oil fired homemade evaporator questions

[nitsujlobos]

hi im looking for some help getting my homemade barrel evaporator up and running for this maple season. i purchased this set up as a work in progress unit. it had a oil burner bolted on the front and the barrel iteslf was empty-no firebrick just the barrel. so i tried boiling water in it as is with no luck. so i built a frame for the bottom and firebricked the inside and built a wall about half way back and tried again. this time i got a small boil going in the middle but that was it. so i was looking for any ideas anyone might have in getting this unit up and running for spring. thanks

[Haynes Forest Products]

Lets start with............. is the gun working right? Do you see a flame in there that looks yellow with a little white? Do you have the right size nozzel. Is the filter clean? What did the last owner say about how it worked? If they say it didnt work all that great and that is why I sold it then you need to do what he didnt. Is the stack so big that the heat leaves before it transfers to the pans. I would say that firebrick is the big thing and not having the flame go out the stack before it heats the fire chamber adding radiant heat to the mix.

[nitsujlobos]

the gun is working right i got a good flame. i am actully am using a different burner then what came with it. so i am doubting that this thing ever boiled sap im thinking it was a project that was never finished. i never spoke with the actual owner it was bought from a friend of a friend of a friend type deal. Im thinking my nozzel might be too small its a .5 gph not sure of tha angle off hand. the atack is just 6 inch pipe right now i have it set up temporairly outside till i get it working right.

[Brian]

I would use ceramic blankett in stead of the brick because it won't hold the heat and will put the heat into the sap instead of the brick. I belive it takes 3-3.5 GPH for a 2x6 about 4.5-5 GPH for a 30x8.

[Clan Delaney]

Didn't I read somewhere here that the oil burners used to heat homes and those used to heat sap are not created equal? In short, evap setups burn crazy amounts of oil. Are you using a burner from a household application? If so, it may just be that it's not burning enough oil to create the heat you want.

[Grade "A"]

I used a 2 gph nossle on my old 2x6 and it realy was to small to get the boil I wanted. This year I have a new 2x6 with a 4 gph nossle on it, I was very happy with my test boil.

[mapleman3]

The thing is to watch how much you use... start small lets say 1.5gph and go up 1/4 sizes from there.... I don't think you will get higher than maybe 2.25gph.. that even may be too much. also the angle of the flame is important as well as the pattern. a typical boiler lets say uses a .65-1gph 60deg ss thats the oil swirling out at a 60 deg angle pattern or v as it goes out of the gun into the chamber.

then the SS means semisolid, thats the type of spray... hollow is more oil on the outer edges of the pattern and solid is all oil through out the pattern....SS is just that Semisolid.. more oil to the outer but still some in the middle, a good start.

if the chamber(firebox) is long you use a more narrow pattern(45deg) to get it to the back.. if it's more square and short you use more angle maybe 60-80deg

so in short you will have to play with the types of nozzel to get the best combustion

I would try the 60deg ss and around the 1.5-2gph size

my 2x6 was a 3pgh 60 ss and if I went to oil on my 3x8 it would jump to 6.5gph

[TapME]

a friend of mine has a 2.5 x10 and only uses a 4 gallon if not a 3.5 on his.

[mapleman3]

I think a regular home beckett afg burner can go up to 3gph... so depending on what brand -model you have ...it may work fine

[Haynes Forest Products]

Dang im using a 6.5 GPH on my 3x10 but I may be in for a change.