Evaporator project nearing completion

[Nemo5]

I thought I would start a new thread to show my progress as I felt like I was hijacking Davy's thread by posting my stuff there. The project is coming close to completion, just need to make a roof jack and install chimney, pipe my barrel into the pre-heater, and build a roof to cover my wood. My original intention was to lay down a layer of gravel on the ground, build a roof, like the one in the picture I use for my home wood, and just use a tarp for walls. I got a little carried away and ended up making walls and putting in a floor. I had an old busted metal pool laying around so I put it on the walls inside. I went with an angle iron grate as many people felt the original grate I was going to use would not hold up.The sides are all lined with 8# density ceramic blanket.I bricked the firebox and one row back into the arch the remainder is double blanket. Should I brick the entire arch, what do you think? Anyhow that is where I am right now any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

[Nemo5]

Other 2 pictures

[Gary R]

That is very nice looking! Your going to have fun. A pool in New Brunswick?

[TapME]

Nice looking arch and pans. I bet you are eager to test boil with some water.

[jrthe3]

looks great looks like you got the bug like the rest of us

P.S. just kinda wondering what kind of tree you got up there that grows waders i could save a lot of money if i could get one them to grow here in PA.

[Sugarmaker]

Nice arch details and looks like you have it set up and ready to go. I like the feed tank outside in the back.

Regards,
Chris

[Dennis H.]

Looking great, nicely made evap.

What did you use for the door on the evap?

[Nemo5]

I found the door at the junkyard. It is off of an old wood furnace.

[Nemo5]

I was wondering how to stop boiling when I begin to run low on sap. Do I just begin to let the fire die down as I run low, then drain off the pan when the fire is out, seems like a long wait. I understand that I can't drain the pan while the fire is still going. I would rather not lift the pan off the arch if I don't have to. How do other people do it?

[Dennis H.]

It took me a few times firing the rig to figure it out but what I did was thru trail and error was find out how much sap I needed to have in my preheater to keep the level in my pan at about 1" when the fire is out and te evap was cooled down somewhat.

I was shocked how much heat stayed in the evap, I came back 1 hr later and the pan was still steaming.

Also since I use forced draft once I kill the fan the fire will die down real quick, I guess if you are using natural draft you could close up evap and it should do the same thing.

I am hoping this year I will not have to drain the pan as often since I now have more taps. My plan this year is to just let the liquid in the pan till I almost have syrup and then draw off a gal or two then continue to boil.
It should be ok in the pan for a day or two.

[brookledge]

Like Dennis said, once you determine how much sap is needed from the last time you stoke it you should be all set.
O n my feed tank I have a line I made on the site tube. When I'm out of sap and it gets down to the line I stop feeding the fire and as it cools down the sap is still running in as needed and when the arch has cooled down my feed tank is empty.
Then I leave it until I boil again. Very rarely do I ever have to start a fire to keep the flue pans from freezing solid.
Keith

[Just for fun]

Just wondering how often do you need to boil with 110taps? Also any idea what your evaporation rate is? I'm debating between 2x3 or 2x4 flat with and without divisions.. So much to take into consideration

Thanks

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

If you can guess that you will get an average of 1 gallon of sap per tap, per run, you would be looking at 110 gallons of sap per run. The evaporator you have will boil I would expect 10-15 gallons per hour? Lots of unknowns to figure out, but you will be busy no matter what :-)

Good luck!