Concentrate newbe

[chuck]

I have a 2x6 Leader with a fully raised Max Flue pan, hood with preheater. it works slick and as long as I pay attention to de-foaming I have always gotten nice clean hot water off my preheater. I added a bunch of taps this year forcing me to buy an RO so am now boiling concentrate (8-10%). Now all I get is crappy water. I have not changed my de-foaming habits but am running both pans a bit deeper than when I was boiling raw sap. What am I doing wrong?

[nymapleguy607]

Usually concentrated sap will foam more the raw sap so you might need to add more defoamer. It sounds like your getting sap or foam splashing up and mixing with the condensate.

[mellondome]

Defoam more often and how deep are you running? Deeper will create more foam and you are compounding this by running concentrate. You are now foaming into the hood drip channel. If you test your hood water you probably have sugar in it now.

[Russell Lampron]

You shouldn't be running your flue pan any deeper than you were before or than the manufacturer recommends. I run my front pan at 1 1/2" and have no problem at that depth. I keep an eye on the foam in the flue pan and add defoamer as needed to keep it down. With the flue pan properly defoamed I normally don't have to defoam the front pan. I boil concentrate in the 12% to 14% range.

[chuck]

Thanks guys, I figured I was running too deep but wasn't sure. I will drop it down. Thanks again.