Half pint questions

[Turtlecreek]

I finished bricking up my barrel arch and heat treated it. I then tried to get it up to a boil, with no luck. I have could only get it to steam if I cracked open the door to get a good draft. I have a blower motor that blows air below the fire.

What tricks am I missing? The only thing that I can think of is that the wood I was using was a bigger piece of oak or other hardwood.

[wcproctor]

Small wood pieces work good

[KenWP]

How far from the pan is the grate and you have to shovel in small peices of wood to have a roaring fire and it will boil. I found if I laid the fire right and started it I could boil in almost 12 minutes everytime.

[Dan W]

Steve, Good to hear you are moving along. Smaller wood with roaring flames works better than bigger wood. You need fire not coals. With good wood you should have some sort of boil in 15 minutes or so.
Dan.

[maple flats]

Split your wood wrist size and lay it in a little criss cross or any way you can to get real good air flow thru thew wood. Don't have the fire wood piled higher than 8" or so below the pan or pans. This height seems to boil faster for me than filling higher or lower. Never use big pieces, split it small.

[Turtlecreek]

Thanks for the many replies.

Dan I was hoping that you were watching. How far below the door did you have the catch basin grate? I have it right at the bottom of the door so the draft induction is blowing below the fire. Also how much space should I have between the pan and the back of the "ramp", I forget how much space you had there Dan, I have like 6 inches, but I think it should be less even though it is a 6 inch stack.

[Dan W]

Steve, If i remember right the grate was a little below the door but still above the 2 inch hole. The back part of the bricking was just above the bottom of the stack. However, I had a wall of just stacked bricks at the rear of the fire box that went to about 1.5 or 2 inches from the pan to try and force the heat closer to the pan.

[Turtlecreek]

That sounds like how I built it. I built a wall in the rear then ramped it up to the stack, using the sheet metal that you had there. Did you have that wall sitting on the shelf extended up to the pan? Maybe I should take some pics so you can see

[Dan W]

Yes, it was just dry laid bricks stacked up on top of the shelf.

[Turtlecreek]

I did it!!! Wow does that thing boil, I put 3 sections of stove pipe on it and fired up the blower then look out. I think the problem was a combination between the wood being too large, short stack and also having too much space between the fire and the bottom of the pan.

[Dan W]

Way to go!! Look out maples here he comes!

[Turtlecreek]

Well the maples are shaking, but that is probobly because it's 15 degrees out there.

[sapbrush]

ive been using a half pint evaporator for a few years now, i here you guys saying they can realyget cranking on it, i have never been able to get it to a foam boil, any help on this would be great using small wood keeping an inch or so in the pan, realy slow, takes forever to boil down the warming pan. its been bricked right, just dont know what im doing wrong.

[cpmaple]

ive been using a half pint evaporator for a few years now, i here you guys saying they can realyget cranking on it, i have never been able to get it to a foam boil, any help on this would be great using small wood keeping an inch or so in the pan, realy slow, takes forever to boil down the warming pan. its been bricked right, just dont know what im doing wrong.

I had a 2x3 last season and everytime we boiled on it we could get a roaring boil along with alot of foam. I did several change to help it a long. Put a air force blower on it and had to cut my wood rist size which i have real small rist. Now i up graded to a 2x5 and it boils of 18 to 22 gallons a hour when i have it roaring. Well good luck this season and hope that helps.

[sapbrush]

what kind of blower and where did you hook i to, i have heard this and just never could figure it out, no boil no foam just a slow bubbel thats it the wood is pallets cut and split small cna keep feeding it over and over still no foam or real boil

[stoweski]

I'm boiling as I type using a 1/2 pint... barrel style, probably 15 years old or so. My first year of using it. I'm using poplar that has almost a year drying time but is still wet - as if one could ever dry out poplar. My pan has about 1" of sap in it and it's boiling quite well. Foam on top, Both middle sections are at a full boil and the outer two are boiling in the back 1/2 of both sections.

I have an angle iron grate that sits about 3" above the firebrick on bottom. The wood is stacked up to the top of the firebox door, no higher. I took the bung off the bottom hole and use the sliding damper on the front to regulate the draw for air but honestly when I get the fire going I can keep the front damper closed. Oh, I have stove gasket around the door also. - No blower at all. But this is working well for me.
I should note that I do have about 15' of stack since it's inside my sugarshack.

Just sitting here enjoying the smell and planning my future evaporator upgrade. Think I need a 2x6! :D

[mapleman3]

SapBrush... Where in town are you? Maybe sometime I can come over and give you a few tips... My first evap was a half pint and I would get the sap jumping in it with a hard boil.
A blower is the way to go... intoduce a force of air into the fire and look out!!!
Your welcome to stop in my place too if ya want anytime.

Jim




ive been using a half pint evaporator for a few years now, i here you guys saying they can realyget cranking on it, i have never been able to get it to a foam boil, any help on this would be great using small wood keeping an inch or so in the pan, realy slow, takes forever to boil down the warming pan. its been bricked right, just dont know what im doing wrong.

[sapbrush]

SapBrush... Where in town are you? Maybe sometime I can come over and give you a few tips... My first evap was a half pint and I would get the sap jumping in it with a hard boil.
A blower is the way to go... intoduce a force of air into the fire and look out!!!
Your welcome to stop in my place too if ya want anytime.

Jim

hi im off gold st in belchertown any help would be great, have a hard time with it getting it to boil, i guess i dont understand about the blower jim

[Clan Delaney]

Sapbrush-

I'm just down the road from you, spitting distance from Devon Lane. 251 Daniel Shays.

This is my first year on a wood fired 2x3. It's bricked sloppy and it's not airtight but I can get it jumping. The forced air is key, and then fire every three minutes and do it quick. Keep that door closed. I use my "downtime" to split the wood pretty small. That helps.

I'll be doing some maintenance and maybe boiling tonite. But I'll definitely have it running this weekend. Stop in anytime.

[sapbrush]

HI are you on the right side, by old pelham road, sure id love to check it out, i could always use some pointers, yeh im about 2 miles from you thanks jim

[Clan Delaney]

HI are you on the right side, by old pelham road, sure id love to check it out, i could always use some pointers, yeh im about 2 miles from you thanks jim

Going down into town, yeah, right side. Yellow single story ranch. Tubing in the yard. Plans for tonite are collection and repairs, boiling Friday night, unless I'm feeling really gung-ho then I'll fire up this evening.

[sapbrush]

Going down into town, yeah, right side. Yellow single story ranch. Tubing in the yard. Plans for tonite are collection and repairs, boiling Friday night, unless I'm feeling really gung-ho then I'll fire up this evening.

wow your still getting sap, i havent gotten anything in a few days jim

[sapbrush]

what kind of a blower did you put on that half pint