Patrick Phaneuf Evaporators

[Sweber]

Has anyone bought /used this guy's evaporators before?His prices are very reasonable and they look like Maple Pro's in his pictures.
I could use some feedback from anyone who has one.

[Fred Henderson]

I have a 3x8 from him that I bought last year. It a drop flue, reverse flow. Everything about it is top notch.

[MaplePancakeMan]

Patrick is probably one of the nicest people i've ever met. His equpiment is great i was skeptical at first about ordering but very glad i did as it was considerably cheaper. I have a 2x6 drop flue. Quality is outstanding

[Fred Henderson]

When he delivered mine and I met him for the first time my impression was gee what a nice young man. He was then 29 years old , has a wife a 2 young boys.

[cncaboose]

i have a 3x8 just like Fred's. There are a couple of little things I would like to have better. My front doors bind a bit, but I will fix that with a little grinding this year. The thermometers are mounted high and at an angle so do not give very accurate readings but I got so I could rely on them fairly well before I used the hydrometer. I would recommend getting araised flue from him if you get one, since he makes the drop flue pan with the drain blocking the end like the raised flue. Mine seemed to draw just fine though. Patrick was really slow on delivery dates taking 6 months from deposit to delivery. On the plus side I saved $3000+ over a similar sized Leader, Patrick's metalwork is outstanding, he includes all stainless arch and stack top to bottom, he does include valves and thermomters in the price. All in all I would do it again in a minute but the wait was very frustrating. If you want pictures or to know more drop me a PM.

[MaplePancakeMan]

I waited awhile aswell, i had purchased in early october for delievery around thanksgiving and it ended up taking a lot longer, i recieved 2 days after i tapped! However due to the holidays and such i understand but he also brought me firebrick and mortar and was willing to help me firebrick it for the inconvience. If you order now you'll be in ship shape for next year.

[Fred Henderson]

i have a 3x8 just like Fred's. There are a couple of little things I would like to have better. My front doors bind a bit, but I will fix that with a little grinding this year. The thermometers are mounted high and at an angle so do not give very accurate readings but I got so I could rely on them fairly well before I used the hydrometer. I would recommend getting araised flue from him if you get one, since he makes the drop flue pan with the drain blocking the end like the raised flue. Mine seemed to draw just fine though. Patrick was really slow on delivery dates taking 6 months from deposit to delivery. On the plus side I saved $3000+ over a similar sized Leader, Patrick's metalwork is outstanding, he includes all stainless arch and stack top to bottom, he does include valves and thermomters in the price. All in all I would do it again in a minute but the wait was very frustrating. If you want pictures or to know more drop me a PM.

Why would you recommend a raised flue?

[tapper]

I ordered from leader last May and it was here just before Christmas but, I knew it was going to be that long when I ordered.

[maplekid]

yeah hes got a couple on ebay.they are nice evaporators my uncle has one and it is a very nice set up

[super sappy]

fred- you just looked at leader and maple pro at the open houses . How would you compare the quality to one of the big mfgs. Are there any sharp /rough edges etc on yours? Lapierre sells a 2x6 reasonable but it is real "busy" with pipes and valves. It looks cool but I am not sure if all that is necessary. Is patricks unit somple or complex in design?-Super sappy

[cncaboose]

Fred, I'd get the raised flue from Patrick only because that's what he makes 90+% of the time and is most comfortable with. I am real happy with the drop flue I have and hope to never buy another.
SS, I would say that Fred and my setups are fairly simple. The metalwork is outstanding. All the corners and weld seams are really smooth. Fred should be able to vouch for that since he has a LOT more experience around metalwork. If any of you are in northern NY I would be more than happy to show you mine.
I bought a 16x16 inch filter/canner unit from Patrick at a good price that worked very well this season too.

[danno]

Does Patrick have a web page? Does anybody have a link to it? Don't think I'm buying, just interested.

[dgp219]

Paticks web site is www.patrickphaneuf.com/

He also has a couple of evaporators on ebay right now. I'd link them but don't have clue how?

