I Saw White Smoke

[lobstafari]

Man 8O 8O 8O
THAT was close!! Boilin' 6 years on a flue style evap. and thats the first time that happened....still tremblin' from it as I wait for things to cool down. I think I saved everything though, when I dumped the float and opened both valves. I took my scoop and ran it on the bottom of the pan, and it still felt smooth, and looked up at the bottom and it didnt look any more warped than it usually does. Now I know what all the white smoke talk is about!! :lol: makes ya quite teary eyed too!!
Last couple days Ive been running my front pan around 1/2", doing about 50+ gal/hr. and REALLY paying attention!! I guess something got the best of me, but making good syrup and FAST as we are getting dumped on with sap (about 1 3/4 gal/tap last 2 days. Its almost 50 out, so wanted to get rid of it QUICK.......now I know. :lol: Gotta get a new front pan for next year anyway. Maybe Ill rig up some kind of low/high level alarms too....any ideas?? :idea: Ok back out I go, wish me good pans and no more white smoke. 8O :lol:Good luck to all, and watch that sap level!!! :wink:

[lobstafari]

Good news is it took one of the warps out of the pan, and when the solder melted, it seemed to fuse itself back together, so it doesnt leak, but the bad news is shes pretty black, except for the melted solder. Im going to try some acid and keep boiling, but if it doesnt work, thats the end for me this year.

[WF MASON]

Gee To Bad , But I can't be the only one smiling ??? :D :D :D :D
I seen it to many times.

[FarmerJohn]

Anyone know who fixes warped syrup pans? Friend sent his burned/warped pan out several years ago, and it came back like new. I had a spot of bad luck/inattention on the first boil this season and burned and warped the last channel on my 4x4 front pan. Any help would be appreciated.

[MaineMapleDave]

YIKES, Jeremy--sounds like a close call there.

Any luck cleaning the pan?

So far I have been lucky with the evaporator, but I nearly burned up my beautiful little finishing rig a couple of years ago, and had a nasty, sticky, horrible, gooey, crusty, burned-on boilover all over the place to boot. You could smell the burned syrup a loooooong way away. Makes an unholy mess.

Good luck with the pan, and thanks again for the MMS visit--I have a number of revisions planned for next year based on some ideas of yours I'm swiping............

[lobstafari]

Hi Dave,
Wow!! Dont do anything I do!! You'll be in BIG trouble!! Just jokin', glad I could show you somethin', and thanks for stopping by. :lol: :lol: