Large pan removal for cleaning?

[randomseeker]

This is my first year with a 2 1/2 x 8 ft Smoky Lakes Silverplate evaporator. My previous hobby evaporators were small enough that I never considered anything other than removing the pans to clean them. Setting aside the installation design error of not leaving some kind of sliding or collapsing steam stack (so the hood is essentially fixed into place unless I break the sealing beads on the roof) I cannot imagine easily removing the 30" x 66" sap pan without a team of people to lift it out. Then I thought, how do the producers with really big pans clean them? They must leave them in place, don't they? So, I am thinking I will somehow get the hood off (and reinstall it with a better removability next year) and clean the pan in situ. Does that make sense? I have always power washed the bottom of the pans too, which I will not be able to do if I leave it in place. Is it important to clean the bottom? Thanks for any input.

[unc23win]

I think if I were you I would as you said break the beads. Mine is through the roof with a roof jack and a collar that squeezes the roof jack to the pipe. I can lift hood pipe and all once the collar is loose or off no need for sealing the small gap.

[Maple Man 85]

I had the opportunity to see how one large operation works and they did not seal the stacks and took them down at the end of season and covered the holes. They brought vinegar and water mixture to a boil and let it cool and set for a day then drained the pans and raised the steam hood with an electric wench attached to the ceiling and pressure washed out the pans. They used ph strips to test afterword's to make sure the water draining out was neutral. Then 4x4's were places between the arch and pans until next season.

[motowbrowne]

I'm curious about this also. I just bought a 4x14 with a 10' flue pan. Is it common for folks to clean the underside of large pans like this? I can't imagine removing it every year to wash the bottom. What on earth would you do with a 6x10 flue pan!?

I'm thinking I'll probably just brush the underside at the end of the year and call it good.

[ennismaple]

We brush the underside of the flue pan before every boil. I think it's been off the arch once in 7 seasons. We pressure wash the inside of the pan in place a few times a season and then again after it's soaked in snotty sap for a month.

Many large producers have flue pan washing kits installed inside the hood. At the end of each day they drain the sweet, turn on the wash kit and walk away. It rinses the pans with permeate all night.

[maple flats]

I have a Lapierre flue pan washer. I use it every few days, just hook up the washer (it has 6 spinning arms similar to in a dish washer). The pump draws permeate thru and it then goes to drain. My flue pan has never been off. I brush the bottom of the flue pan. At the end of the season, I raise the hoods (hand winch), unhook the pans from each other and I lift each enough to put a 2x4 under them. The syrup pan on the other hand is swapped for a spare anytime it needs cleaning. For that I made a pan washer. It is built into the under side of a 1/4" acrylic sheet (plexiglas). For that it sets level with both draw valves open and permeate is forced thru. Each channel has 3 rows of small holes so it sprays all surfaces. I run recirculate of the permeate until it gets looking cloudy, then I add fresh permeate and resume. In both cases I only run about 1 hr and the pans are clean (unless I burnt the syrup pan, then it needs the pressure washer, fortunately that only happened once). For each of these jobs I have one of these for a pump http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200311411_200311411 They are SS and work well.