Lapierre 2x5 junior float box

[jrobida]

Just finishing setting up the evaporator I bought about a year ago and had a question about the float box. There is no drain to empty it at the end of a boil, is this typical? Do most of you just leave the sap in there between boils? I could disconnect the plumbing and dump the sap or vacuum it out but wondered what others do. Thanks in advance.

[lyford]

I run a smoky lake 2x4, and at the end of each boil I use a small sauce pan to scoop a quart or 2 of boil
Sap from the flue pan into the float box. I’m hoping to kill any microorganisms that may be living in the float box. Knock on wood but haven’t had an issue yet.

[wnybassman]

I have a drain/valve in the bottom of my Lapierre 18x60 float box, but it looks as though is was welded in after the original owner bought it. It is very nice to have and I would recommended finding someone to weld you in one.

You can see the valve in the bottom of the float box in this picture.

19052

[Super Sapper]

I would second adding a drain. My SL float box came with a drain so at shutdown once everything is in the evaporator and is up to a boil I will drain enough out of the float box to replace it with hot sap from the flue pan and then dump what I drained into the first channel of the syrup pan. This way I am sure everything was brought up to a boil.

[wnybassman]

Yup, I also completely drain mine at the end of each boil and dump that into the flue pan and bring it to a quick boil before shutting down. Having an empty float box is very nice when freezing is an issue as well.