Door for homemade evaporator

[khuberpt]

I am in the process of taking a 275 gallon oil tank and converting it into a evaporator. Can anyone help me to find a door for the front of the evap? I do remember seeing them in the past on line but I cant remember where that was. Thanks and good luck this season, Kevin

[fisheatingbagel]

A door from a barrel stove kit works great...

[to100]

Kit has door and chimney adapter google it.

[Haynes Forest Products]

There are a bunch of options'

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vogelzang-U-S-Stove-BSK1000-Stove-Barrel-Stove-Kit-Wood-Iron-Burning-Drum-/222616290800

[Cjadamec]

If you can get your hands on a scrap piece of 1/4" plate steel making a door is pretty simple. Then you just need a couple scrap bits of angle iron for the hinges and latch. The door kits you can buy tend to have smallish openings which make it harder to add wood to the fire and clean out the fire box.

You can see in the picture where I welded stiffeners to the opening on the tank that the door seal to. The back side of the door is lined with ceramic wool as well for insulation.

[maple maniac65]

I have 2 doors I took off my wood furnace that would work on a oil tank arch. If you want to pay for shipping I will send you one.

[mol1jb]

Last year when I built my oil tank evap I used the barrel stove kit and it worked good

[khuberpt]

If you can get your hands on a scrap piece of 1/4" plate steel making a door is pretty simple. Then you just need a couple scrap bits of angle iron for the hinges and latch. The door kits you can buy tend to have smallish openings which make it harder to add wood to the fire and clean out the fire box.

You can see in the picture where I welded stiffeners to the opening on the tank that the door seal to. The back side of the door is lined with ceramic wool as well for insulation.

what size pans do you use to evaporate?

[khuberpt]

can you send a pic of the door? also we are up in sugarhill often. my inlaws have a place in woodsville and we love to go to Pollys!

[khuberpt]

If you can get your hands on a scrap piece of 1/4" plate steel making a door is pretty simple. Then you just need a couple scrap bits of angle iron for the hinges and latch. The door kits you can buy tend to have smallish openings which make it harder to add wood to the fire and clean out the fire box.

You can see in the picture where I welded stiffeners to the opening on the tank that the door seal to. The back side of the door is lined with ceramic wool as well for insulation.Also what did you line the box with? What is the white material? That looks like a great set up. How many gallons can you boil/hour?

[Scm]

..........

[Cjadamec]

I'm using 6 inch deep full size steam table pans, I managed to get 5 into the arch without too much fuss. I got a box of 6 pans from amazon for 75 bucks. Down the road I will go to a flat or divided pan, I had a lot of things to buy this year to get up to speed.

I lined the entire inside of the arch with 1" thick ceramic wool. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L9DOJ8Q/ref=sspa_dk_detail_3?psc=1) In the firebox there is a layer of firebrick to keep the wood from hitting the insulation. I would say I used about 18 feet out of the 25 foot roll to do everything. I kept the extra to make repairs if I need it. The sides of the firebox stay cool enough to touch for a second without getting burned but they do warm up a bit just not warm enough to keep me warm when outside while I'm evaporating.

There is AUF from a 6 inch inline duct fan feeding the air into the back of the fire box the fan is inside the void space under the back pans and stack. Right now I'm getting about 10-15gph depending on how good everything is running. I'm using white pine for wood because it was free and already split for me so that isn't ideal but it's getting the job done. I'm still getting the kinks worked out and adjusting my draft/airflow thru the back end of the arch. It probably would have been better to do an angled transition for the flue gas instead of the hard 90 (maybe for next year). Hopefully I will have a copper tube preheater set up before my next run. That should keep all 5 pans boiling and up my rates a bit.

[BlueberryHill]

Love that rig. Nice job!

[khuberpt]

I'm using 6 inch deep full size steam table pans, I managed to get 5 into the arch without too much fuss. I got a box of 6 pans from amazon for 75 bucks. Down the road I will go to a flat or divided pan, I had a lot of things to buy this year to get up to speed.

