Hi Folks
I haven't been hanging out here much, for a while... Good to be back. .....an of course, I'm back with some questions for the seasoned maple junkies...
2 years ago I built an evaporator and got a very last minute run with it, (outside in the pouring rain.).. So I really wasn't in the mood to do any fine tuning...
Last year, I had spine surgery, and wasn't allowed to work in the bush, so I just boiled a few buckets worth (that my wife and kids tapped for me) on a propane stove....
I got back at it this year. Turned a used 10x16 garden-shed into a shack.. and finally got to do a half decent boil on the new (home-made evaporator) ....
24 x 72, with a 2x4 drop-flue and a 2x2 syrup pan. (both with dividers for continuous flow..).
Boiled down about 265 gallons of sap this weekend, in about 24 hours... and had no luck in getting a consistent flow or gradient...
It seemed to me, like every time I opened up the door to add wood, I would lose some boil, temperature in the syrup pan would drop, levels would change and syrup would migrate...
I did not actually get syrup from the outlet until about 20 hours in... 3 gallons of syrup... so I think my pans are too sweet at this point, but not sure??...
1. I feel like maybe I am feeding the fire too infrequently, and creating my own fluctuations.. Maybe every 15 minutes or so... (certainly not on a timer) How often do you folks feed the fire? Is this likely to be my problem?
2. Based on my loose description of my setup.... How long after starting a fresh boil, would you expect to be drawing syrup?
3. Can anyone direct me to some information on the relationship between liquid depth and boiling rate?? I know shallower is better.... but cant seem to find any scientific explanation why?
Just a FYI, my sketch shows the syrup pan lower than the flue pan... this is not actually the case.... I raised the syrup to the same level, with no float between the pans.
Thanks - to anyone that takes the time to read or respond to my long-windedness...
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