Cross Flow Thermometer Port Location

[Amber Gold]

I have a set of crossflow pans on my evap. The thermometer port is to the left of the drawoff box, and with a 12" long thermometer probe, it's about 1.25" off the pan and is 12" into the pan. Running the evap. I get some pretty good temp swings and spikes when I start drawing off from the syrup back mixing. To help with this, I started drawing off earlier. I'm firing with hardwood and have 15 min. load times, so the fire's pretty consistent. After thinking about it, I'm wondering if the thermometer port location might be an issue. On a crossflow pan, where should the therm. port be located, how far into the pan should the tip of the thermometer be, and how far off the pan should the thermometer be?

Thanks.

[mellondome]

1.25" wouldn't even be in the syrup in my pan.

[n8hutch]

My probes are 3/8 off the bottom of the pan, about 6-7 inches in from the out side with about 2" of probe submerged with 1-1/2" of syrup in the pan.

[S&STappers]

This year I had a problem with syrup burning in the corner of the pan just in front of the draw off. My probe is about 10" to the left of the draw off. Next year I'm moving it in front of the draw off. I've got a Smokey lake probe, and it recommends being placed 1/4" from pan bottom

[Amber Gold]

It sounds like some adjustments need to be made for next season. I wonder if having them cut off and shifted down a 1/4" with a bit of an angle down taper would do the trick. I have a 6" long probe I could use, so the probe wouldn't be so far into the syrup pan, and it'd be in the syrup more.

The pics are small in the catalogues, but it looks like the equipment companies generally put the therm. port through the drawoff box.

[maple flats]

On my cross flow each thermometer is above the syrup at about 2.5" up on the outside edge of each draw off box, then the 9" probe goes down at an angle so with 1" of sap in the pan, at least 2" at the end of the probe is in the sap (the tip of the probe is about 1/4" off the bottom) and the probe goes thru the 3" wide cutout where the syrup flows as it either enters the syrup pan or exits it. I have 2 thermometers so I don't need to swap them out each time I reverse flow. I have no real swing issues, but then I don't use an auto draw nor a batch draw, I try to use a constant draw. To do this I open the draw off valve slightly when the temperature is right, if the temp. rises I open slightly more, if it drops I close it a little. I think my longest continuous draw is approaching 2 hrs before something causes the temp to fall too low. I don't call these swings, but rather minor corrections. At times during a constant draw I have been able to draw with no adjustments on the valve for over an hour many times.
If you are drawing faster, that could easily cause temperature swings even if the probe is in the ideal location.