SmellsLikeSyrupNH
10-31-2016, 08:06 AM
Pictures may need to be posted in 2-3 threads but I'll try my best to explain each part.
So this weekend I got my new float box and wanted to install it and get the arch setup and boil water in it so that I can clean up everything, cover it, and get it ready for the end of the winter and put this project to bed.
I purchased 2" ceramic fire blanket and my plan was to use that throughout the arch with some fire brick.
I will explain each step:
I placed firebrick against the side of the back portion of the arch and filled the evaporator with playground sand to fill in the space. the tinfoil stuff you see against the stack is actually backed with ceramic fire blanket. I thought that would help with the scorching of the back pan from the stack heat.
14718
I then laid the fireblanket down over the sand and against the brick and extended it down into the fire box above the port that the blower shoots its air into:
14719
I finished by lining the fire box with the blanket as well as placing firebrick and standard bricks in the bottom below the grates to take up space and direct the airflow upwards onto the fire from the blower. You will notice the bar of metal that would be where the 2 pans meet was a little bent, I did the best I could do to straighten it. I also put gasket around the perimeter. I placed the pans on and checked for spacing etc...it all seemed to sit pretty flush.
1472014721
I added my pans and connected my preheater rig and connected that to the float box:
14722
No my issues:
Not really an issue, but took about 6 minutes to get the front pan to boil once i had the fire going and turned the blower on with about 2" of water in the pan. I am happy with that time frame.
Ran the Arch for about 1 hour, in that time my far back section barely got to a boil. As soon as I opened the door to load wood, that shut right back down and took a while to come back to a boil.
The metal bar that goes between the front and back pan, seems to have melted :-( picture below
I could open the door without turning the blower off and it didnt seem to blow anything back out at me, it says its 1/45th HP. Im thinking its just too small to have a real effect on a firebox that is 24x20x29"
Ive hit my picture limit, so I will post a picture of the melted bar in a reply to this thread.
My concerns are:
Why would that piece of metal basically melt?
If the blower and fire were hot enough to cause that, why was my back section of the pan barely boiling? This also seemed to limit the capabilities of the preheater which is near the back of the arch as I wasn't getting a hard enough boil to really effect the copper. I will saw the sap was "warm" going into the float box as opposed to the cold water I filled my tank with, but I just expected more.
My stack height is the Arch connector, which I believe is 3ft, plus 9ft and is 6" in diameter. So 12ft of total height from the arch.
Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
-Scott
So this weekend I got my new float box and wanted to install it and get the arch setup and boil water in it so that I can clean up everything, cover it, and get it ready for the end of the winter and put this project to bed.
I purchased 2" ceramic fire blanket and my plan was to use that throughout the arch with some fire brick.
I will explain each step:
I placed firebrick against the side of the back portion of the arch and filled the evaporator with playground sand to fill in the space. the tinfoil stuff you see against the stack is actually backed with ceramic fire blanket. I thought that would help with the scorching of the back pan from the stack heat.
14718
I then laid the fireblanket down over the sand and against the brick and extended it down into the fire box above the port that the blower shoots its air into:
14719
I finished by lining the fire box with the blanket as well as placing firebrick and standard bricks in the bottom below the grates to take up space and direct the airflow upwards onto the fire from the blower. You will notice the bar of metal that would be where the 2 pans meet was a little bent, I did the best I could do to straighten it. I also put gasket around the perimeter. I placed the pans on and checked for spacing etc...it all seemed to sit pretty flush.
1472014721
I added my pans and connected my preheater rig and connected that to the float box:
14722
No my issues:
Not really an issue, but took about 6 minutes to get the front pan to boil once i had the fire going and turned the blower on with about 2" of water in the pan. I am happy with that time frame.
Ran the Arch for about 1 hour, in that time my far back section barely got to a boil. As soon as I opened the door to load wood, that shut right back down and took a while to come back to a boil.
The metal bar that goes between the front and back pan, seems to have melted :-( picture below
I could open the door without turning the blower off and it didnt seem to blow anything back out at me, it says its 1/45th HP. Im thinking its just too small to have a real effect on a firebox that is 24x20x29"
Ive hit my picture limit, so I will post a picture of the melted bar in a reply to this thread.
My concerns are:
Why would that piece of metal basically melt?
If the blower and fire were hot enough to cause that, why was my back section of the pan barely boiling? This also seemed to limit the capabilities of the preheater which is near the back of the arch as I wasn't getting a hard enough boil to really effect the copper. I will saw the sap was "warm" going into the float box as opposed to the cold water I filled my tank with, but I just expected more.
My stack height is the Arch connector, which I believe is 3ft, plus 9ft and is 6" in diameter. So 12ft of total height from the arch.
Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
-Scott