Syrup pan depth when boiling concentrate

[bees1st]

I typically concentrate to 8-10%. I'm curious as to what depths others run their sap in the front pans?
Thanks

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Two inches on a five foot wide rig.

[maple flats]

1" on my 3' wide rig. I use 1" on any concentration, 7% up to 14-15% which is the highest my RO goes without plugging and needing a flush.

[morningstarfarm]

In my leader patriot pans there is a lip and she boils so hard I run mine at 2”

[Russell Lampron]

I run mine a 1.5" and boil 14% concentrate. I used to run it at 1" but had too many close calls.

[bees1st]

Thanks all.. I'm boiling with a 1.5" depth , but I couldn't remember how I arrived at that number. Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.

[Russell Lampron]

Thanks all.. I'm boiling with a 1.5" depth , but I couldn't remember how I arrived at that number. Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.

I arrived at that depth by experimenting with other depths. At 2" it took too long to build a gradient and if I had a float malfunction it took too long to get it boiled down to working depth again.

[Road's End]

I stay at about 1.5in on my 2x6 but I usually only boil 5-7% sap as I have a smaller RO.

[VT_K9]

We used to run 1.5". I found an awesome gradient at .75", but I was uncomfortable staying there. We have settled on 1.25" now and it seems okay. We are running 7-8% concentrate and boiling on a 2x6 WSE.

Mike

[Tweegs]

This thread turned our world around.
My wife didn’t want to run over ¾”, she thought doing so would cause the syrup to stay in the pan longer and thus darken. Every boil with 8% was filled with anxiety, trying to make sure we were neither too deep nor shallow, always on what seemed the edge of scorching the pan, always fussing with the float, always on the verge of panic. “ADD SAP…ADD SAPP…OMG ADD SAP NOW!!” “TOO MUCH!!”
And, sad to say, this is our 3rd year playing this silly game.

I read this thread, then I showed her this thread, and it was decided to run at 1.5”.
What…a…difference.

I stopped and picked up a pizza on the way home last night, we actually had time to eat it.

We were in “The Groove”.
The draw off valve was cracked open so that we had a 1/8” constant stream of syrup coming off. Rarely did we close the valve. Got to the point I pulled the draw off valve off the evaporator, afraid I was going to burn it up (I use an actuator instead of a motorized ball valve). Was always under the impression that a continuous draw on a wood fired evap was a myth, especially with a 35 GPH wood fired evap.

The float was doing its thing, no tampering necessary. No emergencies, no panic, just wander around, look at the levels, add a little defoamer, check the temp, chuck some wood, change the filter when needed, grab another slice of pizza. You know, like we did in our pre-RO days.

We made the most syrup we’ve ever made in a single 6 hour day, and we saw our grade…lighten.
This is the way it should be. Put some of the fun back in it.
So thanks for the tip, from a lurker’s perspective.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I don't believe anyone can tell you what will be best for your rig without all the info on your rig. Try going to the auto parts store and saying I need a tune up kit for my ford truck and that's all the info he has.

I can tell you that when I went to concentrate my rig was out of control until I changed many things and it took 2 seasons to get back to my original float settings. I changed the draw off size to keep up with the bigger draws. I turned my heat down by a 3rd so I didn't burn the finish pans. Made sure I had plenty more liquid/concentrate in my head tank for reserves. Was ready with the defoamer earlier in my start up. and then 2 to 3 years after getting my RO I changed my plumbing to draw off in the center of my rig because that was the hottest section and I wasn't pushing or pulling finished syrup thru the entire 4 channels to try and get it to flow out the draw off.

Lastly I pay more attention to the entire rig and what its doing. I believe my rig is like a man that can juggle 15 ball in the air at the same time..............He gets there by starting out with 3 then 4 and 5 up to 6 and so on and so on. I start my rig at 1" and pull the trigger and once its up to full speed ahead my center section of my 7' flue pan is running up to the dividers 10" and it spills back the flue stack area and its only about 1/2" deep and its washing over the tops of the flues. My rig has never simmered like a well behaved pond of water.

[DrTimPerkins]

As others have noted, different results with different rigs and different RO settings. There is no doubt that shallower is faster, but can be far more anxiety provoking than deeper and slower.

