To be honest I'm amazed it works at all but it did right off the bat. Complete with pump driven copper coil stack Preheater.
Poor man's continuous flow system
To be honest I'm amazed it works at all but it did right off the bat. Complete with pump driven copper coil stack Preheater.
2017 25 taps on buckets got me hooked 1 gallon of sweet
2018 51 taps on 3/16 tubing/ DIY oil tank evaporator 8.5gallons finished
2019 60 taps 7 gallons finished ended season short
2020 New 2x4 divided pan ready to get away from the headache that is steam table pans
2021 off year due to pandemic and projects
2022 back at it
Could you give a better description of how this works? Thxs, Mark
2017- Started small-made 7 gallons. Long days & few nights on a 1x2 and turkey fryer.
2018- Bought a 2x4 and built a small scale RO. 21 gallons.
2019- moved up to 100 gph procon for my home built RO. Built a steamhood. About 220 taps and 21 gallons again.
2020- 140 procon on the R0. Added a new mainline at my in laws. 330 taps for 24 gallons, sold excess sap.
There is a 12v pump rated at 1gal/min pumping from a 55 gallon barrel.
The pump sends cold sap to the copper coil and a line feeding back into the barrel. The line going to the barrel allows most of the pumps flow to bypass the coil. I adjust valves, one on the hot enough of the coil and one on the recirc line back to the barrel, to control flow of sap into my back pan. From the back pan I have siphon tubes connecting the other pans.
The end result is warm raw sap entering the back and being siphoned forward making what amounts to continuous flow. In a very crude way. I should have run my siphon tubes differently so my 5 steam tables pans ran in series rather than parallel. Will do that next time I start up.
2017 25 taps on buckets got me hooked 1 gallon of sweet
2018 51 taps on 3/16 tubing/ DIY oil tank evaporator 8.5gallons finished
2019 60 taps 7 gallons finished ended season short
2020 New 2x4 divided pan ready to get away from the headache that is steam table pans
2021 off year due to pandemic and projects
2022 back at it
What are your siphons made out of?
Camp Wokanda
Peoria Park District
2023 - 210 on 3/16 shurflo, sap storage shack w/ 1100 gallon tank - 123 gallons
2022 - 210 on 3/16 shurflo, homemade vac filter & water jacket canner - 104 gallons
2021 - 215 on 3/16 shurflo, added 2nd membrane to RO - 78 gallons
2020 - 210 on 3/16 shurflo, upgraded hp pump on RO - 66 gallons
2019 - 150 on 3/16 shurflo, Deer Run 125 dolly RO - 73 gallons
2018 - 120 on 3/16 shurflo, 2x6 raised flue w/hood, homemade arch w/ AUF & AOF - 34.5 gallons
Haven't overheated the coil as of yet but one day I'm sure it's in my future. I've got lots of experience in steam plants and ships so I'm used to the saying if it works it isn't stupid. Some days you just need to make it work and 20 fittings and adaptors later you are back up and running.
I still think it's a recirc line, a tempering valve would mix the hot water with cold to change the water temp. My recirc line is bypassing pump output back to the pump suction to control pressure and flow out of the end of the coil. Having the extra valve at the end of the coil gives me fine control of flow into the pans. As a side benefit keeping the coil under a couple pounds of pressure stops the sap from boiling in the coil.
2017 25 taps on buckets got me hooked 1 gallon of sweet
2018 51 taps on 3/16 tubing/ DIY oil tank evaporator 8.5gallons finished
2019 60 taps 7 gallons finished ended season short
2020 New 2x4 divided pan ready to get away from the headache that is steam table pans
2021 off year due to pandemic and projects
2022 back at it
I had a complete boiler set up for my preheater, recirc pump, pressure tank, heat exchanger, pressure relief, auto fill and my coil was inside the flue stack. I forgot to turn on the recirculater pump on and boy things got to rattling before steam started to come out the relief valve. YIKES
Pex tubing it's stable at boiling temps just wouldn't be good for very much pressure.
2017 25 taps on buckets got me hooked 1 gallon of sweet
2018 51 taps on 3/16 tubing/ DIY oil tank evaporator 8.5gallons finished
2019 60 taps 7 gallons finished ended season short
2020 New 2x4 divided pan ready to get away from the headache that is steam table pans
2021 off year due to pandemic and projects
2022 back at it
Looks good. Hows that new arch boiling?Originally Posted by Cjadamec
Camp Wokanda
Peoria Park District
2023 - 210 on 3/16 shurflo, sap storage shack w/ 1100 gallon tank - 123 gallons
2022 - 210 on 3/16 shurflo, homemade vac filter & water jacket canner - 104 gallons
2021 - 215 on 3/16 shurflo, added 2nd membrane to RO - 78 gallons
2020 - 210 on 3/16 shurflo, upgraded hp pump on RO - 66 gallons
2019 - 150 on 3/16 shurflo, Deer Run 125 dolly RO - 73 gallons
2018 - 120 on 3/16 shurflo, 2x6 raised flue w/hood, homemade arch w/ AUF & AOF - 34.5 gallons
As years go by and I'm looking for faster evaporator rates going to a full pressure boiler type Preheater might come into play. That little pump is rated for 100psi....
For now though happy to have all 5 pans at a steady boil and not having to dump ice cold sap into my pans killing everything. I had 70 gallons to start yesterday and had to shut it all down after about 4 hours because my 55 gallon barrel was almost empty. Should get a nice run this weekend so I can get another go at tuning the setup in.
2017 25 taps on buckets got me hooked 1 gallon of sweet
2018 51 taps on 3/16 tubing/ DIY oil tank evaporator 8.5gallons finished
2019 60 taps 7 gallons finished ended season short
2020 New 2x4 divided pan ready to get away from the headache that is steam table pans
2021 off year due to pandemic and projects
2022 back at it
So how deep is sap I your pans? How do you take near out and finish? Are you set up in a shack or open air?
How do you prime your pex, do bubbles break you flow often?
2020 same
2019 RB10 26 taps
2018 RO Bucket RB5 taps 20, leg tank in shed w/2 5/16
2017 18 taps
2016 20 taps
2015 21 taps
2014 30 2 gravity line, 2 hotel pan concrete arch 35 g leg tank
2013 LP hook up in shack buckets 12 taps
2 burner cook top 2012 finisher on a bbq tanks
2011 rookie 2+ gal
8 taps w/ milk jugs
turkey cooker
50-60 up back maybe
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