Oil Tank Evaporator with 5 Steam Pans rigged for continuous flow

[Fznyupr]

Hello All, I've been a quiet observer gathering many ideas from the forum over the years - and I have many thanks to many of you and this fantastic forum for us to share ideas.

Well after a few years tweaking my 2x4 Oil Tank Evaporator with 5 Steam Pans rigged for continuous flow with copper drop flue I ended up selling my pan setup to go bigger. I'm not sure what I'll move into yet as this year is set to be a bust relocating for my job as we search for new property to continue the addiction.

Attached are some pictures of the rig and hopefully they will inspire fellow newbie's.

I achieved 22gph firing hard with maple flooring every 8-10 minutes but averaged around 17-18gph I'd guess by looking at my notes.

Good luck this season everyone - Get your boil ON!

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[Sugarmaker]

Welcome, I had post #1 at one point also! Hey thats too bad you had to tear out the flooring in the house for stoking the awesome arch! But we have to do whats required to get the syrup made! Nice build with the drop tubes. Surprised you get that good of a rate!
Regards,
Chris

[Fznyupr]

It did surprising well with good seasoned wood and maple flooring ends (house is still in order lol) and poor with the unseasoned poplar & tag alder that I needed to get rid of in the back yard only 11-13gph. The ceramic fire blanket in the arch is some awesome stuff and I learned fast to use welding gloves! Eyebrows grew back nicely, but I definitely learned fast to kill the AUF blower before opening the door :o.

All the best,
Travis

[berkshires]

I'm a newbie, and I'm planing on making a pan like you have with those drop tubes. I notice that you have them each set up quite differently from each other - some are closely spaced, some not so much. Any particular reason why? Which worked best, or was easiest to fabricate? I don't suppose you still have one of those pans kicking around you'd want to sell for cheap? ;)

[Fznyupr]

Well the first two pans were done on a whim with scrap 3/4 copper I had laying around and no plan to be neat as I didn't know what to expect. It worked so well the next year I mad the pan with 32 tubes which was planned out as you can see much better, this pan worked great! I flared the copper tubes and pulled the holes in the bottom of pan to stiffen the bottom (not sure what that is technically called called) inserted the copper tubes and pinched the bottoms shut on a vise. Soldered hole by hole putting a wet rag in the completed neighboring pipes. You will need stainless steel flux. Pans are sold and will be picked up today.


Rev 1 setup, no drop tubes, manual sap transfer
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Rev 2 setup, had the random drop tube with siphon. The siphon was ok when pans were full but didn't work with 1-2" sap level
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The step bit was the ticket for cutting the holes, notice the much better grid layout.:D
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[Sugarmaker]

Wood type and dryness and size can make a huge difference! Its all good! Have fun making syrup! I used pallets for 10 years. Very hot quick fire.
Regards,
Chris

[Fznyupr]

They made some great syrup. Light early season and tended to get darker later season which I gather is normal.
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[311Hemi]

I just put up a post about my first evaporator and am looking for ways to increase my prewarm process. I think this is exactly what I need to do with my pre-warming pan.

I have not researched the exact steps on how to solder the copper to the SS pan.

1) Do you know if there are very specific instructions on the process? Is it the same process as soldering copper to copper (very familiar with that)?
2) Can you get the stainless steel flux from a big box store like Home Depot?
3) How did you 'pull the holes' in the bottom of the pan? I think I have a flaring tool for the copper tubing.

[NY mapler]

Great looking setup! I'm going to be building an oil tank setup too. On the inside did you use only ceramic blanket as insulation or did you use fire brick too?

[Fznyupr]

I just put up a post about my first evaporator and am looking for ways to increase my prewarm process. I think this is exactly what I need to do with my pre-warming pan.

I have not researched the exact steps on how to solder the copper to the SS pan.

1) Do you know if there are very specific instructions on the process? Is it the same process as soldering copper to copper (very familiar with that)?
2) Can you get the stainless steel flux from a big box store like Home Depot?
3) How did you 'pull the holes' in the bottom of the pan? I think I have a flaring tool for the copper tubing.

I found all the info here searching various post and below is what I did...

The steps to solder SS to Copper are similar to Copper/Copper but its the Solder and Flux type that are important. I didn't find SS flux at the box stores. I used Ruby Fluid Stainless Steel flux but there are other types of SS flux too. I don't have any other experience with other SS flux but I liked the fact that I didn't have to manually polish the copper, just brush the flux on and watch that copper shine before your eyes. I found the SS flux on Amazon since i have Prime. Pre-tin the SS worked best. Place wet rags in the joints that are completed. I used silver bearing solder from the box stores.

