Has anyone made a steamaway?

[hookhill]

Well we were planning on putting in a preheater but then got to thinking that a steamaway might not be that much more materials and labor. Was wondering if any of you tinkerers have come up with a homey steamaway. Good luck to all you sugarers this season.

Jim

[Fred Henderson]

If I could ever get a good look at one I sure would be attemping to put one together. :D

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

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[Fred Henderson]

I like your idea of the staak-a-back, sounds like it would be efficent and much cheaper to build.

[maple flats]

I forget who but 1 of the members on here has done just that and written about it on here. If memory serves me (it rarely does) they had a 2x6 or 2.5x6 which they added a 3' flues pan over the stack and extended the rig to 9'. Try searching back thru and you can find it I would think. They have talked about it sometime last winter or in the last syrup season.
Dave

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

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[802maple]

It would boil just as hard if you added a bubbler to the unit

[Fred Henderson]

What concerns me about the bubbler is all the cooler air that is being injected into the sap.We might better work towards and RO that will take it from sap to syrup.

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

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[powerdub]

I helped a friend of mine build a steamaway about five years ago. If I remember right it cost just less than half of what a new one of that size cost from leader. We added our ideas into it as well and to our surprise the darned thing worked. They also admitted that if they had to do it over again they would buy one. It took or seemed to take forever to build this thing and although it did end up working it didn't go without a few bugs that shut them down the first couple of boils. We also took parts of it to a tin knocker because we didn't the proper tools and we wanted it to look like we knew what we were doing. Good luck if you decide to build one.

[Breezy Lane Sugarworks]

Injecting the cooler air doesn't seem to affect the boil much at all...I've watched one in action, and the guy told me he saw no difference in boil rate. If anything, it helped.

This is the way I understand it. Think of it like a HOT bowl of soup/coffee/anything...if you stir it, more steam will evaporate out of it. So if you inject the pans w/ air (the stirring action) it will create more steam to evaporate. And another advantage of air injection is it keeps the sugar sands suspended creating less build-up on the pans.

[802maple]

Ryan, I couldn't have said it better myself. You get to come to the front of the class

[Breezy Lane Sugarworks]

LOL, Thanks! That was the most basic way that I could inderstand it.

[Sugarmaker]

I have looked at several steam aways and there is a lot going on inside one even as "simple" as they look. Building one without a lot of good sheet metal fab tools would be a challenge. This is about 20 times more complicated than the simple steam hoods I built. (Steam hoods don't have to hold sap.) I have kicked around several ideas not knowing if any will work and all look about as complicated when I get done sketching. If I could simplify the build down to simple bends and some soldering and keep the price under /around $500 and was sure that I could get a good sap reduction I might try it.

(Building a steam away may be about like shearing a pig. " A heck of a lot of squealing for the little bit of hair you get").

All you steam away guys can tell me this. What is the sugar % coming out of the steam away? If you put in 2% sap what comes out?

Chris (Still sketching and thinking)

[Sugarmaker]

Neat idea on the stak-a-back I think it will work!
Chris

[Fred Henderson]

I have looked at several steam aways and there is a lot going on inside one even as "simple" as they look. Building one without a lot of good sheet metal fab tools would be a challenge. This is about 20 times more complicated than the simple steam hoods I built. (Steam hoods don't have to hold sap.) I have kicked around several ideas not knowing if any will work and all look about as complicated when I get done sketching. If I could simplify the build down to simple bends and some soldering and keep the price under /around $500 and was sure that I could get a good sap reduction I might try it.

(Building a steam away may be about like shearing a pig. " A heck of a lot of squealing for the little bit of hair you get").

All you steam away guys can tell me this. What is the sugar % coming out of the steam away? If you put in 2% sap what comes out?

Chris (Still sketching and thinking)


Take your idea to an Amish tin knocker, should be 1 or 2 around you some where.

[Fred Henderson]

Injecting the cooler air doesn't seem to affect the boil much at all...I've watched one in action, and the guy told me he saw no difference in boil rate. If anything, it helped.

This is the way I understand it. Think of it like a HOT bowl of soup/coffee/anything...if you stir it, more steam will evaporate out of it. So if you inject the pans w/ air (the stirring action) it will create more steam to evaporate. And another advantage of air injection is it keeps the sugar sands suspended creating less build-up on the pans.

Is the bubbler into both flue and syrup pans? Sounds like for the effort they would be easier and cheaper to build that a steam away.

[Breezy Lane Sugarworks]

Yes, the bubbler is in both syrup and flue pans. There are tubes that run along the bottom of the flues. Then there are 2 tubes per section in the syrup pan(s). The tubes in the syrup side stop short of the thermometer so it won't affect the reading.

A Bubbler is VERY EASY to build. It's just that you have to get a blower that blows PERFECTLY Clean/Clear FILTERED air, so you don't get any off-flavors.

[Jim Brown]

I have a Steamaway and the small "bubbler" tubes that inject the air are just under the large steam tubes. there is a seal between the flue pan and the steamaway.The fan also pressurizes the flue pan and forces the steam throught the large tubes.Leader says increase of 75% I will be happy with 50%
Hope this helps someone
Jim

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

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[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

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[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Think a steamaway is expensive, I called Maple Pro/CDL and priced a steam pan for my 2x5 flue pan. $ 4300 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O It is more simple than a steamaway and lower gain in evap and it is made in Canada and supposed to be cheaper. 8O 8O The full price with included hood is $ 5200, but they will sell without hood for $ 4300. 8O 8O 8O 8O Not that I was going to buy one, just couldn't wait to see what they cost. 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O That is what I paid for my evpaorator 3 years ago. 8O 8O 8O

Bet they don't sell many of them. LOL

[Sugarmaker]

Maple Hill,
Thanks for doing the research on the sap % coming out of the steam away. I did get on the patent site last night, but spent most of my time getting the viewer loaded so I could look at the pictures. 4% sap helps a lot. I know not as much as a RO but and nice increase. And a nice reduction in boiling time. RO is not in my near future, Just don't have the sap volume and dollars to justify one at this time.
Still thinking about the stark-a-back idea.
Anyone every hear of the closed copper tubes used as heat transfer devices. Used in Platen heating systems to move heat from one area to another. These may to cost prohibitive but its a concept to move heat from one area. I cant remember the name of the Canadian company that made these. I will have to check at work for the info.

Chris

[Jim Brown]

I must have caught Leader at a weak moment or they had a steamaway they could not sell. The one I have was made for a King set of pans and they refabed the bottom to fit my W/S pan I got it for $2350
I thought that was cheaper than a bigger evaporator. Next step is a RO when the taps increase
Jim

[Jec]

Go to http://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=toolbar-instant&hl=en&ion=1&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4GZAZ_enUS331US331#hl=en&safe=off&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4GZAZ_enUS331US331&sclient=psy-ab&q=piggyback+for+evaporators+pdf&pbx=1&oq=piggyback+for+evaporators+pdf&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=3&gs_upl=13588l23365l0l24152l16l16l0l0l0l0l220l2410l 0.14.2l16l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=b757e3527af479f5&ion=1&biw=1280&bih=600
Look for Piggy back evaporating for maple syrup evaporator ... - Google
This is for a piggyback but the seam away is the same.

[Jec]

Sorry wrong thread