[jason waterhouse]

I checked out his website he has some nice equipment on there. Fred did Patrick deliver your evaporator for free or was there a shipping charge? thanks

[Fred Henderson]

I received free delivery because cncaboose bought one also. He and I only live about 8 miles from each other. When I was negotiating to buy and told Patrick that I might have another buyer for him he then offered free shipping. For what I saved by buying just the evap from him I could have had it shipped to China and back again. You can not go wrong buying from him. As I have said his work is top notch. Take it from a retired welder and metal worker. I went to the big four manufactures open house in VT last weekend and nobody but nobody beats his joints or welds.

[John Goldberg]

This is my first year with a Phaneuf. It is the 3x8 presently shown on ebay. It easily does 80gph with the preheater. I would buy another in a second. Raised Flue is the way to go.

[Fred Henderson]

My 3x8 made by a him and the preheater made by me does more that 80 gph. No forced draft either.

[John Goldberg]

What kind of temps do you run on your preheater? If I throttle the stack damper to much I get to much steam in the sugarhouse. Then the ceiling rains condensate. I think I need to build a coupalo. I was only able to run about 170 deg. out of the pre heater with this problem. Maybe a steel roof is not a good idea in a sugarhouse.

[Mike]

I close my damper till the steam comes out of the doors, then I crack it open till the steam is sucked up the stack. Matt at Lapierre told me how to do this. Now my sap out of the preheater is around 190 +........Before I would run the damper opened all the way with sap temp around 175-180......

[John Goldberg]

I am always nervous to get temps that high. I have heard stories about vapor lock. I have no vent at on the preheater.

[John Goldberg]

I am finding this sugarin bug has no limits. All I ever wanted was a new evap. Now all I want is an RO, filter press, finisher.candy machine, canner and a tractor.

[ibby458]

There must be something wrong with my preheater. Even with 25' of 3/4 finned tubing, I can't CONSISTENTLY run much over 145-155 degrees when the evaporator is running 60 gph (1 gallon/minute). It'll hit the 180-195 range for a few moments when the float isn't drawing sap, but with the steady trickle it usually runs, 145-155 is it.

I got thermometers stuck into this rig whereve I could find to put one (I had a bunch of SS industrial thermometers, and they weren't useful sitting in a box!). They're all adjustable, and I calibrated them as well as I could. The internal hood temp at preheater level is consistently 195-205 with correct damper positioning. The incoming sap temp at the beginning of the preheater is 32-45 degrees (depending on outside temps). The preheater discharge temp is measured inside the pipe with a long stem thermometer mounted inside the line just before the float.

I'm pretty confident these temps are +or- 5 degrees at the worst. Now I have to wonder if there's a design or construction flaw in my preheater, or possibly I'm not measuring the temperature properly. I was told by one producer that his preheater discharge temp was 200 degrees, but I saw no thermometer or other temperature device anywhere in sight. I really gotta wonder if that was maybe just a hopeful guess? I personally can't determine an accurate temperature by just looking at the sap, and I don't like holding a hot pipe long enough to guess accurately. How is everyone accurately determining their sap temperatures?

[John Goldberg]

I have a digital volt meter/thermometer with a wire remote sensor. I tape the sensor right on the pipe going into the float box. I bought the meter at Sears. The aluminum on fin tube takes heat away from the tubing much quicker than the reverse which is what you are trying to do. You might be better of with straight copper. Just a thought.

[Fred Henderson]

I am always nervous to get temps that high. I have heard stories about vapor lock. I have no vent at on the preheater.

Well you better get one (vent) on it because when it does vapor lock you will have something to be real nervous about. With the big fire you are just about 13 seconds from disaster. I vapor locked mine because I did not have a vent. The only thing that save my syrup pan was the 1 1/4" flood valve off the supply line over the front pan.
The steam hood damper is properly set when the steam just starts to escape from around the edges of the hood. I consistantly see a temp of 190+ from my preheater. If the float stops for a second or two I will see higher.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Ibby,

Do you have any kind of damper in your steam stack to help increase the temp of the preheater??

