Just not hot enough

[sawyer40]

Just spent 6 hours and only boiled off 175 gal in my 3x10 thats oil fired. dial says 218 degrees digital thermometer says 218. tested the syrup with hygrometer that says not yet. I think my burner needs either new nozzels or filter change. It just don't look right in the pans when I'm boiling. It's just not hot enough. I have all the parts to change the nozzel but lack the knowledge. The filter is no problem. Should I attempt this or call a oil burner guy. It more than likely it needs a good cleaning. To me the last couple times i ran this it seems to be burnning a lot of fuel. Some of you guys with oil fired burners must know how to fix and clean your burner. Can anyone point me in the right direction.

[jmattice]

You said it didn't look right boiling in the pans. Just wondering what you meant. I have a 3x8 oil fired with a 4.5 gph nozzel, and I'm pushing 80 gph.Is this a new unit, or have you used it in the past, just curious what it did last year.
John

[maplwrks]

My 30 X 8 Came From Lapierre With A 5.5 Gph Nozzle. I Cut It Back To 4.5. What Is Your Stack Temp? Maybe A 5.5-6 Gph Nozzle Would Be Good In Your Rig?

[NH Maplemaker]

sawyer40, we are running a 3x10 Dallalre and we boil 100 gal an hour ! so there must be something wrong!!`If you have been running the same nozzel for more than a couple of years, then that would be a good place to start. If you hire someone to change it for you, just watch them so you will know how to do it your self next time!! It's not that hard to do. I always keep a couple spare on hand just for that reason !!

Jim L.
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[H. Walker]

Have someone do a service on the burner and set the air into the burner. If it is burning to rich, like it sounds, it will be putting out a lot of soot which will coat the pans over and insulate them. As soon as you get the burner serviced scrub the bottom of the pans to maximize the heat transfer. With the price of oil the payback of the sevice call should be quick.

[Homestead Maple]

sawyer40,
I have a 3x8 leader and I have a 5.5gph nozzle in the burner. My stack temp runs 800-825 degrees and the pans boil quite vigorously. I change the nozzle every other season and clean the fins on the blower because dust does build up on those, clean the end of the firing tube and the electrodes because carbon builds up there and adjust the gap on the electrodes. Changing the nozzle isn't hard but you have to hold the nozzle tube and turn the nozzle because if you just try turning the nozzle out your apt to twist the tube off. I have a nozzle tool to do this but you may not be able to get one very quickly, so as others have said here, get a burner person to do it and watch to see how it's done.

[SapSuckers]

for anyone interested in tring to do their own service work there are instructional videos on you tube on cleaning and servicing oil burners. Could be useful if you like to try to do your own work.

[sawyer40]

I helped the former owner run this evaporator for several years before I bought it. But never helped service it. Since I lost a whole nights sleep over this 6:30 this morning I got out the wrenches. It didn't take long to find out the problem. The nozzels were covered inside with a black gook. The filter was also shot. So at lunch I went and got new parts. It just so happened that a man came into the mill looking for some cherry lumber and told me he was a retired oil burner repairman.(What luck)So I picked his brain for a while. He told what all the numbers and letter on the nozzels mean. I'm running two 2.75 nozzels spraying out a pattern at 80 degrees. That means i'm burning 5 and a half gallons of fuel an hour. It only took about a half hour to put it back togeather. I fired it up and now it cookin!

[fred]

watch your first batch its goin to be a dusey

[sawyer40]

You can say that again. The whole syrup pan looks like syrup.I boiled another 50 gal last night to see how it was working on top of the 175 I did the night it wasn't working. Thats 225 gal with no syrup yet. But I know the next good run I'm gonna hit the syrup lottery.

[sawyer40]

Well your not gonna beleive this I collected 250 gal more started boiling went through about 60-70 gal and boom boom(thunder storm) out go the lights. So I shut off the breaker got my flash light and went in the house. Now I got 275 gal of sap in the evaporator.Last night I finally got to draw off some syrup. It went to 219 degrees fast and kept climbing. I had to draw it off so fast I filled the cone filter faster than it would filter through. I ended with about 6 1/2 gal.