Bricking the evaporator

[djblech]

I am cutting and fitting the bricks for my Mason 2x4 xl in my heated garage. My sugar shack is about 3 miles away out in the woods. Should I cement everything in the garage and haul it out to the SS or move it to its home in the woods and cement it there? If I move it to the SS should I heat the shack and stove until the refractory cement sets or can I freeze it in?

[psparr]

Just my 2 cents, but I’d haul it first. Good chance of knocking quite a few loose. And heat the shack first. mortar shouldn’t freeze.

[buckeye gold]

Follow psparr's advice. I moved mine with bricks in when I got the new shack and all my work ended up undone. The refractory will hold up pretty well, but it won't take moving and the jarring that comes with it. I'd almost put the brick in the firebox and then heat them with a heat lamp for a while before mortaring. I replaced my bricks year before last and this time I didn't just mortar the joints, I covered everything with refractory as well as the joints. Made a nice smooth firebox and I have less problems with bricks coming loose. Some mortar will still fall off from wood damage, but over all my firebox seems tighter.

[diesels77]

Please post some pictures of your progress. I am waiting for my 2x4 from Mason and would like to see how you brick it.

[maple flats]

Move it first. If you can't easily heat the sugar house just put a small heat source in the firebox. Can you run a light bulb there? I did mine using my generator and putting a 100 watt bulb in the firebox, that kept it from freezing. Then on day 2 or 3, light a small fire in the arch, let it burn out and after cooling but before freezing, put the bulb back in. Repeat for about 3-4 days, each time firing the arch a little hotter, but don't go all out until at least 3 preferably 4 days of firing. Refractory does not cure like regular mortar or concrete, it needs heat. Just don't rush it. By the 4th day, you could fire it for about 60-90 minutes, but still with just a medium fire. The longer you take to cure the refractory, the better it will last, if rushed you will end up with a lot of cracks and some loose chunks will break loose.

[djblech]

I moved it out to the shack on Monday and leveled it and hung poly from the ceiling to tent the evaporator. I started 4 propane buddy heaters and cemented everything in place. The temp in the tent was pretty warm and I kept the heat going till we left that day. I will run out tomorrow and see how it looks. I will take some pictures of the evaporator and my sugar shack. How do you fire up the evaporator with out putting the pan on and adding water? I can do that but temps are dropping below 0 so I will probably wait till warmer weather.