[ibby458]

I do have a damper, and by manipulating it, I can keep the hood around 200.

[ontario guy]

has anyone ever tried insulating the outside of their pans and steam hood to increase evaporation? The pink foam will melt but the foil backed kind would work for the steam hood... just a though.

Mark

[Fred Henderson]

I think that what is under the foil would melt also. Maybe some arch board.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Too dirty and covers up the shiny!

[Mike]

Steam hood or preheater hood???

[brookledge]

Ibby
I looked at my preheater and I have 8 1" lines parallel to each other (13" wide)and the overall length is a little over 60" so I have over 40 feet. I boil at 140 GPH and keep my damper set to keep the sap in the 195-205 range
You might want to add another 10-15 feet and that will probably get your temp up to the 200s.
Keith

[ibby458]

I'm thinking seriously about that, but also thinking to leave it like it is, and put in a "pre-boiler" to extract more heat out of the stack.

[maple flats]

I looked at Leader's new pan at Bascom this last saturday. It is a drop/raised flue pan. It droped about5" and then raised about 6" for an 11" flue. That should get a better efficiency from your boil. I forget how much improvement they claimed but it looked good.

[raven4maple]

I hear good things about these evaporators, but am having trouble finding a source. The Phaneuf web site was dead when I checked yesterday. Are they still in production? If so, anyone have contact info?

[eustis22]

Try Homestead Maple

[heus]

I inquired about Patrick's evaporators at Homestead and I was told in an email they will no longer be carrying his line.

[MISugarDaddy]

I have one of Patrick's evaporators and if I were to get a larger one I would definitely get it from him. Like others have said, you need to plan ahead because he tends to over estimate when he will get the unit done, but once you get it, you will not be sorry you got one from him...just order early, like NOW for delivery later this year.

[grimmreaper]

I have a phaneuf set up,30''x10'..raised flue..steamhood front and rear..pre heater...reversible draw on the same side(worth the money)I ordered everything on the same sides(front and rear draw boxes and draw valves.extra front pan...boils nice but I may be out grown..............READY TO SELL IT...THREE YEARS OLD.....

[heus]

Just curious on the price?

[grimmreaper]

I have to come up with price....sounds like I could have an auction with the response and private messages..lol

[rayi]

I have one of Patricks evaporators and I love it. I went thru Homestead Maple but they are not selling his products any more. I love my evaporator but if you do order do it 2 years ahead. He is known to be real slow. I head he redisigned for this year and some where may another site there were some problems. Delivery and set up is 1500 dolars on top of the payment for the evaporator. If nothing else he is an artist with metal. Might look at Smoky Lake

[marlmucker]

I just bought a 2x4 deluxe from Patrick. Ordered it in late January and he delivered it to me in Ontario the first weekend in March. Great unit, as everyone says, he does great work. I have his cell phone number. If you send me a PM I will give it to you.

When I ordered it he told me he would have it by end of February and he only missed that by a few days. so I was happy.

[Andre Pilon]

I purchased a 2 X 8 from Patrick for use in the spring of 2015. He built it to perfection and it included a steam hood and pre-heater. What a great unit.
Because of growth yet again, I sold the 2 X 8 and ordered a 3 X 8 from Patrick with 11" flues in the sap pan as well as reverse flow on the syrup pan. I took delivery a few weeks ago and Patrick is to come and brick the unit for me. The new evaporator also has a single sealed front door as well as a blower to increase boiling rate as well as reduce wood consumption. Looking forward to 2016 and 900 taps.

[Dennis H.]

Wow, I have not heard the name Phaneuf in a long time.
Thru out a year we usually hear that name a few times here on the trader. Was not sure if he was still doing business.

[bstewar]

I think my set of pans were in the same delivery as Andre's..... I ordered up a 2x6 drop flue pans from Patrick in May. His communication was great throughout and was very quick to reply to calls/texts/emails. Unfortunately we had to reschedule delivery once or twice but got them a few weeks ago. Beautiful work and I can't wait to get them working. I think it would help Patrick if he got a facebook page or website going to promote his business.