Pan height and arch design

[NY mapler]

Ok, I have a couple questions. I'm building my oil tank evaporator and my brother is helping me build the pan too. What is a recommended height for the pan? I am making a batch pan for now with the thought that a year or two down the line I might add partitions and make it into a continual flow pan. I was thinking somehwere around 12-14" high, does that sound right, too high?

My other question is about the arch design. I have seen some homemade arches where there is a straight vertical wall up after the fire box and then some commercial made arches where it's angled up to the top. Is there any benefit to going one way verses the other?

[Dale Sparrow]

Most flat pans I have seen are between six and eight inches tall.

[RileySugarbush]

Ok, I have a couple questions. I'm building my oil tank evaporator and my brother is helping me build the pan too. What is a recommended height for the pan? I am making a batch pan for now with the thought that a year or two down the line I might add partitions and make it into a continual flow pan. I was thinking somehwere around 12-14" high, does that sound right, too high?

My other question is about the arch design. I have seen some homemade arches where there is a straight vertical wall up after the fire box and then some commercial made arches where it's angled up to the top. Is there any benefit to going one way verses the other?





12" is plenty high for a flat pan. You could get by with a couple inches less.

my arch has a vertical back wall. Works very well but most have some slope and they may have some advantage. If you are only going to be to be 4' or so long and a flat pan, then I would go with vertical since most of the pan will be over the firebox anyway. A good example is a half pine, where it is advantageous to bring the back vertical wall up to within a inch of so of the flat pan to avoid all the hat gasses going straight up the stack without getting near the pan.

[fisheatingbagel]

I think the main advantage of a sloping back wall is it helps hold the bricks and insulation in place. Same deal for sloping side walls.

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[barnbc76]

I think 8" for the sides should be fine. What width and length will it be? Mine I had built 25"x37"x8" for my oil tank arch. I did not build a slope for the back wall, I left 4" clearance to the pan so I can add my brick later.

[Sugarmaker]

Yes 8-9 inches high should work real well for your custom pan side height. Arches come in all shapes sizes and configurations. The flat back in a oil tank should work good. it also allow you to get longer wood in the firebox. Have fun!
Regards,
Chris

[NY mapler]

Thank you everyone for the replies and input. I went with a 10" height since I will be doing a batch boil I wanted to make sure there would be enough height once all the sap is boiled down.

barnbc76, my pan will be 4' x 2' x 10". I should have made the pan a little wider like you did since the oil tank is actually 26" wide. I'll just use a little bigger angle iron on top to hold the pan and it should be ok. I would be interested to see pictures of your setup if you have any.

[wmick]

Hi Folks...
Just jumping in on this thread, as I have additional questions related to the vertical/angled firewall comments...

I am also endeavoring to build my 1st evaporator.. I recently ran across this "firewall" thing on some CDL literature, but it looked to be specific to a flat pan setup... and they filled the space beyond it with insulation or sand to force the heat close to the pan. I am going with a drop-flue system, where my flues will be very close to the floor of the arch. Is the firewall typical, required or a good idea for a drop-flue pan system or just for flat pans?

Thanks

[psparr]

I would assume they're just talking about the back of the firebox and the subsequent ramp up to the pan.

[wmick]

I would assume they're just talking about the back of the firebox and the subsequent ramp up to the pan.

Actually - maybe I misinterpreted the original posters question, as he mentioned "after the firebox"... Now I really feel like a HiJacker... as its a different thing altogether...
What I am referring to, is a "partition" that is after the firebox portion of the arch. (up in the low profile section) ...

Hard to explain.. so there's some link info below. to the document... (Hope I'm not breaking any "Link" rules)
You can see this thing on the sketch on the last page.. and there's a photo on a previous page...
Seems to me that this would not work as shown with a drop flue.... and is maybe is just a way of converting a drop-flue arch design to work better with flat pans or raised flue pans?? It's got me wondering...

xxxxxxen.cdlinc.ca/Data/Sites/7/SharedFiles/how-to-brick-a-wood-evaporators.pdf


Edit - The more I think about this, it's becoming clearer to me that this partition and insulation behind it, must be to force all the heat up into a raised flue pan...

[barnbc76]

Thank you everyone for the replies and input. I went with a 10" height since I will be doing a batch boil I wanted to make sure there would be enough height once all the sap is boiled down.

barnbc76, my pan will be 4' x 2' x 10". I should have made the pan a little wider like you did since the oil tank is actually 26" wide. I'll just use a little bigger angle iron on top to hold the pan and it should be ok. I would be interested to see pictures of your setup if you have any.

Here is the link

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?29181-oil-tank-evaporator-arch-cheap