small cracks between firebrick

[red maples]

So the evaporator is all bricked and I fired it and all. there a few cracks between the bricks (through the refractory cement) they are not really bad but do I need to touch these up or is it ok to leave them.

[03weim]

I am sure others have more expertise on this but in my evap the fire bricks are only dry fitted together and it works fine so I wouldn't worry about a few small gaps

[RileySugarbush]

There is no need to touch them up. Dry fit works fine as long as the bricks stay in place. Your refractory cement should keep them in place well.

[Haynes Forest Products]

If it bothers you mix up a runny mix of the refractory cement and spounge it into the cracks. Wet down the areas first and things will adhere better. Just like grouting tile only you get to be a slob about it,

[red maples]

It does ...so I am warming up the bricks a little tonight(space heater in from of the draft door. I'll hit it with a quick wire brush and patch it up. (sometimes I hate the perfectionist in me make more work for myself)!!!

[heus]

Brad,
How many bricks did it take? I am hopefully having my Patrick Phaneuf 2x6 deluxe raised flu delivered on the 28th or 29th. Patrick is bringing bricks but I never asked him how many. Also, how heavy is the arch without bricks? Don't know how many guys to have over to help when it is delivered. Thanks

[3rdgen.maple]

Hues not to take the shine away from Brad but I got the same arch from Patrick last year that you ordered. He contacted me about the number of bricks I used the other day for your delivery. He said he was delivering it at the end of the month as well. I have to go out and count. I will try to do that in the morning and get back to him. As far as the weight me and my dad put it in the sugarhouse by ourselves with no problems. They are relatively light before the insulation and brick are in it. Man wait till you see that thing. Absolutely beautiful. You will be using it for a mirror to comb your hair in. I sat there and stared at it for hours.

[red maples]

I just did mine and don't remember how many bricks. I did mine with full brick except by the drain in the the last row. Also I put a bottom on the firebox and bricked that with split bricks too because I have a wood floor. And I raised it up 1 1/2 bricks so there would be air flow under the firebox.

Its pretty light with out bricks...2 strong guys or 3 just to be sure. after bricks forget it!!! wicked heavy!!

And yes 3rdgen is right man its pretty its like a mirror!!! I have to say I did pull up a chair also and just look at it. Patrick really does do excellent metal work very impressive!!!

I had it ripping a little with just water and it was excellent!!! can't wait to fire it up full with sap this time not just water. My son helped me and kept asking dad wheres the syrup you said we could have syrup. Didn't understand it was just water. so we went in the house and tasted some syrup out of the fridge!!!

[heus]

3rdgen and Red Maples,
Thanks for the info. I won't be able to comb my hair in its reflection though...I'm bald!

[red maples]

I am not bald but I would say I have a fivehead I have been slowly trading in my forehead for the five. :lol:

[Brent]

One of the surprises I got when Patrick brought mine was that there was no bottom in the firebox. Having a wooden floor I was quite concerned. I bought UL fire approved cement board 5/8" thick if I recall, and about 30 x 60" I layed it down so there was about 18" infront of the doors ... hot embers will fall out sooner or later. Actually I put the cement board on two rows of 1/2 bricks so there was an air gap under it, then put on the arch and bricked inside with full bricks on the bottom. No problems so far.

If you are getting raised flue, get 4 -5 cu ft of mica from a garden supply / nursery and pour that into the arch. It's a terific insulator and light as a feather. I filled mine till I could just lay in archboard on top then put the pans on so there was 0 - 1/4" clearance between the flues and the arch board. The sides and bottom of the arch under the flue are cool to the touch. The angle iron frame does get hot where it meets the pan.

Your patience will be rewarded. Enjoy.

[heus]

Thanks Brent,
I had talked to you several months back (over PM) about setting this up on a wooden floor. I ended up building a sugarhouse and the evaporator will sit on concrete. I think I will put down firebrick on top of the concrete before I set the arch in place. As far as the mica, I happen to have some large bags of vermiculite (current, non-asbestos type) on hand.

[Brent]

Heus

I've used 12 bricks on each side and some split ones cut at an angle going up the sides where it slopes .. say 15 per side.

It was hard to see exactly how many I used below the grates but my best count is 14 or so more. I did see that I left gaps about 2" high all around just under the grate. I should have cut the bricks and put them in there. So if you dont break any ( ha ! ) you could get away with

Even if you have a concrete floor I would still put bricks under the fire box with an air gap because you don't want uneven heat stress cracking your floor.

15 left + 15 right + 17 below the grate and a few for bad luck.

I used almost no cement inside. They're all dry fitted. If you do cement them you'll almost certainly have hailine cracks int he cement anyway.

Hope this helps. Is your Christmas this week ?

[Brent]

It was real nice today to the wife persuaded me to clean out the sugar shack and put down the vinyl floor she bought ( last year ) . So that meant unbricking and removing the evaporator.

1) better add about 6 - 10 more bricks to the estimate. I used some bricks to make a dam about 6 inches from the base of the stack to prevent the vermiculite from shifting under the stack and reducing air flow.

2) the efforts I made at insulating the wooden floor were only just good enough. Some evidence of mild scorching was found. The layers were
- plywood floor
- 1/2" cement board
- a row of firebricks under the sides of the arch to make and air gap between the layers of cement board.
- 1/2" cement board on the firebricks
- arch sitting on the cement board
- full layer of fire bricks in the bottom of arch sitting on the fire brick.

I think must have let too much ash fall out the draft door and build up plugging the front of the air gap I had created.

Got to do a better job this time.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

A couple layers of 1" ceramic blanket underneath the arch between it and a wooden floor should prevent any heat going through to the wooden floor.

[3rdgen.maple]

Brent did you not brick the complete arch? I used arch board and split brick and bricked it exacally how Patrick explained to do it and I had to use a heck of alot more than that. One row on one side took atleast 10 bricks alone. Been pretty busy to get the count for Hues and Patrick (sorry guys) but I bet I was around 80 to 100 bricks and that is without any under the grates. I have concrete under it and without any brick and there has been no issues. The ash protects the floor enough from the heat and Patrick said there was no need for any there. I will try to remember to get out there tomarrow and get you a final count. Have him explain to you how to brick it and follow that to the T. If there is an arch failure you don't want to sacrifice any warranties if you did it wrong.

[3rdgen.maple]

Okay got the final brick count in my 2x6 for you hues. Like I said I bricked the arch just how Patrick told me and it took 128 bricks. Now you will need some fillers and allow for mistakes in cuts etc. I think I used the cuts for some of the filler just don't remember but I would get 140 of them and what you don't use save for replacements or just return them. The whole arch is bricked,sides,bottom and back just not in the ash pan.

[red maples]

I put a bottom on mine all is well like 3rdgen said as a count for bricks and for the bottom I used like 20 or so for the bottom under the grates. with 1 full + 1 split hight under the evap to raise it up for proper air flow and 1/2" hardy water proof cement backer to line the floor under and out from the front!!! but yes a few extra there are some wield pieces to fit in there too. I have a few extras but they are already going to use!!!