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Thread: Fire Brick vs Concrete Brick

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Eliot, Maine
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    5

    Default Fire Brick vs Concrete Brick

    Last year I just used some old concrete bricks I had laying around for the inside of my barrel stove. I noticed the stove was significantly cooler on the outside where I had bricked. Why should I use fire brick instead of just concrete pavers? Are they really worth the cost?

    I am also figure out how to build a wall to even the heat out. It was discussed that I bring a wall to within one inch of my back pan (I have 2 steam pans on a barrel stove). I assume that the area running parallel to the ground under the second pan would stay at that height until it reaches the exhaust. Meaning there is no area where it opens back up.


    Like this
    Pan Pan :EXH:
    :______::_______L :
    :_______________:
    _______: :

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    MA
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    588

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    Concrete pavers will disintegrate rather quickly. Unsure of why they seem to insulate better.

    I don't understand your diagram but what you wrote seems correct. Keep the ramp up close to the rear pan all the way back to the flue exit.
    60ish taps on buckets
    D&G Sportsman 18x63
    Turbo RB15 RO Bucket

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Quaker Hill, CT
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    328

    Default

    Concrete insulates better because it has air bubbles trapped in it. Fire brick has no air in it.

    The trapped air is part of what makes concrete fail in a fire.
    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

  4. #4
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    Jan 2017
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    Eliot, Maine
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    Yes. I meant where I had bricked was much cooler on the outside than where I had not.

    All the concrete bricks survived last year, so I guess I will just continue to use them this year.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Williston, VT
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    615

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    Since the bricks are still ok then I assume that your rig doesn't have a blower. My bricks are cherry red when I'm fired up which i think would destroy regular cement-based bricks.
    Ken & Sherry
    Williston, VT
    16x34 Sugarhouse
    1,500 taps on high vacuum, Electric Releaser & CDL Sap Lifter
    Wood-Fired Leader 30"x10' Vortex Arch & Max Raised Flue with Rev Syrup Pan & CDL1200 RO
    https://www.facebook.com/pumpkinhillmaple/

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Oneida NY
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    If regular concrete bricks held up, you need to fire it hotter. When fired properly the concrete bricks will fail. I bricked my current arch for the 2008 season using fire bricks, they are still good, with concrete I'd need to re-brick every year or 2.
    Last edited by maple flats; 03-01-2020 at 08:31 AM.
    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.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2021
    Location
    Parry Sound Area, Ontario
    Posts
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    Default

    Not sure what thread I should ask this question on.

    This past season, I fire bricked my fire box and it certainly protected the concrete blocks, on my cinder block evaporator. This past season, I had a block above the twomcinder blocks that stuck out for the pans to sit on. Coincidently the block that stuck out was just the right height for the fire bricks to be wedged under them. So the firebricks were simply stacked.

    This picture in one sense is a bad one, as I had not pushed the bricks back before taking the picture, but does show how they were loosely stacked. I did have them tight together and they never fell out during a boil.

    https://share.icloud.com/photos/08d5...BGRhCx3cl1_kmw

    My problem this coming season, is I will not be having the block that sticks out, as my pan will sit on top, so nothing to wedge against.

    I was thinking of having a piece of angle iron up top that the pan would sit on, with the angle pointing down, and only out the thickness of the fire brick. This would allow the top firebrick to be wedged in and held.

    Is this a good plan?
    2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
    930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
    DYI Vacuum Filter
    2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    Nashville, MI
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    939

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    Using the angle iron is a very good idea. Make a square of it that the pan can sit on. You'll use some rail gasket and the pan will be sealed and no smoke will get out and no air leaks. You can get the rail gasket from your local maple supply dealer. You don't have to buy a whole roll just how many feet you need for your pan. It is okay to overlap the corners as long as it is the same on both ends.
    Last edited by Pdiamond; 04-30-2022 at 09:10 PM.
    2004 - 2012 2x3 flat pan 25 to 60 taps
    2012 2x3 new divided pan w/draw off 55 taps
    2018 - didn't boil surgery - bought new evaporator
    2019 new SML 2x4 raised flue high output evap. 65 taps
    made 17 gal. syrup
    2020 - only put out 53 taps - made 16.25 ga.l syrup
    2021 - Didn't work out
    2022 - 25 taps on bags / 8 taps on 3/16's line - late start

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2021
    Location
    Parry Sound Area, Ontario
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    The manufacturer of my divided pan tells me that 3/4” of the four edges of the pan should sit on, in my case, the concrete blocks surrounding the firebox. With having 1 1/4” thick firebrick along the two long outside walls, and assuming you do not want the firebrick to be used for pan support, then that means that 2” of the 4’ long edges of the pan will not be directly exposed to the heat.

    Is that okay?

    Thanks
    2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
    930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
    DYI Vacuum Filter
    2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Merrill, Wisconsin
    Posts
    69

    Default

    you could always keep your fire brick lower than the croncrete block, that way the heat can get to the edge better. I have a Dauntless evaporator from Smokey Lake and the fire brick does not go all the way to the top but there is also insulation between the brick and the evaporator wall.

    https://www.smokylakemaple.com/produ...h-divided-pan/

    Bryan

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