To pull the hole I made my own tool out of a 1" socket, 2- 1" washers, Spring, 3/8" carriage bolt, Jb weld. I first filed a square in one of the 1" washers and slid it to the head of the carriage bolt and used JB weld to make a cone shape / taper shape (used to help keep the tool centered when pulling the hole and hold the washer in place). Then i put the bolt in the drill press and ground down the washer to about 7/8" (OD of 3/4 copper pipe) I attached the spring to one of the other washers that will be inside the 1" socket keeping the socked centered. I believe I drilled a 3/4" hole in my pan, used an impact driver to tighten the nut on the bolt until the head of the carriage bolt popped thru. I then cleaned up the hole to the proper diameter with a step drill bit. Made the bottom of the pan nice and stiff. I flared the large pan copper tube but not the other pans. I don't know if I noticed any benefit to flaring the copper tube since I already pulled the SS pan holes. Pinching the tubes shut vs using caps was definitely cheaper and worked out well. I pinched all the tube in place before I started soldering.

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[Fznyupr]

Great looking setup! I'm going to be building an oil tank setup too. On the inside did you use only ceramic blanket as insulation or did you use fire brick too?

Yes, I only used the ceramic blanket and scrap gas grill metal to try to protect the blanket, I was too cheap to buy bricks but they would be a good idea to protect the blanket in the firebox, but I have to say the metal protection in the fire box did pretty good, I had to replace it often but i had an entire old grill at my disposal. My ramp is 90 degrees but I probably should have made a 45 at the top instead.... not sure as my boil rate was awesome.
Ceramic Blanket at Amazon under $90 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BIDUED0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

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[311Hemi]

I am going to do one of the restaurant pans. If you were to do it again would you flare both pieces? Is the fla big requires?

BTW, and thanks for the write up! That helps!

[Fznyupr]

I probably would flare them again just because I purchased the tool and have it - Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FFSMSE8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1) . This cheap tool on amazon is cheap but I kept a screw in one side of the clamp and pinched the other side in my vise - it worked fine for my purpose. I'm not convinced flaring is required if the holes in the pan are flared. By pulling the holes in the pan the solder has a lot of surface area to attach to the copper pipe. I also installed the copper pipe flush with the bottom of the inside of the pan

[311Hemi]

How long were your tubes in the pic where you can see them on the bottom of the pan?

[Fznyupr]

I made them 4" as that's all the room I had left in the Arch. You could make them any size to fit your arch/stove setup.

[311Hemi]

Any thought on if extending them into the pan and inch or so would help, assuming the pan is for preheating only? See like it would help as long as you don't let the sap drop below the tops of the tubes.

[Fznyupr]

I see no benefit extending the tubes into the pan - I wouldn't do that. Extend the tubes below the bottom of the pan to your desired length and make them as flush as you can to inside of the pan.

[311Hemi]

Did you tin your holes first before putting the copper tube in?

[NY mapler]

Fznyupr, I like your idea of how you got your blanket to stay in place near the smoke stack. Have you boiled on it since doing that? I will probably copy your idea and just wondering how it worked for you.

[Fznyupr]

Fznyupr, I like your idea of how you got your blanket to stay in place near the smoke stack. Have you boiled on it since doing that? I will probably copy your idea and just wondering how it worked for you.

I boiled a couple years with the blanket like that, I just checked it the other day and it hasn't moved and looks good for years to come. I welded the nails, slid the insulation on and bent the nail over to hold it in place. I used the 8# ceramic blanket from Amazon. The only issue is I still boil in the drive way and on cold nights I have to sit really close to the door to stay warm. Bad for me good for boiling :lol:

Tip: I also had the ceramic blanket just touching my drop tubes of my pans.
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About 10 minutes after startup - after hours of running you can still touch it but only momentarily
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Had to share, I found a picture of my first evaporator. A gas grill gutted with a hole in the side to add wood. Ohhh the memories.
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[311Hemi]

I finally finished up my pre-warming pan over the weekend, thanks for all the help with this. Flaring the holes in the pan helped prevent warping when heating the steel/tube to solder it. I did not flare the copper tubes, but they were snug in the holes so they would stay when I was doing the soldering. I used a dropper to put the flux in the gap between the pan and copper tube, which seemed to work well. I added the caps at the end and just used a wet towel to make sure I didn't heat the pan joints too much.

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I also made a U-siphon to go from this pan to my main pain, with a valve to control flow.
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[Fznyupr]

Nice Job, lesson I learned make sure to keep your siphon off the bottom of the pan a little so it dosent boil inside the inside the copper breaking the siphon flow.