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View Full Version : Steam Hood/Preheater Fab Questions.



BlueberryHill
01-20-2016, 09:01 AM
We are working on a steam hood. It's coming along nicely so far. It's 2x4 to cover my raised flue pan. I had a spare 4 foot section of 10" SS stack so we are using that for the vent. It will vent up to about 2 feet below my cupola. I was going to try it out like that and then extended it all the way up if needed. Also thinking about a damper but not sure if I should bother or not. Interested in what you guys think I should do.

More importantly, my biggest question is on the preheater. I have a bunch of 1/2" copper pipe and fittings and I was searching around the site looking at pics to see how I should construct it. But I could not find any good pics that show me exactly how people typically get the pipes through the hood. I want to be able to raise the hood without messing around with a bunch of fittings if possible. Can anyone tell me how theirs is set up? Or can someone post some pictures of how you have your preheater plumbed?

-I know I need to have a drip tray or drip channels under the preheater.
-It looks like the incoming sap goes to the lower manifold and then the sap moves uphill to the output manifold that feeds the float box? And it also looks like a vent needs to be installed between the output manifold and the float box? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have never seen one of these in person and I don't want to mess it up and have to redo it. Please let me know if there is anything else crucial that I am missing.

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madmapler
01-20-2016, 04:45 PM
I end my stacks in the cupola and it works fine. A damper will give you more control over the temp of your preheated sap so I would put it in for all its worth. All the preheaters I've seen including the 2 that I've had have to go in and come out holes bored in the hood. Make sure you put doors in your hood where you can get at the connections. You may want to put in a vent at the top of the preheater to bleed out the air.