Oil Fired Evap setup

[mapleman3]

Ok I know in the past we have discused this somewhere .. But, now that I have a good Oil Burner and the sonotubes for the legs of the oil tank to sit on have been poured today, I'm now thinking of the ceramic blanket for the arch. I checked out HorseBean on Ebay but he is only selling 2300 deg blanket.. Algeir and the carlin burner instructions both recommend 2600 deg. what have you other Oil Fired Maplers done? also, is the slope at the back of the firebox basically the same as with firebricks? in the same place and height? if anyone can post pics of their arch all done in the new gallery area I would apreciate it.
Thanks a bunch.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jim,

There is 2600 degree ceramic blanket on ebay sometimes. Just search by ceramic blanket and you should be able to find some. :D

[gearpump]

Check out McMaster.com. There prices are the cheapest I have seen. I used the 8 lbs./ cu. ft. which is 1" thick and comes in a roll 24"x25'. this was enough to cover my 2x6. I think it was around $100.00. I will try to get some pictures of my arch this week.

Marty

[mapleman3]

Well I bit the bullet today and ordered fuel oil for the sugarhouse... checked prices last week and it was 1.69 so of course I figured I would wait ... the news today said and increase is starting due to the cold weather and such.. darn it, 1.79 now, but if I wait could be alot more. I figure with the 100 gals I have already(got for free) in the tank I will get maybe another 120 gals, thats 214.00 divide that by 220 gals = around 97 cents a gallon this season. so thats around $3.40/gal of syrup not too bad if I don't need more than 220 gals of oil. that should make 62 gals of syrup, but seeing I want to make around 75 gals I may need to buy some oil in late march, hopefully by then with spring coming oil prices will come down...

[gearpump]

Not to rub it in, but I filled up both 275 gallon tanks a couple of weeks ago at $94.9 a gallon! I prebought 600 gallons in the spring even before I emptyed one tank. As a side note with my 2x6 at 3.00 gph nozzel I went through 480 gallons of oil to make 137 gallons of syrup. About 3 1/2 gallons of oil per gallon of syrup.

Marty

[mapleman3]

Thanks Marty, I figure on 3.5 gals/gal syrup also, WOW I don't know if I'll make as much as you but sure is a nice goal to shoot for :D 8)

[mapleman3]

when I insulate the arch for oil, should I use the grates as a base for the floor insulation or take them out and have the bottom deeper? how deep are your (who has oil) fire chambers? I can't see going all the way to the floor like Algier told me. seems like alot of wasted space... or do you need that space for flame? the gun sticks about 1.5 inches above the bottom of the firing doors.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jim,

When I done a lot of research and talked to several different people a few months ago when I was considering switching to oil, they all told me the same thing. A wood fired arch isn't designed really big enough for oil for proper combustion, so you need as much space as possible for proper combustion and that is the idea behind taking out the grates. Don't know, but it makes sense. :D :D :D

Wait till next weekend and I will help you insulate it! :D :D

[Brian]

I got the ceramic blanket last week that I ordered. I went with the 8 pound 2300 deg. because of the price, if that blanket don't hold up I will put a roll or two of 2600 deg. in the front of the arch. My wife and I put 4 layers in the front and three in the middle and two layers by the stack because I didn't want to block the base stack and that was all the room I had. I ended up using 7 1/2 rolls and still have 2 1/2 rolls left. The burner is in place and all hooked up. The flue pan is back in place and I put a new drain pipe on it because the threads on the old one didn't look very good.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Brian,

Sounds great and I bet you're excited. Your pics of the new sugarhouse and setup looked really nice. Can't wait to see pics of everything complete!!! :D