I use milk stone remover. Dump 3/4 gallon in the syrup pan and 1 1/4 in the flue pan (3x10 evaporator), fill the rest of the way with water and let sit for a couple of days. Drain and rinse then wash with dish soap to get rid of residue. Look like new and very little effort. My first year with oil, love it. Bottom of the syrup pan stays clean as a whistle, bottom of the flue pan needed a light cleaning at the end of the season, no cleaning underside of pans during season at all.
Last edited by Dale Sparrow; 07-11-2017 at 09:20 AM.
I cleaned my flue pan yesterday after emptying the sap that had been in there since the end of the season. I always fill the pan right to the brim at the end of the season and let it sit for at least a couple of months or even three or four. I'm pretty sure the sugar content of the sap is always well over 2%. This method works well. I'll try to attach a photo of the pan taken after yesterday's cleaning. The pan is twenty-one seasons old.July 12th 2017 #2 005.jpg
To clean the inside of the flues I use a variety of brushes as seen in the attached photo. The two on the right are commercially available and work well for the sides of the flues but the bristles get worn down quickly when one uses these on the bottom of the flue. The one I'm holding is homemade and it consists of a piece of 1/4" thick mild steel which I have cut to resemble a paddle with two Scotch Brite type of scouring pads sewn together over the end. The long handle reduces the amount of bending over if the pan is on the ground when being cleaned. This one works well too but the scouring pads wear quickly on the bottom corners and have to be replaced every couple of seasons. On the far left of the photo is my preferred tool for cleaning the very bottom "valley" of the flues. It is a regular hard wood drumstick that has been filed down slightly to fit in the flues and I use it in conjunction with a well used (pliable) piece of ScotchBrite. Any thin rod of hardwood with the end rounded would do as well. I have never tried a pressure washer but if you have one of those it might be a helpful tool for pan cleaning. Flue brushes 001.jpg
The only reason I personally wouldn't want to use sap over or around 2% is that it takes a 100+ gallons to fill my back pan, that's over 200 dollars worth of syrup at retail. , I'd rather have the syrup and buy 20 gallons of vinegar if need be at a cost of 60 dollars. I'm sure 2% sap would work great to clean with.
I agree that pan looks super for 21 years of use.
Nate Hutchins
Nate & Kate's Maple
2022 1000 taps?
3x10 Intensofire
20x36 sugarhouse
CDL 600gph RO
A wife and 2 kids.
n8hutch, if you still have good 2% why would you be shutting down and cleaning your pan? I'm sure I've used a lot of 2% sap, but it is the end of season cloudy stuff that has a metabolized syrup or is buddy. It does not have to be production sap. Actually I think the nasty end of season stuff works great.
Thank you very much Nate and VTnewguy for your kind comments. Thanks too Nate for expanding on your thoughts on sugar content and back pan cleaning. I now understand what you were getting at.
This year I cleaned with just permeate. I added the permeate on the day after my last boil, heated it to maybe 100-110 using my firestarter (a 500,000 BTU weed burner torch, but at about 1/2 throttle). Then I let it set a day, rinsed it, drained and repeated. It took 3 or 4 times, but in the end it was clean with no chem at all. In all recent years thru last year I've used white vinegar, 2 gal in 3x3 syrup pan, and fill with permeate to top of stains, Also 2 gal in 3x5 flues pan and fill to top of stains. I then lit a small fire and let it warm slowly. Then it sat a couple of days. Then I drained it and wiped out the pans. Some years once did it, other years it took 2-3 times to come clean.
Dave Klish, I recently ordered a 2x6 wood fired evaporator from A&A Sheet Metal which I will be converting to oil fired
Now have solar, 2x6 finish pan, 5 bank 7x7 filter press, large water jacketed bottler, and tankless water heater.
Recently bought another Gingerich RO, this one was a 125, but a second membrane was added thus is a 250, like I had.
After running a 2x3, a 2x6, 3x8 tapping from 79 taps up to 1320 all woodfired, now I'm going to a 2x6 oil fired and a 200-425 taps.
The sour sap method worked well this year. The pan is still soaking now, but it's been ready to drain for for several weeks now. The scale has all peeled off and dropped to the bottom. Next rainy day I will drain it and see how things look, but I expect it to be good as new.
Gary / Zena Crossroads / 42˚ 00' 24" N / Hobby in Early '70s, Addiction since 2014
175+ taps on 3/16 (60 of which are on two Lunchbox Vac/Releasers)
12x34 timber framed sap house w/attached 10x34 shed roof for storage
2 x 6 Smoky Lake hybrid pan on Corsair arch with AUF/steam hood/preheater/concentric exhaust
7.0 KW Sun Power PV System, Smokey Lake Filter Press/Steam Bottler, Modified NGMP RO - 2 4x40 posts 200 gph