steam hood plans

[Splashdam]

Looking for some very simple plans for fabricating a steam hood for my 2x4 Small Brothers.. I have a gentlemen who is willing to fab one if I supply the material.

thanks

[ibby458]

There's quite a few threads in here about people's experiences making steam hoods. (Including mine). Basically, look at a picture in an equipment catalog, adapt it to fit your pan and off you go. You didn't mention a preheater, but there's lotsa info on those in here, too.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I have quite a few photos of mine and the inside and preheater I designed on the web link at the bottom of this post in my signature.

[gmcooper]

I have a great set of plans and info Brandon sent me 1 or 2 years ago. I never have had the time to make the hood and preheater for our 3x10. I did have most all my peices drawn drawn out and still do if I can fiind them. This winter looks like the one to finally get it done!

Brandon the photos of yours are great. One question?

How much space between top of the flues and the bottom of the drip pan?
Ok more than one question

How much space between drip pan and the preheater tubes?

Last one, how much space above the preheater tubes and the top of the hood?
Mark

[Sugarmaker]

GM,
Check out the hood I built for our 3 x 10 King. Ours has a 5 foot flue pan.
I fabbed these from some SS. Nothing special but they work well for us.

Regards,
Chris

[gmcooper]

Chris,

I checked out your photos. Very well done. The steam hood looks great.
Couldn't tell for sure is it welded or soldered?

Great job on the restoration project.
Nice website as well.
My dad just got back into keeping bees last year after 20 years. He only has 5 hives for now.
Mark

[Splashdam]

Thanks for the advise and the photo's from everyone. I guess the idea is to not over engineer the thing and anyone who is worth their salt at fabricating should be able to do it.

I didn't know if there were any basic sketches/drawings/plans in general.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Mark,

I think my rear pan is 15" above the top of the flues and the drip pan sits aprox 1" above it. As far as space between the drip pan and preheater tubes, it is aprox 2" on the low end or sap entry end and 4" on the high or sap exit end.

As far as the space between the hood and preheater, I am not sure but I think the hood is aprox 12" high, so that would put the preheater somewhere around 9 to 10 inches on low end and 7 to 8 on the high end between hood and preheater.

[Sugarmaker]

Splashdam,
( Sorry GM I addressed my last message to you by mistake, Tell your dad good luck with the bees!)
The hoods I made are welded in the bottom corners only where they need to hold water for the inside drip tray to work. Other than that they are fastened together with SS pop rivets and SS screws and just have simple overlapped joints/seams.
I agree that a good fab shop should be able to use their skills to construct one of these for you. Several of the dealer catalogs have good shots of the exterior.
Some of the finer points to consider:
1. How will it fit (set) on your pan? do you need a feature on the hood or pan to keep it in place.
2. The addition of several simple access doors.
3. A drip channel around the inside and a drain leading to the outside.
4. Are you going to put a preheater in the hood? You would then need inlet and outlet holes for the sap pipes.
5. Where is the stack going to be located on the top of the hood? ( I put mine in the wrong place and had to move it.)
6. If you are going to use a preheater you should consider a simple damper in the steam stack.
7. What size steam stack will you use and have a feature/ring of appropriate size on the hood to attach it.

Regards,
Chris