I lined the entire inside of the arch with 1" thick ceramic wool. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L9DOJ8Q/ref=sspa_dk_detail_3?psc=1) In the firebox there is a layer of firebrick to keep the wood from hitting the insulation. I would say I used about 18 feet out of the 25 foot roll to do everything. I kept the extra to make repairs if I need it. The sides of the firebox stay cool enough to touch for a second without getting burned but they do warm up a bit just not warm enough to keep me warm when outside while I'm evaporating.

There is AUF from a 6 inch inline duct fan feeding the air into the back of the fire box the fan is inside the void space under the back pans and stack. Right now I'm getting about 10-15gph depending on how good everything is running. I'm using white pine for wood because it was free and already split for me so that isn't ideal but it's getting the job done. I'm still getting the kinks worked out and adjusting my draft/airflow thru the back end of the arch. It probably would have been better to do an angled transition for the flue gas instead of the hard 90 (maybe for next year). Hopefully I will have a copper tube preheater set up before my next run. That should keep all 5 pans boiling and up my rates a bit.
So you used the metal that you cut from the tank and placed it into the evap to decrease the extra space, versus keeping the whole inside open correct. It looks like a beast. kevin

[Cjadamec]

I used as much of the tank as I could to make parts of the evaporator. I was limited to working outside and only had basic hand tools, a 110v fluxcore welder, 4.5 inch grinder, and a sawz-all at my disposal for tools. Making use of the parts of the tank that were already the same shape of the tank saved a lot of work. All of the steel I used was scrap steel that I had collected so the end product is functional but a little rough on the finish work. Sometime before next season the whole thing will get painted.

[khuberpt]

I used as much of the tank as I could to make parts of the evaporator. I was limited to working outside and only had basic hand tools, a 110v fluxcore welder, 4.5 inch grinder, and a sawz-all at my disposal for tools. Making use of the parts of the tank that were already the same shape of the tank saved a lot of work. All of the steel I used was scrap steel that I had collected so the end product is functional but a little rough on the finish work. Sometime before next season the whole thing will get painted.

in looking at the top part, you lined that with blanket and then put the trays inside that correct? it looks great.

[khuberpt]

sorry, you ran the metal all the way to the front then lined that with the insulation blanket, firebrick/sand on the bottom of the tank?

[Cjadamec]

I flattened the curved steel that made up the top of the tank that was cut off. Well got it close to flat at least. I used that to fully plate the area under the steam plans which leaves about a 1-2" air gap under the pans after the insulation was put in.

The fire box is fully lined with insulation and I put 1" thick firebrick over the insulation at the bottom of the firebox. The brick goes up about halfway up the side of the fire box. The brick is just there to protect the insulation.

I made a fire grate out of angle iron and it sits about 6" off the very bottom of the tank to make room for the AUF.

[khuberpt]

I flattened the curved steel that made up the top of the tank that was cut off. Well got it close to flat at least. I used that to fully plate the area under the steam plans which leaves about a 1-2" air gap under the pans after the insulation was put in.

The fire box is fully lined with insulation and I put 1" thick firebrick over the insulation at the bottom of the firebox. The brick goes up about halfway up the side of the fire box. The brick is just there to protect the insulation.

I made a fire grate out of angle iron and it sits about 6" off the very bottom of the tank to make room for the AUF.

can you take a picture of the front with the door open so i can get a better understanding. thanks, Kevin

[Cjadamec]

With the door open.

[bmbmkr]

Volzgang/US Stove makes two different style barrel stove doors, Try to find the two piece one that as a separate ash door.

This is my arch made from 2 1/2 55 gal drums welded end to end, the firebox is way too small and the door is too low. I would have mounted it higher but couldn't since the ash door was built into the frame. I wish it were a bit higher so I wouldn't have to push the wood UP when firing- but it is in place because of the ash door- which I don't really use because my AUF blows all the ash up anyway. Another year for this one and I plan on upgrading to a 2x8. 17493