With our previous evaporator, a Leader 3' x 10' Revolution with Max Backpan and Enhanced Steamaway with 12-15 Brix concentrate we tended to run it about 1.25-1.5". We also had a Marcland solenoid-style drawoff, so on/off. Worked fairly consistently, but draws would change in character as niter built up.

With our new evaporator, a Lapierre Volcano 4' x 12' boiling 30-35 Brix concentrate, we played around some and boiled everywhere from 3/4" to 3". It runs steadiest at 1.75-2.0" deep, producing about 40 gal/hr of syrup in a very steady stream the whole time (variable/butterfly drawoff). I think part of that is the float system in the Lapierre rigs....very stable and bulletproof. Very easy to set the level where you want it and it doesn't deviate from that. The syrup production rate is a bit lower at that depth (2")...we got 45-50 gal/hr at 3/4" deep, but it felt like you were on the edge of disaster every minute. At 2" deep, it just purrs along nice and steady -- so much so that I think my next sugarhouse investment will be a reclining heated massage chair. I really like the Riello variable-speed oil burner (not just hi/low fire, but continuously adjustable) and the Lapierre auto-defoamer pump system. Both make boiling far easier.

So I guess the message is...play around and decide what works for you and your equipment and style of operation.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

This thread turned our world around.
My wife didn’t want to run over ¾”, she thought doing so would cause the syrup to stay in the pan longer and thus darken. Every boil with 8% was filled with anxiety, trying to make sure we were neither too deep nor shallow, always on what seemed the edge of scorching the pan, always fussing with the float, always on the verge of panic. “ADD SAP…ADD SAPP…OMG ADD SAP NOW!!” “TOO MUCH!!”
And, sad to say, this is our 3rd year playing this silly game.

I read this thread, then I showed her this thread, and it was decided to run at 1.5”.
What…a…difference.

I stopped and picked up a pizza on the way home last night, we actually had time to eat it.

We were in “The Groove”.
The draw off valve was cracked open so that we had a 1/8” constant stream of syrup coming off. Rarely did we close the valve. Got to the point I pulled the draw off valve off the evaporator, afraid I was going to burn it up (I use an actuator instead of a motorized ball valve). Was always under the impression that a continuous draw on a wood fired evap was a myth, especially with a 35 GPH wood fired evap.

The float was doing its thing, no tampering necessary. No emergencies, no panic, just wander around, look at the levels, add a little defoamer, check the temp, chuck some wood, change the filter when needed, grab another slice of pizza. You know, like we did in our pre-RO days.

We made the most syrup we’ve ever made in a single 6 hour day, and we saw our grade…lighten.
This is the way it should be. Put some of the fun back in it.
So thanks for the tip, from a lurker’s perspective.

This is a good summary of the value of the MapleTrader -- and it's why I scan it every day.

[ennismaple]

Agreed Brian.

We runs ours at 2" boiling about 14% concentrate. It's a more comfortable boil than lower levels and we are happy with the output.

[Haynes Forest Products]

If you ever want to know what under compensation and over compensation looks like get a buddy and unbolt the front seat in a 1956 Chevy Belair with a 3 speed Manuel trans in rush hour traffic with the giggles..............................its a Hoot.

[saphead]

Variable/butterfly draw off valve is a wonderful thing! To bad they are so #@&*% expensive...hear that Smokey! No more slug draws and syrup pan waves(unless your burning a bundle of stickers like the other day). It really helps with syrup temp. control...less spiking temps. Around 2" seems to work well (6x16 w/6% going into the steamaway, avg. 45 gph + -)anything less and things can get a little too interesting. Consistent firebox temp. plays a big role with what you are comfortable with for depth.

[Russell Lampron]

If you ever want to know what under compensation and over compensation looks like get a buddy and unbolt the front seat in a 1956 Chevy Belair with a 3 speed Manuel trans in rush hour traffic with the giggles..............................its a Hoot.

Sort of like teaching my daughter how to drive a stick shift. As soon as the clutch started to engage her foot was off of it like she had just touched something hot. Meanwhile the gas pedal is going to the floor and the car is jerking all over the place. My poor old Volvo.....