H20 tradition 18x66

[ctjim]

Not sure anyone has 1 of these or something similar like a mini pro or a cdl? I picked this up this 18x66 raised flue this year. I'm on my 3rd boil of the year and by the time I finish this boil I'll have put about 300 gal thru it and I still can't get the front compartment on the syrup pan to boil well i haven't drawn off yet. I've adjusted my gap on the flue pan and filled in the empty area with perlite because I had way too much draft 1st time around. I re cut my wood in order to load it in between the sides instead of length wise to try to get the fire closer to the door. The rear section of the syrup pan will boil well but for some reason it never really seems to make a gradient. I tried shutting down the inlet valve to the syrup pan to hopefully get a gradient building but I really don't want to scorch the pan. Anyone have any ideas? If I can't get this thing to make something even close to drawing off to finish I'm probably going to let it go and find something else. When I partnered with a family member we had an old 2x6 small brother lightning never had issues with that. Thanks for any help and advice

[ecolbeck]

I have a similar sized rig. The front pan will boil but certainly not as vigorously as the back. I definitely make syrup on it. What does it mean to have too much draft? I have 20 ft of 8” chimney on my setup and it works great. I get 20+ gph, what are you getting? I am not using a blower, do you have one on yours? How dry is your firewood and how finely split is it? Are coals clogging up the grates?

[Big_Eddy]

I believe this has come up before and that first section does not boil hard, especially if too much wood is loaded at once. Keeping less wood (but just as hot a fire) in the firebox seemed to help. Also, try drawing off everything in the front section and dumping it back into the last section of the sap pan. That will move the more concentrated almost syrup from the second section into the first and may help get that first draw to happen. Once the first draw happens, more should follow.

More questions. How deep are you running the pans,and how constant is that depth? Do you have a float box?

[ecolbeck]

I believe this has come up before and that first section does not boil hard, especially if too much wood is loaded at once. Keeping less wood (but just as hot a fire) in the firebox seemed to help. Also, try drawing off everything in the front section and dumping it back into the last section of the sap pan. That will move the more concentrated almost syrup from the second section into the first and may help get that first draw to happen. Once the first draw happens, more should follow.

More questions. How deep are you running the pans,and how constant is that depth? Do you have a float box?

Another question that goes with these is how often are you firing? Adding smaller amounts of wood more often can help keep things hot. I fire every 5 min or so based off of a stack thermometer. As soon the temp starts to drop I add more wood.

[ctjim]

Thanks for the replies. As for firing I fire just about every 8min. I have mostly oak ,maple and a bit of hickory for wood it's definitely dry seasoned 2yrs and under cover. The 1st boil I couldn't get the front pan to boil at all the flue pan was ripping which is where the too much draft came from all my heat was just being sucked out the stack. This rig has a 9in stack but I had to expand up to 10in triple Wal l going thru the roof for local code and insurance. Total stack height is almost 13ft. I have the floats set at 1in over flues and 1.5in in syrup pan. I don't have a blower. I'm going to try the less wood in the firebox and see it definitely does better with less wood which is opposite of what I had in the past we would freight the firebox

[wiam]

Do the grates come all the way to the door? On my 2x6 Mason, I added a piece of 1/4” x 4” plate on grate next to door. The draft was coming up in front of the wood and front of pan was not as hot.

[ctjim]

Thanks wiam i'll have to see about trying something like that. The grates aren't removable and they go right to the door

[Big_Eddy]

I’m trying to recall the thread from a few years back, but the gist of the issues was with the firebox filled, the heat would go back under the wood, and not up to the front pan. Add more wood and there was always fresh (not burning) wood on top under the first section. The answer was to keep the firebox less than half full and add wood more frequently, so the heat would travel up and then back. On my similar sized evaporator, I fuel every 5-7 minutes. I grab what I can “bundle” in two hands off my pile, and that is about the right quantity.
If coals start to form, I add less or smaller wood. If the roar slows down, I add sooner.

Sounds like your depths are good, and staying consistent with the float boxes and your are firing consistently so we can eliminate those as issues.

[ctjim]

It definitely seems like when I add more wood the fire is more in back of the fire box. I got the front pan going well but then I go to add more wood and I lose the boil and it takes awhile to get it going again even with the draft door almost fully open. Also seems like the wood closer to the door isn't burning as well as the further back wood. I was reading the manual and it says to keep wood 8in from the door. When I set the arch I set it up on blocks and also put fire brick around the bottom inside and below the grates on 3 sides with the front below the draft door open to try to make an ash pit so to speak. Maybe I should remove those to get more air through it? Although I've seen other setups like what I've done.

[ecolbeck]

8” is probably the width of the first section of the front pan. Is there’s no wood under there then it definitely won’t boil. I can’t imagine why they would instruct users to keep wood that far away from the door. I insulated the door on my rig and I have wood right up against it.

I don’t buy the too much draft idea. A fire heats primarily by infrared radiation which isn’t affected by draft.

[ctjim]

Thanks for the replies. I think I may have figured out a good part of my problem? I did a quick fire yesterday and I think there's a possibility that the ramp up to the flue pan is not steep enough and I'm losing a lot of my heat there that should be staying in the fire box. I'm going to drain my pans and try to adjust that. There's a piece in there they call a draft stopper that can be moved I just have to take out some fire brick and move it closer to the arch door. Hopefully this helps things.