Syrup depth

[jbutton]

What does everyone use to measure depth in your pan. I have a sl hybrid pan and I see they are selling a sight glass can be connected from the float box or the draw off. Tia

[littleTapper]

I looked at the prices of sight glasses, spit out my milk violently, and just made my own with some fittings and clear tubing. Before I fire up I fill the pan to the depth I want to keep and have two zip ties on the sight I set as high and low limit of where I want to run. Then it's simply making sure I'm in between those all day. Granted, I'm just a hobby producer. No float box, just a feed pan and this setup works fine for me. Rig runs nice and steady and I get consistent draws as long as I have enough to boil to draw :)

[jbutton]

Do you have a picture of that setup

[ennismaple]

We run 1" over the flues in the back and 2" deep in the syrup pan. The float in our syrup pan takes a while to react given the size of the pan so the extra depth keeps us from scorching it.

[jbutton]

Ok so how do you measure that. My flues are drop flue

[littleTapper]

Do you have a picture of that setup

Here's a pic I could find...

19430

[DrTimPerkins]

Just take care with small fittings/site tubes. Niter can build-up in the pipe before the tube and plug them, causing erroneous level readings (scorched pans anyone?). If you go this route, switch out the elbow right before the glass for a tee with a drain so you can open it every now and then to get rid of the sludge.

[littleTapper]

Just take care with small fittings/site tubes. Niter can build-up in the pipe before the tube and plug them, causing erroneous level readings (scorched pans anyone?). If you go this route, switch out the elbow right before the glass for a tee with a drain so you can open it every now and then to get rid of the sludge.

Good tip, thanks! I feed sap in right near the sight so i get next to no niter in mine (and do wash the pan a few times/season). But, I have to be careful where it runs in or it can affect the reading.

[Potters3]

I look in my float box i know have way up the feed pipe in 1" over the flues

[Z/MAN]

I made this neat little setup copied from davy jones page.
http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?6166-Low-Tech-and-High-Tech-Gadgets&highlight=float

[plabarr]

My pan came with a sight glass half way down the pan but I find that with a good boil it fluctuates too much to get good readings. I have marks in the pan for where my highest desired point is and for the low end I made up some alarms. I like electrical components so I made an alarm system for each pan using 12vdc, a stainless float, toggle switch, and an alarm. I have these floats in the actual float box so I'm reading the depth at the beginning of my pans and they aren't in a rolling boil. I know most people feel alarms are over kill but they give you peace of mind when you don't have to be checking the level all the time. You can also walk away for a few minutes and not be worried about burning the pan. I must say too that it has saved me a few burnt pans by waking me up when I've nodded off at the end of some 20 hour boils! Having an RO should help with that this year though.

[ennismaple]

Ok so how do you measure that. My flues are drop flue Not sure on drop flues. Ours are raised so it's easy. We fill the pan cold until the tape measure shows 1" above the flues, adjust the float box so it's just closed and we're done. We put a black sharpie line on the sight tube so we can see at a glance where we are relative to where we started. When the feed tank is full the pan will run a little deeper due to the pressure on the float box. The opposite happens when its almost empty so you need to adjust the float a bit throughout the day.

[mol1jb]

On our raised flue I just keep an eye on the float box intake tube (float side). I know that when sap is at the bottom of the intake tube it is 1/2 in over the flues. So I keep it about 1/4 inch above the bottom of the intake tube for around 3/4 in in the flue pan. As long as I see sap over the bottom of the float intake tube I know I am good.

[jbutton]

Z/man interesting

[johnallin]

I do much the same as Ennismaple. Ours is a 2x6 Leader Patriot with a sight glass on the flue pan. A mark on the glass gives me a quick indication of depth in flue pan.

Since the syrup pan has it's own float box (it's much lower than the flue pan) I monitor level there by looking at the intake pipe from the draw-off box. Intake is 1½" and sits even with the bottom of the syrup pan, so as long as I can't see the pipe I'm running at about 1½"...if I can see the pipe, I give the float a push down to feed some more sap. We try to run at 1½" but it can get crazy pretty quickly.

I also dip the pan every now and then with the stainless handle on a small skimmer I keep handy. Just like checking the oil on your car - when cars still had dip sticks...

[Woody77]

I use a paint stick with a line drawn on it at the depth I want to run. I just stick it in the pan real quickly with a glove on cause that steam is wicked hot. It is just like the dip stick in your automobile. Works great for me and there free at home depot.