# of finishing pans

[nas]

I just bought a used 3x12 and it has a 10' flue pan and just one 3'x2' finishing pan. What is the advantage to having more finishing pans? I have seen evaporators with 2 or 3 on them.

Nick

[tuckermtn]

I assume by finishing pan you are referring to the front pan, or syrup pan that sits on the arch. Flat bottom, has dividers in it. To me a finishing pan is stand-alone, typically gas fired unit you use to get your density right. (yes I know folks on here will say you can get your density right on the evaporator, but I don't)

with a 3 x 12 you do have room to put a shorter flu pan on and double up the syrup pan- all depends on how much evaporating you are trying to do- as you can remove more water with a 10' flu pan than a 7 or 8' one.

[Brent]

If, as Eric said, you are really talking about multiple syrup pans, then the answer would be you have one cleaning with acid while boiling on the other.

Some guys on the forum say you can change pans without killing the fire. Just let the fire go a bit low, drain off half the sap into pails and add it to the second, clean, pan. Put the pan on the arch and top it up with sap from the pails.

Then have the most fun you've ever had, and clean the first pan, without losing concentration and screwing up the boiling process.

This hot swap tecnique is something I've yet to try. The bigger your rig gets the more difficult the swap must get. Unless you've got enough space in the sugar shack to have a loading and unloading table beside the arch, I think this is a 2 man job.

[nas]

Yes I am referring to the syrup pans, but my question is why some evaporators have a 10' flue pan and 1 syrup pan, while others have an 8' flue pan and 2 syrup pans etc.

Nick

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

You are going to be able boil off quite a bit more gph with a 10' flue pan vs 8' flue pan but the sugar content is going to be pretty high coming into the syrup pan. Never heard of a 10' flue pan on a 12' evaporator, must have been custom ordered that way. Normally they are 8' or 9' flue pans unless I am wrong.

[Russell Lampron]

Nas I think what are referring to is an evaporator with cross flow pans. Instead of having one front pan with 4 channels in it a cross flow has two pans with a divider in each. Most people with cross flows have a 3rd pan that they can be cleaning while boiling with the other two.