 50C, so did you try several tests? Are you at sea level?

My hydrotherm talks about the possibility where its being lying on its side too long, in which case it needs to be "slapped" at 90F...??

Just to ask the obvious...how'd you measure the temperature.

Cheers,
Russ

[wnybassman]

I've never heard the boiling point of water being below 212F...how was it 210.7F? Honestly asking, what do you think caused that?

Elevation. The higher you are the lower the boiling point. It's 210ish here also. With that said, with over ten gallons made this year, I still haven't even got the thermometer out yet. First year I have never used it :)

BTW Don, I have been running my pan at 1/2" this year. And I only keep it that deep because of a few spots on the bottom of the pan that were warped when the dividers were welded in. In those spots it runs about a 1/4" deep. lol I keep a pretty close eye on it though, and if I have to leave for a minute I'll run the feeder a little stronger til I get back.

[bowhunter]

Don,

I have an RO, but I feed it to a half pint. I feed 6 gallons per hour and run the pan down around 3/4 inch. I drew off finished syrup all season. We're about 1,100 feet in elevation so our boiling point is between 209 and 210. I drew off between 219 and 220. By my hydrometers (two) it all was 59 or more on the hot test at 211 F. I had to adjust 2-3 batches with water to get the density down to 59. Don't ask me to explain why you need to draw off about 10 degrees about the boiling point of water, but it seems to work.

Dave

[DonMcJr]

After finishing this batch on the stove just now...it took an hour and a half to get it to syrup and the temp was 221.5 F. Two Hydrometers said the same. I pulled it off my evap at 218 F so next boil ( if it isn't done yet no flow today) I'm gonna run it at 1/2 inch and pull it off at 220 F.

[DonMcJr]

Also if you have a smart phone there's an app called "boiling point" and it uses the pressure and your elevation to tell you your true boiling point...

[eustis22]

Lessons learned:

1A) Don't tap too early. I suspect tapping during the February warm spell ruined the end of March for me.

1) Raise the back of the arch another brick width toward the bottom of the pan

2) Get a bigger fan and a better way to distribute AUF.

3) Run the pan a bit shallower....2+ inches is way too much to get a fast roiling boil

4) MORE WOOD! Ima be logging all summer and fall now

I think next year is the make or break year for this stove for this pan. I never got the gradient, I really never drew off anything close to syrup. Part of that is me, but I'm wondering if a bigger stove with a bigger fire will make the investment in the continuous flow pan worth it.

[sugarshed]

I like to run 3/4in and pay attention to the sap. When it starts to sheet on my scoop I put it in a small pan and finish on propane ,takes 5-10 min.