This is really interesting. I have this as part of my plan in this post. It's starting to sound pretty complicated. Maybe the tin can sitting on the edge of the pan would be better!

@jtiefert: Why the needle valve at the end? Was the sap just flowing too quickly and not warming up? It seems like the length that's coiled would just need to be adjusted according to your stack heat.

@Yellzee: Could you explain the problem with shutting off your valve? Are you talking about whatever sap residue is in there burning? Couldn't you just run some water through to clean it out (let it steam) and then call it good? What's the risk of letting it get hot while empty?

It's also interesting that we have both ends of the spectrum - maplecrest couldn't get it warm even with 50' of copper, and michiganfarmer2 has heard about it getting too hot. It sounds really dependent on your particular system - how hot the stack gets.

~DK