Water jacket canner

[butler]

I am in the market for a water jacketed canner ... any recommendations? Best bang for your buck ... need Bout a 10-15 gal canner with stand... any yhoughts

[S.S.S]

Sunrise metal shop has great products

[sap retreiver]

Not trying to hijack but is there one that completely drains?

[maple flats]

I have a smoky Lake and it drains completely without tipping.

[wiam]

Not trying to hijack but is there one that completely drains?

Most water jacket ones I have seen completely drain.

[mspina14]

I purchased a filter/bottler from Whity (screen name), a fellow Mapletrader sugar maker from New Hampshire.

It's to the right of the evaporator in the photo below:

16412

It's made from 18 ga stainless steel and holds 11 gallons. Works great.

I believe the seller has some still listed for sale in the MapleTrader classified section.

Mark

[Super Sapper]

I am also very happy with my Smoky Lake model.

[maple flats]

My Smoky Lake WJ bottler is 16 gal, very well made, comes with lid (some don't) and I got the 240V upgrade (std is 120V). About $1600 but money well spent.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

CDL electric water jacketed both models drain. The sizes listed are in Imperial gallons, not US gallons so smaller model holds about 15 gallons and larger one about 42 gallons US.

[danielschauder]

I also have the 16 gallon Smoky Lake water jacketed canner. It comes with lid and drains completely, great unit.

[markcasper]

I have been using this for for many years and works great. Run the syrup off the press and keeps it warm, drains completely. Way cheaper than what any maple equipment supplier will be.
https://www.kelleybees.com/Shop/18/Honey-Harvesting/Honey-House-Processing/4705/Water-Jacketed-Double-Boiler-Tank

[wiam]

I have been using this for for many years and works great. Run the syrup off the press and keeps it warm, drains completely. Way cheaper than what any maple equipment supplier will be.
https://www.kelleybees.com/Shop/18/Honey-Harvesting/Honey-House-Processing/4705/Water-Jacketed-Double-Boiler-Tank

I have the same one. If you need a 40 gallon this is a great price. I set up my own heater for very little money.

[butler]

How do prices compare ... what does a 15 gallon cdl unit cost that runs off 120... does smoky lakes smaller unit come with a stand?

[Urban Sugarmaker]

How do prices compare ... what does a 15 gallon cdl unit cost that runs off 120... does smoky lakes smaller unit come with a stand?

For Smoky Lake, I would visit their website to check pricing and options. Also call them. For CDL you might have to call a dealer or see their online catalog.

[maple flats]

Smoky Lake does not come with a stand, it is made to set on the front edge of a table or bench. I made a bench with 2 tiers, the bottler set on the higher tier and a gal. just fits perfectly under the draw valve. Then I use 3/4" PVC boards to raise the height for other sizes.

[1arch]

I have a SL 16 gallon with 120volt element. Take a long time to get syrup back up to 185 after the filter press cools the syrup to 160 or so. We now cover it with large towels to insulate and expedite the warming process. Not a big deal if you have other tasks that need attention in the mean time.
Be aware of this.... If you fill the water jacket to 100% capacity and then fill the bottler with syrup, expect the fluid pressure of the syrup to push on the walls of the water jacket thus raising the level of water causing it to spill into your finished/filtered syrup. The design and construction is spot welds along the top edge which appear to be intentional. I noticed this during my initial use since the cover is not on when pumping from the filter press and was able to remediate. Stopped to he filter press and let a bit of water out of the jacket. I just don't fill the water that high anymore. A site glass for the water jacket with a max fill line would be an added benefit on this product.

[murferd]

I have been using this for for many years and works great. Run the syrup off the press and keeps it warm, drains completely. Way cheaper than what any maple equipment supplier will be.
https://www.kelleybees.com/Shop/18/Honey-Harvesting/Honey-House-Processing/4705/Water-Jacketed-Double-Boiler-Tank

Would it be possible to put a stainless tee on the bottler & run sections of pipe each way with spouts on ends, so 2 people could bottle?
Any pictures of yours?

