Air over fire

[wlatrout]

I am getting setup to put air over fire on my evaporator, I have a problem searching for info on the subject. When I put the subject in the search window I get everything but what I am looking for. My question is what can I do different to just get the info I am looking for . Thanks ahead for any help you can give me Frustrated in Indiana !

[ecolbeck]

I have found it helpful to do an advanced search and restrict the keywords to the titles of the posts only. This seems to cut out a lot of the extraneous stuff

[NhShaun]

Did you try "advanced Search"? Use the keyword section and search the entire post not just the title.

[wlatrout]

Thanks, I'll try that approach .

[maple flats]

https://mapleresearch.org/wp-content.../combeffic.pdf
Use this link to guide you for AOF, (air over fire)
This will get you to the report you need.

[wlatrout]

Thanks , Maple Flats, Wasn't sure that I would be making syrup this year. Had surgery for a herniated disc in my neck the first of Jan. The doc. begrudgingly gave me release . I have a no. of people who said they would help so I believe we'll get done. At 78 I hate to miss a yr. , don't know how many more yrs I'll feel like doing it.

[wlatrout]

Got the aof up and running, thanks to the many post on this subject . Used the blower off my dust collector set outside the shack ,run in with 4" flex to pvc tee'd into 2 -2" pvc pipes and connected to the 2" sq. tube manifold on the outside of the evaporator. Valves in the 2" pvc and a rheostat switch control the airflow. 3" stubs of 1/2 in pipe go through the evaporator wall into the firebox sealed with refractory cement . I didn't reame the out end of the pipe so it is about 3/8". When turning on the aof the temp. immediately started to raise. Don't know how much difference it makes on evaporacance but the stack temp.has dropped considerably. Will try to post pictures.

'

[NhShaun]

Sounds like a good upgrade, i'm interested in seeing some photos.

[maple flats]

On my AOF I used a 100+ year old high pressure blower with a 3" discharge. That sat outside, under my head tank platform. To it I used a Fernco 3x4 connector, tied a 4" PVC pipe, with 4 long sweep elbows to get into the sugarhouse and under the evaporator. It then split into 2 lines 3" PVC, and each had a 3" ball valve. Then 1 went under the fire using a 4" 16 ga galv pipe with a cap on the end. That pipe had 3 rows of 5/16" holes 1 facing up and 1 each facing the outer edge of the grates. The second valve went to feed the AOF. I had 3/8" black pipe nipples every 6" around the manifold that surrounded the fire, each faced down about 12 degrees across and into the fire. In use I tried several adjustments on how much to open each vlve and after about 8-10 days settled on 70-75% open on the AOF and 25-30% open on the AUF. That once set, was never changed again, it stayed that way all of the time.
With this set up my boil (evaporation) increased about 30% and I used 30-35% less wood. A win/win in my book!
I never had the blower tested for CFM, it worked so well I never worried how much air it moved.

[DrTimPerkins]

https://mapleresearch.org/wp-content.../combeffic.pdf

Not sure why that link wasn't working, but try this one https://mapleresearch.org/pub/combeffic/

[raptorfan85]

I added aof to my arch this season as well. Been a great upgrade. I use close to half the wood and my loading times are 10 minutes plus. I gained a few gph as well. I'm sure some of that is from opening the door less to load wood.

[maple flats]

Not sure why that link wasn't working, but try this one https://mapleresearch.org/pub/combeffic/
Thank you Dr Tim, my link used to work for several years, not sure why it failed.
The new link contains the old information but it is not the same research report. It does have some new info too.