High foam or bubbles

[peterjd89]

I was boiling tonight got a 3 by 12 raised flu d&g I've got 4 compartments in the front pan and 3 of them are real foamy like but the defoamer won't know it down running inch and a half deep and have lost my boiling rate any suggeatuons? Was drawing off about 3 gallons an hour now I'm hardly drawing off at all per hour and it's a huge batch if I do

[motowbrowne]

I was boiling tonight got a 3 by 12 raised flu d&g I've got 4 compartments in the front pan and 3 of them are real foamy like but the defoamer won't know it down running inch and a half deep and have lost my boiling rate any suggeatuons? Was drawing off about 3 gallons an hour now I'm hardly drawing off at all per hour and it's a huge batch if I do

I once had the same issue on my 2x10. I was pretty new to running a flue pan rig. Couldn't keep the foam down. It wanted to foam up over the top of the dividers..I asked another sugar maker about it. He said, add defoamer. I said I did that. He said, then add more. Your don't want to overdo it, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Don't want to scorch a batch. Add a little defoamer right near the drawoff. If it doesn't calm down, do it again in a minute or two. Repeat until you've got it under control. That's what I'd do anyway

[Russell Lampron]

To add to what motowbrowne said, keep the foam in the flue pan knocked down good too.

[Super Sapper]

Niter buildup on the pan bottom will also cause foaming that is hard to control.

[eustis22]

I agree with Super. My last boil I had extreme foam in the syrup channel. Turned out to be a heavy niter build up on the pan bottom.

[peterjd89]

When I looked at it this morning I hard a layer of niter on it thanks for the help

[ennismaple]

We try to only add defoamer where the sap comes in to the flue pan. We'll add a little in the syrup pan as it first comes to a boil but nothing after that. It works for us. You will need to experiment with your setup to see what's best for you.

[ecolbeck]

Curious. Why does niter buildup cause foaming?

[Daveg]

My guess is it causes excessive heat transfer/retention, i.e. a Hot Spot?

[ecolbeck]

Hmmm. Isn't excessive niter a cause of burned pans? Seems to me that niter is blocking heat transfer causing the metal to overheat because it can't transfer its energy to the water. Is it the rough surface of the niter (compared to smooth stainless) that gives the bubbles a starting point?