Is there a way to save fuel on an 2x6 oil evaporator? (Newbie)

[newhampshirefarms]

I'm new to the site, and just upgraded from a flat pan over some cinder blocks, to a used 2x6 oil-fired Leader evaporator with drop flued pans in the back and flat pans in the front. I was shocked earlier today when the 5 gallon can of diesel fuel I had the fuel line run into disappeared in just over an hour. I had a spare can, and after bleeding it stuck it in and within an hour my backup can was empty too and I still have no syrup to show for the 10 gallons of fuel.

Is there something I should check on the burner? Should I really be using 4-5 gallons of fuel an hour on a 2x6 evaporator? What should I have in there for a tip (please include enough information so I can walk to the stove shop and just tell them I need xyz as I'm not familiar with furnace parts)? Any other thoughts?

Thanks! :)
Matt

[mapleman3]

Well... where to start
if this is your first boil expect to use that much to sweeten the pans

But!
Unless you have an oil technician really "Tune" your burner, you may be wasting fuel !
I had a 2x6 on oil for 4 years, the white ceramic blanket was as white after 4 years as the day I installed it because I tuned it each year, I'm a licensed Oil Tech and use a digital combustion analyzer to get the best combustion I could.

I ended up with around a 500+ deg stack temp and was able to keep the heat under the pans and not up the stack, that by playing with the barometric damper on the stack and watching the draft on the meter, also adjusting the air intake on the burner to get the best % of CO2 vs smoke.

I was at a 3gph nozzle, and made a gallon an hour on it, sometimes a hair more.

find a local oil guy that you can give some syrup to or small amount of cash, it will be more than worth it in the long run....

[newhampshirefarms]

Thanks,

I forgot to add, I'm running diesel fuel from the gas station right now too since I don't have a concrete-pad for my oil tank yet and the fuel companies won't deliver to me with my tank sitting on a pair of car tires next to the shed. Would that effect anything? Is it okay to use diesel instead of home heating oil?

Also, I just had a friend show me how to pull the nozzle out of the Beckett burner so I could read the numbers on it. Here's what is imprinted on the side of the nozzle, DELAVAN 2.50 80DEGREE-A. Is that the right one for this old 2x6 Leader evaporator?

Also, I had to replace the white blanket inside with new insulation as it was all black when I got it and fell apart.

Thanks,
Matt

[mapleman3]

no the fuel isn't the problem.. you need to up the size of the nozzle to at least a 3gph. 60 deg A
I think your not hot enough..... but an oil guy should do a pressure check on the burner to see what pressure it's set for

[newhampshirefarms]

no the fuel isn't the problem.. you need to up the size of the nozzle to at least a 3gph. 60 deg A
I think your not hot enough..... but an oil guy should do a pressure check on the burner to see what pressure it's set for

I just noticed you mentioned having a damper on your stack. Mine is currently just a straight pipe, no dampers. Would that effect performance? I'm really not sure what the temperature is of the stacks. I'm not sure how to adjust the air intake on the burner.

Also would upsizing to a 3GPH instead of the 2.5GPH save fuel overall (even though it burns more fuel per hour, I assume it is made up by boiling more sap per hour?)

Matt

[325abn]

For me it was a lot of trail and error before I got my 2X4 oil fired rig to run good. I played with several nozels of different burn rates and angles, the arangement of my bricks and blanket, different presures its easy to install a gauge so you know what your running,

Good luck

[newhampshirefarms]

I just bought a magnetic stove pipe temp guage so that will help me read the temp of the stack, but I'm not sure what the ideal temp should be or how to adjust it. I plan on boiling again tonight after work. I just bought a 2.5GPH 60degreeA nozzle tip and a 3GPH 60degreeA tip, I'm not sure which tip I'll start off with as I experiment. I want to maximize fuel efficiency, but if the 3GPH tip will boil more than the 2.5GPH I imagine that the extra fuel I burn will pay for itself? Will a 3GPH tip (over a 2.5GPH tip) help me boil faster and thereby pay for the extra fuel used? Is the goal just to get the sap to boil and steam (that is, just get it to 212degrees), or does adding extra heat make it boil faster?

Any thoughts?

