Steamaway cleaning

[Asa Matras]

Hi folks. We're new to cleaning a steamaway. I hear you just fill it with permeate or condensate and let it bubble for the night? (thats what its doing right now). We've boiled 4 times so far so I think it was time for a cleaning. Any ideas would be great. Thanks

Asa

[nymapleguy607]

Generally speaking you can use the outgoing sap temp as an indicator for cleaning. I typically let it drop off to about 5 degrees below the normal temp and then fill with permeate and let it bubble away for a few hours. This usually does the trick.

[Asa Matras]

Ok. It was still running at normal temp, around 190-200 so its probably still fine. However I did let it bubble all night and the niter didnt loosen up on its own. You can brush it off but it wasn't floating around like I thought. I wouldnt mind brushing it but you cant get to all the pipes.

[nymapleguy607]

I have never had niter float off when cleaning mine, the best it really does is soften the niter and it lets you rinse it off with a spray of water.

[Sugarmaker]

Yes these are not easy to clean! I have bubbled water for hours and it still needs pressure hosed and or scrubbed too.
Regards,
Chris

[coyote]

This is my second year with a steamaway on a 4' flue pan. I cannot get my temperature up above 175. I think it's related to how full I make it. I've tinkered with levels but never really found a sweet spot. Any thoughts?

[Asa Matras]

Thanks guys, I'll need to use elbow grease I guess.
To answer coyote, we run ours no more than 1/2-3/4 inch above the high end of the tubes. We have a max flue pan, not sure if that makes a difference.

[nymapleguy607]

This is my second year with a steamaway on a 4' flue pan. I cannot get my temperature up above 175. I think it's related to how full I make it. I've tinkered with levels but never really found a sweet spot. Any thoughts?

I have found that my steamaway is most efficient when I fill the sap to just touching the bottom of the steam pipes, at the back of the steamaway. When the air bubbles the sap it will increase the depth enough to cover and allow the sap to splash onto the hot pipes. You need to make sure your flue pan is boiling as hard as possible as well. The harder that boils the more steam it creates and the more heat to the steamaway. I generally keep my stack temp around 1300F and my sap comes from the steamaway at about 195F.