Are we doing things backwards

[Haynes Forest Products]

Why do we have the syrup pans over the hottest part of the arch when they need the least heat. What would happen if on a wood fired arch the fluepan was over the heat sourse and the heat went to the syrup pans by the flue pipe ?
I was talking to the head guy at Beckett about gun placement and wonderd if shooting the gun into the flues directly and then having the heat flow to the syrup pans. We both agreed that soot build could be a problem and the acid build up would need to be cleand more often.
On a 3x10 what % of the sap is evaporated in the flue pan copared to the syrup pan?

[TapME]

Haynes, there was a pic of someone on the trader that had a 3x10 or 12 with the syrup pan in the middle of the arch. Can't remember who( must be an age thing). The concept sounds great and I agree that the hot part of the fire is under the fire. If I have a chance this sap season I will turn my pans around and try it.
come to think of it it may have been u-tub

[Jim Brown]

Just a comment that what I don't know would fill a libiary,but what i think you guys are refering to is a 'VERMONT" style of evaporator with the finish pan in the middle.
Just my two cents

Jim

[Haynes Forest Products]

I have one of those in storage it was a 2x6 English tin. It had the drop flue with 2 channels then went into the center 2 channel flat pan then into a smaller not as deep drop flue front pan with 2 channels and then into the 2 channel finish pan in the center of the rig. It boiled all thru the entire rig but only boiled about 20-25 gallons per hr.

[peacemaker]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akqcuEr3lEg&feature=related

the fella that does this video has a old set up thats how u say haynes and my second year thats how i boiled 4 ft in the front syrup in the back

[markcasper]

Garth Atherton was at my place a weekand half ago to set up the ro. He told me that his son bought a sugarbush and were going to be running an intesofire this season with the pans going to be set-up baCKWARDS.

[dano2840]

the set ups where the syrup pan is in the middle is a vermont style set up, i think it would be harder to get the syrup up to temp with it being in the back, i dont know. ive thought about this my self, but have come to the conclusion that its been tried before in the years past and if it was actually greater abd better than the syrup pan in front then why are alll the manufacturers still selling there evaps w/ the syrup pan up front?, its got to be the right way the way it is now, since the other ways been tried all ready. - just my thoughts

[RileySugarbush]

The front pan, directly over the fire may seem hotter, but the heat transfer there is through a flat pan exposed to radiant heat direct from the fire as well as convection.

The bottom of the flat pan is a good surface for transferring radiant heat. All of its surface is exposed at a good angle.

The sides of flues are bad for this since most of there surface area is at an oblique angle to the the radiant energy. The much of the flue surface area would be wasted there.

There is convective transfer up front as well, but it is not as good an environment for that over the firebox since the flue gases are traveling at lower velocities there and are not as confined as in the flues. Recall all the discussions about closing the gap under the flues to keep the heat up in them. Plus there is little flow velocity and less turbulence on the front half of the top of the firebox (unless 802's nozzles are blasting that way) since the flue exit is on the back. Turbulence is good for convective heat transfer.

From a practical standpoint, do you want flues right over your firebox where you are whacking them with wood?

I think the current convention of flat syrup pan up from and flues further back are optimal in terms of efficiently removing heat from the fuel.

[maplecrest]

guy in my town has his set up that way and makes dark syrup. he stews his syrup so to speak. a standard drop flue would take the heat the full length of the flues. if fireing under flues you are only sending heat thru the back half unless you transfer that heat with a fan set up that forces the heat tru the flues in the front of the arch then under the flat pan and up the stack