Pan gasket

[steve J]

I have always used the 1" thick white insulation type gasket between my pan and the top of the arch. Is there an advantage to using the new thin woven type gasket?

[Ghs57]

I have the same question. Are they more durable? My regular gasket only survived one season.

[DaveB]

I've only used the woven gasket and I usually use them for a couple of seasons and then replace them. They could probably last more than that but I just like to replace them because I have the material.

[pyro]

Not very fancy, but I've learned from this site to try sand. I've now tried both and think I prefer the sand. Prefer to have two people to place pan on the sand. Ideally you should have some space on side to fill in any leaks.

[adk1]

I bought the woven stuff but my pans don't sit quite as flat on my arch being that it is older etc so the thicker insulation works better for me. I ended up giving move of the roll to another sugar maker

[steve J]

Update to my post I may have found an advantage to this gasket for me. I have a 2x4 with a blower and have always had to run it at half speed or I would come close to a chimney melt down. Since using this gasket I have not had to back off the blower and I think it lowered the pan just enough that I am holding more heat in the firing area and it is not getting to the stack with enough heat volumn to cause it to come close to a melt down.

[Bricklayer]

I bought the flat woven gasket from CDL and its crap in my opinion. Unless your pan is perfectly flat and real heavy it doesn't work. I left it on but had to use ceramic blanket to make it seal properly.

[Diesel Pro]

I have never used any gasket, but I wondered about adding one. I was thinking a nice rope type that would be sealed down with high temp silicone like you would do a wood stove door? With my evap using 2 pans I would also have to build a cross bridge at the gap which I do not have. I wonder how long that would last?

[Maple Man 85]

We built our arch from an old boiler and we tack welded a lip around the exterior for the pan to set in which helps greatly with the smoke coming out the edges. In addition to this I used a thin round stove gasket which I push in with a putty knife. Then just before we take a batch off I removed the gasket, raise the pan and draw off. I had the same experience with placing the gasket under the pan it simply was not heavy enough.

Maple Man 85