Building my Drum Evaporator

[Nemo5]

Dennis, I wonder if you could tell me the total height and width of that door you bought. Also how far down from the top does the main door end and the ash door begins, so I can rough sketch where to put the grate. I'm trying to draw up a plan for an evap like the one Davy Jones built but use your door. I'm thinking of using 16 gauge steel on front and putting door to that.Is that the gauge of the barrell you used or is it thicker? Thanks...

[Dennis H.]

Nemo, I will get you the measurements for the front. I will try and do it this afternoon.
I think the barrel itself is somewhere around 18ga. steel, not real thick.
I used mostly 18ga for the parts that I added. There is a few pieces that are 16ga, but they are located where they will be in direct contact with the fire and heat.

[RileySugarbush]

Erwin,

You will probably get lots of replies if you start a new thread for your gas fired evaporator question. I bet everything except the burner is the same as an oil fired rig, and there are lot's of experienced folks here.

Is it sugaring season in palm country now?

[personandy2]

I hope this thread is still being monitored.

I am going into my 3rd year, 20 taps this past year, possibly 25-30 this spring (2015). I have large trees that I get decent output from and while I am purely a hobby sugarer, I'd like to improve my gph/efficiency as much as I can.

I'm looking into making a barrel evaporator like Barrel Boiler, just curious why there are so many bricks added to the drum? Do you not want the fire spanning the length of the pan?

any other tips are greatly appreciated!

thanks

Andy

[psparr]

You do want a decent size firebox, however you want to force the flames up to the bottom of the pan.

[VTmaplehobby]

Andy, You would probably do better to start a new thread, but since I'm already typing here's my two cents:

You need to line your evaporator (barrel) with a refractory composition be it blanket or brick to keep the
heat from dissipating through the sides of the barrel. Shaping your firebox to heat only the pan and not the
barrel is key. I put a large 20x24 storm drain grate in my barrel and a large cinder block at the back of
the grate. I then filled behind the block with sand on a ramp type angle up to the top. This keeps the hot gases
in close contact with the pans. This is a huge efficiency gain.

Another fairly cheap way to improve efficiency is to add any type of blower. My first was from an old air conditioner
and now is from an old propane water heater power vent. Hope this helps

John

[Dennis H.]

Wow this sure was an old Thread that I started!!

You will need to insulate the barrel someway other wise the barrel will not last that long. The kind of fire that we use to boil the sap will destroy the barrel quickly.

Other thing to think about is if is possible do not use the barrel. Working with all those curves can be a real pain, but if that is all you got go for it.