[wiam]

Here is my Kelley Bee tank. You can see the hose I use for a sight gauge and two fillers. Also I wrapped in two layers of foil bubble wrap for insulation. Kind of hard to tell in the photo but there is an 1 1/2 T with bushing in bottom for fillers and bushing in end for sight hose. I also have a sight hose on jacket drain to see water level.

[whity]

I have 2 WJ canners available. New, never used with filter trays thermometer and spout. They hold 11 gallons without the tray

[markcasper]

Here is my Kelley Bee tank. You can see the hose I use for a sight gauge and two fillers. Also I wrapped in two layers of foil bubble wrap for insulation. Kind of hard to tell in the photo but there is an 1 1/2 T with bushing in bottom for fillers and bushing in end for sight hose. I also have a sight hose on jacket drain to see water level.

William, does your syrup end up getting hotter as you draw down the tank? It seems the thermostat and water temp dont always jive, but I don't have mine insulated either. It also varies in regard to how much water/syrup you have in the tank.

When I got mine, they were suposse to install a therm fitting for a dial thermometer, but didn't happen, so I have one T'd in on the outlet and works ok, but would rather have had a through one straight into the tank..

[maple flats]

On my Smoky Lake WJ bottler, I have it set up with a site tube for the water level. I ran a 1/4" T coming out of the drain fitting and put a 1/4 MPT x 5/16 barb fitting pointing up, then a close nipple and a ball valve to drain the water jacket. On the barb I put a piece of 5/16 maple tubing. Near the top I used some super sticky tape which holds it from tipping. The site tube helps me know the water level. I fill it until the water reaches the top of the tape. Then when it is heated it is up about 1/4" above the tape and is still about 1/2" below overflow.

[wiam]

Mark.
I built my own heating unit. Mine is set up with a thermostat probe in the water to keep that at 190. I have another probe in the syrup tank to tell syrup temp.

[unc23win]

William are you using the auto fill that buckhollow was selling or something else? Were you having trouble maintaining temp without insulation? I'm very interested in one especially if I can reheat as well as bottle. Great information here. Thanks

[markcasper]

William are you using the auto fill that buckhollow was selling or something else? Were you having trouble maintaining temp without insulation? I'm very interested in one especially if I can reheat as well as bottle. Great information here. Thanks

Sorry to barge in here.... I do not have a problem maintaining temp at all, and mine is not insulated, it has a 5000 watt element in mine which was stock with the unit. You can boil water all day long if you want to. I do have to watch mine close to keep the syrup from going over my desired temp of 192. I do have to turn down the thermostat as you drain the unit of syrup or the remainder will get too hot and make more sand.

[unc23win]

Sorry to barge in here.... I do not have a problem maintaining temp at all, and mine is not insulated, it has a 5000 watt element in mine which was stock with the unit. You can boil water all day long if you want to. I do have to watch mine close to keep the syrup from going over my desired temp of 192. I do have to turn down the thermostat as you drain the unit of syrup or the remainder will get too hot and make more sand.

Fine with me any info is great did you get the complete unit from kellybees? I see they have options for heating elements and such. Thanks

[markcasper]

yes, about 15 years ago.

[wiam]

William are you using the auto fill that buckhollow was selling or something else? Were you having trouble maintaining temp without insulation? I'm very interested in one especially if I can reheat as well as bottle. Great information here. Thanks

I built my own valve. Did not use it much before I added insulation. It seemed like it would use less electricity if insulatednand I don't have to worry about someone getting burned on the tank.

[gmc8757]

I built my own valve. Did not use it much before I added insulation. It seemed like it would use less electricity if insulatednand I don't have to worry about someone getting burned on the tank.

You built your own auto fill/stop valve? What probe sensor did you use?


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[wiam]

You built your own auto fill/stop valve? What probe sensor did you use?


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Probe is a piece of wire. It is all in the electronics in the box....

[gmc8757]

Probe is a piece of wire. It is all in the electronics in the box....

I understand it's all in the electronics but thought a special probe was needed. It now makes total sense that a piece of wire would do the same thing.




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