Burnt Warped pan - help

[DJ Lasell]

I have messed up my new pan. (I have a 2 x 7 arch, with a 2 x 3 SS front pan).
My first year with the new arch/pan. Previously, I had been using a barrel stove with roasting pans.
With my old rig, I could fill the pans and the firebox, and walkaway, even leave it overnight.
With the new rig - I had gotten up early and had been boiling for a few hours before work. I filled the pan and filled the firebox and left for work.
When I got home there was a 4 inch thick block of charcoal in the whole pan - still warm and smoking... luckily it didn't catch fire and burn the house down.
I spent 4 hours chiseling the scorched mess off the bottom of the pan.. It had warped a little but not too bad...
It Gets Worse>>>
The next morning I put 2.5 inches of cold sap in the pan, lit a fire (dry maple kindling) and ran off to gather my sap.
When I returned 45 minutes later. it was scorching in the middle section. While cussing, I threw in my OSB (Oh Sh*T Bucket of cold sap)... and heard a bunch popping.
It turns out that the popping was the spot/tack welds coming undone between the dividers and bottom of pan -
I now have several wrinkle/warps that are about 1/4 inch separation from the pan and the divider (allowing sap/syrup to flow between sections).

I thought I read a post on here about being able to anneal the pan back to flat????
Is this possible?
If not, Is there a filler material that I can caulk the gap with?
I am going to try re-welding it. but there are some big wrinkles.

BTW- I read on here that the burnt on scorch will be easier to clean if you soak it in warm vinegar. I tried it and the scorch cleaned out much easier.

[Sugarmaker]

In baseball they would call that two strikes!:) Your rig probably boils 10 times faster than steam pans, maybe approching 25 gallons of sap per hour?
Over the years, I have had several mishaps when away from the sugarhouse for less then 5 minutes. Sometimes I have had issues while standing next to the rig too.
I will summarize this for you in the words of a friend and Syrup Maker from Linesville PA.

"At any moment during boiling maple syrup, you are only 15 seconds away from disaster!"

Welding the pan back together is your best option if you can get it flat again.

Tack welded seams are not the desired attachment for partitions in the pan. some mixing will occur under the partitions reducing the effect of gradient.
regards,
Chris

[motowbrowne]

Dude!! I don't want to be harsh here, and I bet you've already figured this out, but: STOP WALKING AWAY FROM YOUR RIG!

Okay, that said, I'm sorry to hear about what happened. Hopefully you can get it figured out ASAP.

If the pan is welded, you might just be able to hammer it flat enough to use. Without knowing how thick the steel is or how set up/qualified you are to weld thin stainless, I can't personally say whether or not you should try welding it. I know that I would never consider welding on my syrup pan, but that's me. Think of it this way, right now you have a warped pan, but it holds water. If you try welding it can you be absolutely certain that you will still be able to say that? I wouldn't recommend any type of caulk or filler other than maybe lead free solder.

If it were me, I'd probably forget about the dividers and just use the whole front pan as a single compartment. Basically I'd cook for several hours until the whole thing was approaching syrup, but still a ways off. Then I'd let the fire die. All the way. Then I'd drain the syrup off and finish it on the stovetop. This isn't the way it's designed to work, but if you lose your partitions you'll still be able to make syrup.

Good luck, and let us know what you come up with for a solution.

[backyard sugaring]

My sugarmakers mentor Chris from Morningstar farm uses a drywall sanding block. I would finish the season batch boiling. Make sure who you hire to weld is experienced in welding thin stainless or they will warp your pan even more. We all make mistakes when we are boiling on a new rig. Good luck. Lee

[Atgreene]

Never walk away from an evaporator. Buy a new pan, expensive lesson learned.

[BAP]

Unfortunately, even if you get it relatively straight and clean, you will always have troubles with the nitre sticking more and wanting to burn easier in some spots.

[mellondome]

Did either incident do anything to your flue pan?

If the front pan is bad enough it separated from the dividers, I would be looking for a new front pan. And hang the old one on the door as a reminder of what can happen when you leave the sugarhouse unattended.

I've burnt a pan while standing next next to it. Wouldn't dare leave for anything other than check tank levels, and that is only after having established an gradient.

[DJ Lasell]

Hi Guys,
Mellondome - I don't yet have a flue pan - so far all I have is 2 flat pans (1 is very warped) I haven't hooked up the pipe between the 2 pans. Was hoping to find a affordable flue pan. Budget was spent on arch and front pan.

Motowbrown - yup you are right - I am now a bit paranoid - maybe that is a good thing?

Has anyone ever heard of annealing a pan to bring it back to flat?
DJ