Thanks
Matt

[mapleman3]

use the 3gph... but you really need a barometric damper on the stack

what that does is cut the draft down. on a wood rig you want to pull that flame through by use of the draft up the stack
On oil you create draft by the burner and heat, and the relationship between the heat going up the chimney and how much draft is at the fire could pull the flame away from the burner and get poor combustion and low efficiency.

the damper allows air into the stack thus cutting the amount of draft pulled through the evaporator.

[newhampshirefarms]

Sounds good, I'll run the 3GPH 60 tip tonight and see how it compares to the 2.5GPH 80 I had. Where on the stack do I put the Barametric Damper? I'll plan on buying one. Do I install a Tee-stove piece and then have the damper installed on the Tee? If so, does it go above the triangular part of the stack? My 7" stove pipe doesn't go through the roof, I had to make a bend above the triangular part and run it out the wall, and then it goes up again above the roof line.

Matt

[newhampshirefarms]

Well I screwed things up last night. My line between the holding tank and evaporator was frozen, but it seemed like I had enough in the pans to fire it up and the plan was to use the steam to melt the ice in the line as I held the line over the evaporator. My plan was working well, but unfortunately that new tip (3GPH at 60) did such a good job that I had more steam than ever before and couldn't see two feet in front of me (I have no hood yet). Within 10 minutes I started coughing and smelled smoke, so shut I shut the burner off and left for a couple minutes then when I came back in I noticed the front pan's sap had caramelized in the front middle two chambers and was bubbling. Not thinking, I poured a bucket of cold sap on it to stop the smoking and I think the pan warped a little bit due to the sudden change in temperature. It took an hour for me to clean up and I drained off all that I had in the front pan since the "sap" had so much black chunks in it and color was so black. My dad just shook his head when he came out to see what was going on... :D

After that experience, I started again making sure to check frequently the levels in the pan.

The tip seems to be boiling a lot of sap, the "hottest" spot is the front middle two chambers on the front pan, then the back two pans in the middle are also real hot but the edge channels are not as hot (especially the one the fresh sap flows into after it trickles out of the preheater pan.) My draw off channel never got above 212 so I still haven't drawn off any syrup. I'm not sure how long the process normally takes, but I have gone through about 17 gallons of diesel fuel and have no sap to show for it yet even though I have boiled a lot of sap... Is this normal or should I get a "wider" tip, it had an 80degree 2.5gph tip in it originally.

The magnetic stove pipe temp read around 200, not sure how accurate it is really.

-----------
Matt
Rochester, NH
Leader 2x6 oil-fired evaporator

[325abn]

Always I repeat ALWAYS have a five gal emergency flood bucket. Live and Learn I guess! :)

[Russ]

First thing before firing is to have that handy 5 gallon bucket o' sap filled and at the ready. Used it yesterday when a float valve stuck and lowered the level to a dangerous level. Dumped the bucket and then dumped the float valve; no harm, no foul scorched smell.

[mapleman3]

don't know if you need to change but the draft may be too high and pulling the flame away and to the back of the arch too fast, you really need a guy that can help you tune it. Did you put a damper in the stack?

[newhampshirefarms]

I haven't been able to install that damper yet, but I did notice a couple more things:

1. A friend of mine who is on the fire department, said the black smoke puffing out my chimney indicated that I was burning too much oil and not getting enough air. He suggested opening my oil furnace "vent" up and slightly cracking the front lowest door of the arch a crack. When I did the heavy black smoke went away instantly. He thought that would help me burn more efficiently until I get the damper put in... Seems like my evenings lately have all been split between collecting sap and boiling it though. Wish I had more time to focus on getting that damper in.

2. I took a look inside my evaporator (through the front door of the arch) and noticed that the insulation I have between the front and rear pan is slightly lower than the bottom of the pans by about an inch or so. Do you think that matters, or should I disconnect the pans and try to keep the bottom of the insulation right at the bottom level of the pan? I was going to adjust it but have been keeping my pans full all the time and can't seperate them without loosing sap. Would it be worth the effor though to pull the insulation up a tad or does the flame still do its job even if the insulation is hanging low by an inch...

3. What do you think the effect would be of swapping the tip from a 3GPH 60A to a 3GPH 80A? My boil still seems to be in the middle section of the two pans, and the edges are a lot slower so I didn't know if I should widen the flame. The original tip was a 2.5GPH 80A.

Thanks
Matt