Froze Over In No Time>>

[PARKER MAPLE]

So today i found the urge to do a test, cleaning boil. i proceeded like so.
first pumped apprx 200 gal water into head tank. went inside to make sure there wasnt any leaks in the feed line ect. and then filled the pans, as a few of you will remember this is a new set up for me( copper drop flue rear pan, and a 4 section divided front pan) so i didnt really know what to expect.

anyways with the pans full made a small fire under the pans and before you know it we were boiling. man it was great, finally after all the hard work over the summer and fall months, she works. so i boiled water for apprx 45 min to 1hr and its was going good. i decided to shut it down and let it cool off.

after dinner i went back out to check on it, bricks were stone cold, as i had left the door open on the fire box, ice was starting to form on the top, and float was froze solid, i had know idea that it would freeze up this quickly.i drained all my pans and went to my head tank where there was apprx 50 gal water left before i shut it down. know it was almost froze solid.

will this break my head tank???? its a galvanized 400 gal tanks.this is all new to me and has happened so fast, i dont know what to do.

[kinalfarm]

sap does not freeze as easy or as solid as water due to the sugar content but it can happen but shouldnt blow your head tank i dont think but it is possible

[Hop Kiln Road]

Everything ought to be okay. But stop the screwing around or something will break! "Patience is a woodsman's best virtue." James Fenmore Cooper

[smitty76]

your tank is less likely to blow but your plumming is the first to go. open the drains and if you can warm them up a little. hope for warm weather. I have frooze up my system before and only had problems with the copper pipe.


good luck.

[KenWP]

I have froze a water tank and it burst. But we are talking 40 below weather. Hopefully it won't burst the seams.

[3rdgen.maple]

Maple Rookie are you setup outside or in? That is a pretty short time to freeze up like that being indoors. What is your head tank? plastic, steel, round bottom how many gallons? I got to think if it is not sealed and an open top there would be plenty of room for the ice to expand. The only problem I have ever had is the valve freezing up. I shut the valve of on the tank everynight and let the pipes drain. Like already said sugar water does not freeze as fast or hard as just plain water.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Leaving the firing doors opened sucked a powerful draft thru the arch and cooled the brick very fast as they didn't have much time to heat up. If you had left the doors cold, the water in the pans would have likely still been warm.

[vtsnowedin]

I did about the same thing yesterday. -10 to +10F during the day. I didn't mess with the storage tank and feed lines just hauled water from the house to the sugarhouse in five gallon pails etc. It worked good while I had the small fire going and I was scrubbing the flue pan but as soon as I let the fire go out and drained the pans the 1/4 inch left in the flue pan around the edges froze up solid. If I can catch it when it thaws out part way maybe I can pull the ice out with what grit and crap is froze in it. It would be nice if they drained completely but being dead level thats a lot to ask. As long as whats left in your pans and tank isn't over an inch thick I don't think you will have a problem. The expanding ice will just bow up into the space above it. Let a thick layer freeze though and the top locks it in and the water below can't expand upwards and exerts all it's considerable force on the sides of your pans or tank and can pop a seam in a hurry. Good luck with your season.
VT.

[PerryW]

A half full or full tank would probably be ruined if it froze solid but 50 gallons of ice in a 400 gal tank will most likely not ruin it.

You will be fighting a losing battle to deal with it now, so just sit tight and wait for the weather to warm up. But don't worry; it will take some real warm weather to get the trees running anyway. This warm weather will also thaw out all your plumbing and loosen up the 50 gallons of ice so you can chop the rest out. Once it loosens up a little, dump a couple pails of hot water in to accelerate the process.

For the record, I let my evaporator freeze up solid several times per year, I just make sure to run the levels down pretty shallow before doing so.

[PARKER MAPLE]

ok great thanks for all the help, i was nervous there for awhile, i checked it this morning before work and again after work. nothing else looked like it has been damaged, but none of the lines thawed out today, i think it only got to like 20 or so over here, i was expecting to see the plastic feed line busted this morning but they all looked ok.

[peacemaker]

if your worried fill the evap and boil some water and then dump it in the head tank