Evaporator Question

[bussell]

Hey Guys,

Ok, I've got my arch (I bought it from Gravel), and I intend to purchase a pan from another user.

I was thinking about using a steam pan as a preheater. I would rest it on top of the pan. Will this work?

I'm curious because it brings up a fundamental issue I don't understand about preheaters: if I do this, won't I get condensation on the bottom of the pan?

As usual, thanks for the advice!

[3rdgen.maple]

What size arch did you get? Yes that type of preheater will drip condensation back into the pan. Will it work yes but to get the sap preheated you have to weigh the options hot sap or condensate.

[WF MASON]

A easy trick is to put some leg brackets on the back of the arch , if the flue pipe comes out straight, mount the preheater over the pipe so its heated by the pipe. It will make the sap boil in there.

[TapME]

that's great that you are getting ready for the season. The condensation on the bottom of the warmer pan should not go back into the pan if possible. You are going to defeat the purpose and reduce the amount of evaporation. you will have to modify the arch some to accept the pan, 20'' wide 48'' long. Will try to get the pic off today.

[bussell]

Don't most preheaters sit on top of the primary boiling pan?

[KenWP]

A lot of preheaters use both the steam from the boil and the heat of the stack from what I have seen. Thats how I basically set mine up to boil. Worked great to keep the sap boiling instead of simmering.

[bussell]

So, is the preheater shown below intended to sit on top of the pan, or is that just how it is shown in the picture?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Maple-Syrup-Pan-Preheater-Pan_W0QQitemZ180442617779QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_Def aultDomain_0?hash=item2a0337d7b3

[3rdgen.maple]

bussel that is a pan with a preheater welded on top. There are alot of pans out there that are made like this. Alot of guys like tweeking and trying to make things better. The link you posted shows the basic setup. The preheater is filled with raw sap by hand usually. You are trying to keep a consistant boil in that single pan setup. So that preheater just trickles preheated sap in the pan. Yes it will show some condensate but it is a small sacrifice for that consant boil. If you were to add raw sap in that pan it would stop the boil and you would be farther behind than you would with the little condensation you will get off that preheater. Others like to wrap copper tubing around there stack for a preheater. It works by absorbing the radiant heat from the stack to heat the raw sap that enters from a holding tank into the tubing. This setup also has disadvantages to it as well. Vapor lock, burnt sap in the lines etc. If you are looking for a setup as a hobby you can not go wrong with either setup. The preheater on top of the pan is the easiest to run. Just bucket some sap into it. With the tubing you will need some kinda feed tank setup higher than the tubing for gravity to feed the line. Hope this helps.

[On the ledge]

Last year I had 10 taps and used a turkey fryer I am going be about 30 to 40 tapsthis I want to build a block evaporator wich probably won't happen this year, I will suck up the the cost of propane again. which i know will be expensive but still cheaper than what my friend's spend on golf and I'll have something to show for it. I was going to look for stainless sinks and do it that way or should I spend the money and buy a 2x4 pan with dividers and build my arch to fit that

[3rdgen.maple]

Heck I would buy the pan. Good thing about it is that if you upgrade you can sell that pan and get some money back.

[DavyJones]

I did the same thing for a couple years with propane and used beer kegs with the top cut off. They'll fit on the turkey fryer base. I've since built my own evaprator for a 2x3 pan. Get the pan throw up some concrete blocks to hold your pan. Rig some door and chimney use whatever you can if you don't have allot of time this season. This guy (http://www.johnrsweet.com/Personal/Maple.html)did that but got fancy I think this is what you described you would do. Doesn't look like it would take much time to make but you could rig something like this probably in a day. A few people have built this from these plans (http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=49beef89200472b14b1caddec242e4d5&prevstart=0). This is what I made after I said to hell with propane that cost is getting outrageous.

You won't believe how much time you will save over the turkey fryer method especially with 30 or 40 taps that will be insane unless you got 10 fryers going at the same time.

You'll go from days to hours boiling down with your pan. BTDT running the turkey fryer all day then shutting it down at night and then firing it back up at the crack of dawn for what seemed like days on end.

Here are some construction photos. (http://www.jonzilla.com/thebittners/dispphotos.asp?path=pictures/2008\Maple Syrup Evaporator Project/) I built the evaporator entirely from scrap I got at the scrap metal yard for 20 cents a pound. I bought the fire brick locally I think they were 80 cents a piece and the fireblanket I found on ebay.

You could easily adapt those plans for a 2x4 pan. I think a couple of guys have done that already.


Good luck

[nas]

On the ledge

I could buy a new force 5, hood and preheater, and RO unit and Vacuum, and still spend less than what my buddies spend on golf:lol:
Buy the pan, you will thank yourself, especially with 40 taps.

Nick

[KenWP]

SS sinks have round corners which makes them a pain to fit to anything. I have spent hours fitting them to a arch and still not done. Right now trying to fit a square and a round object toghter. I am going to be a while on this one also.

[bussell]

Can someone explain to me the preheater set-up in the picture below (a nice looking 1/2 pint evaporator being sold in the classified section)?

Is the preheater covering a portion of the pan, or is it just sitting on the edge/lip of the pan?

Thanks!

http://mapletrader.com/community/vbclassified/uploaded/j38rgb8er.jpg

[TapME]

just a small pan with a spigot sitting on top of the bottom pan. It helps warm the sap before it goes in the bottom pan. Just a small trickle is all you need to keep the level in the bottom pan.

[KenWP]

How come it's set up to dribble sap on the same side as the draw off tap is placed. Unless I am looking at it wrong and the pipe coming out of it is not for sap to run out of. Okay forget that. It's made to run on both sides. DUH

[bussell]

Lou: so, there will be condensation flowing back into the pan with this set-up, right?

[TapME]

There will be some, but if you angle it ever so slight to one side and stick it past on the low side it will roll off onto the ground. On the other note the amount of evaporation you loss will be small.

[3rdgen.maple]

I think the advantage of having preheated sap outweighs the little condensation you will get.