is preheater really worth it?

[Benewing]

Hello All,

I am running a very DIY setup compared to everyone else's but I have a question about preheaters. Right now, I am running a setup with two hotel pans, end to end, and batch boiling everything. Usually I just add cold sap to both and let it boil down a while, and add more. This boil I'm going to use one as the preheater and use a ladle every so often to let the other one keep a roiling boil. Do you think keeping a rolling boil will actually helps with boil times? Or is it just about pumping BTUs into the sap?
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[TheNamelessPoet]

I am interested as well. I have a pan like yours, and a regular pan that I ladeled from one into the larger one my last boil.

(hot trying to hijack OP, just looking for the same answer :-)

[Sugarmaker]

The answer is of course yes. But what is your goal? More sap? More syrup? both = More boiling. Do you want to reduce boiling time? Then bigger or more efficient system is always better. A properly designed preheater on a std evaporator can be expected to improve your evaporation rate by maybe 10%. Get a bucket R.O. Yo will be happy. I dont have one and am not endorsing them but folks that I have heard that have them at your level are generally happy.
Keep boiling!

Regards,
Chris

[Benewing]

I have a small RO system that works pretty well, but my main question is, without adding anything (like a stack preheater) does it cut boiling time to have one pan at a constant rolling boil while I add cold sap to the other? Or is it just about pumping BTUs into the sap whether it's at a rolling boil or not?

[In da bush]

I’ve been on both sides of pre-heating and I will say hands down that preheating is the only way imho. If you can fashion a hood to capture the heat of your steam and put a pre-heater inside the hood, you’re gonna bump evap rate up. Teach yourself how to solder and build a preheater. I built a preheater similar to the one that smoky lake maple sells for around 1k,cold sap going in and 170-180 after it’s gone through the preheater. I cobbled a hood out of a stainless drum from a clothes dryer that I cut in half,cost me $0.00.
Good luck and good sugaring!!

http://mapletrader.com/community/att...0&d=1550849505

[Sugarmaker]

Well We boiled with cold sap going in for a long time. I would think its going to shorten your normal 4 hour boil by 15 minutes. Is that enough? Just a guess. Having hot sap entering the boiling syrup will sure help. So what is your R.O. sap going in at? You can recirculate it to get higher sugar therefore reducing boiling time too.
Keep boiling!
Regards,
Chris

[TheNamelessPoet]

I have a small RO system that works pretty well, but my main question is, without adding anything (like a stack preheater) does it cut boiling time to have one pan at a constant rolling boil while I add cold sap to the other? Or is it just about pumping BTUs into the sap whether it's at a rolling boil or not?

if he is asking the question I think he is asking, no one has answered it.

Benewing, your setup right now (based on picture) has 2 6" deep pans about 22×12 ish. are you asking if you should ladle from pan 1 into pan 2, while constantly adding new sap to pan 1 that is not preheated?

[Benewing]

Yes! That's exactly what I'm asking. Thank you for putting it better than I could! I'm sure a preheater setup would help a lot, but I'm just wondering if, with the setup I have now, it is better to ladle between the two so I can keep a rolling boil in one and add cold sap to the other.

[berkshires]

This boil I'm going to use one as the preheater and use a ladle every so often to let the other one keep a roiling boil. Do you think keeping a rolling boil will actually helps with boil times? Or is it just about pumping BTUs into the sap?
Attachment 21124

I have a similar setup to yours. Don't think of one pan as a preheater. You want both pans to keep a boil going as much as possible. Figure out which pan runs hotter, and slowly add small amounts of sap to that one. Try to keep it at a boil as much as possible. As you go along, ladle boiling sap from that pan to the other pan. This is the way to keep a boil going on both pans as much as possible. When a pan drops below boiling, you basically kill your evaporation rate in that pan.

This will also result in you having a sap pan and a syrup pan. At some point you may be able to start ladling near-syrup (nearup) out of the syrup pan.

Good luck!

Gabe

[berkshires]

Here's a link to the thread where I discussed this. http://mapletrader.com/community/sho...team-tray-pans As I mention in that thread, once I started it doing it right, my boil rate increased by a third. Definitely worth doing right!

GO