Flying Ash

[murferd]

Just wondering if any of you have had the problem of ash floating around,getting into the shack & all over things.Since we added the
hood you sure can see it build up on it,to think all that was going into
the pan before.We are now trying to figure out a way to cover the
syrup pan.If there is a way to cut down on ash that might be easier.

Murferd

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Where is the ash coming from??

If you can put some pan gasket or just any kind of insulation around the arch between the pans and the arch, it will help seal off that a lot. If you are getting the right amount of draft, you shouldn't have any ash coming out around the front of the doors since the draft should be pulling it towards the back.

I am curious to know where it is coming from. I know I had a blower on my evaporator the last part of the season this year and I didn't have an airtight front and I was getting some ash blown out around the doors as I had it running full blast. But without the blower running, I was not getting any ash coming out anywhere. :?

[lobstafari]

I thought adding a bigger stack might take care of it, but didnt. I dont have a problem with ash in the shack, but outside, it gets all over the roof, holding tank, collecting pails, etc. At night time, you can see it pretty good...sparks and coals going about 50 feet in the air, and thats with about 25' of stack.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jeremy,

With blowing your evaporator as hard as you do, do you getting fire coming out the top of your stack even though it's 25' long??

With a good blower, there is no way to keep the ash from coming out the top of the stack because that is what it is supposed to do according to Leader.

[lobstafari]

Once in a while Brandon, with the right wood, at night time, you can see a flame tip that looks like a propane torch. If I run my blower more than 3/4 I get too many ashes in the front pan if the woods at all wet, but comes out in the filter, just clogs them up faster. I try to guage my blower speed according to if the ashes are almost completely burnt coming out of the stack, or slow it down if its like chunks of coal coming out. If I had your arch, I could run it a lot harder. My doors are 2 piece with big gaps, and a cracked front (where they all crack) and I get nervous about the flames coming out catching the wall on fire.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jeremy,

I am going to get one of the insulated air tight fronts, so I will see how I need to run my blower with it. I don't want to run it too fast and just be blowing fire out the stack that is not doing any good, but fast enough to maximize the boil.

Per Leader, if it is operating correctly, you will get little or no ash in the firebox as it is pressurized and you get complete combustion and any ash goes out the stack from the pressurization.

[RUSTYBUCKET]

While sort of related to the subject of ash, I do have a question for all you wood burners. When splitting your wood, do you split your stock into little pieces or big pieces. For the last couple of years, I've always split my wood into 2" x 2" or 3"x3" pieces. This allows me to really stuff the firebox full of sticks.

My neighbor says I should make the sticks bigger so I don't have to feed the firebox as much. With bigger sticks, I won't be able to fill it as full but I agree, it will cut down on the number of times I have to feed the fire.

Just curious as to what everyone thinks?


Russ

[mapleman3]

2 - 4 " is what I used, makes for much hotter fire.. remember it's not a wood stove that just smolders for a long nice warm cozy fire.. you want FLAMES nice HOT big bright flames !!!

[lobstafari]

Rusty,
Thats about how I split my wood. I think you're on the right track. I learned this year to fire more often (about every 5 min.) with smaller wood, to keep the flames up near the pans.
Brandon,
Id have to agree with Leader, mainly because Im sure they know a lot more than I do, but also, I burned about 10 cords of wood this season, and might have something like a 5 gallon pail of ashes if that.

Im sure most of you know, but also wanted to add, try to crisscross your wood as much as possible!! Maybe you cant get as much wood in there, but it burns a lot hotter and more even. Maybe if you cant add wood every 4-5 min. say, woods too big or wet, and not burning that fast, at least give it a stir to open up the grates....it really helps the boil considerably.--------Jeremy

[RUSTYBUCKET]

Jeremy,

I never heard about criss-crossing the wood in the firebox. The dealer I bought my evaporator from never mentioned that technique either. Also, I recall (Disclaimer: memory is fading) reading in one of my maple books that a cord of wood should yield about 25 gallons of syrup. This has never held true for me.


Off-topic: I see from your profile you are in Maine. Tough loss for the Black Bear hockey team.... :(

Russ
UMAINE '83 :D

[lobstafari]

You should try it Rusty, I think you'll really notice a big difference.
I think I get something like 12 gal/cord if Im lucky burning dry pine slabs.
UMaine has had a good team, but everyone has their day right? :lol:

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I tried numerous ways of firing the evaporator this year and I agree that crossing the wood works great. My firebox is square sided and 32" high, so I can load a lot of wood in it. I like to put one piece of wood crossways in the front and the back of the firebox and then lay several pieces perpendicular to the two pieces. This gives a lot of space for air to flow and combustion. Haven't figured out which way works best, but both ways work good.

The reason for doing this is that is allows air to flow under and through the wood for faster burning and better combustion.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

As far as the cords go, I guess I was around 12+ gallons per cord of wood also this year. I am anxious to see next year what it will be after I add the preheater and airtight front and blower. I think it will increase the efficiency to where I don't use as much wood. I hope it will get it to 15+ gallon per cord.

I think a lot of the information in the Producer's Guide and other publications are based on larger evaporators. A larger evaporator is more efficient because the pans are much longer giving you a lot more surface area for your fire to contact before it reaches the stack and thus increasing the gallons per cord a ton. You are having more fire to contact the pans and less to go out the stack.

[brookledge]

I had a plain 3X8 that i averaged 15 to 17 gallons per cord depending on the sugar content. then I got my new 3X12 with inferno arch and hood with pre-heater now have no problem getting 25 gallons per cord

[lobstafari]

Brookledge,
You fire less often with the inferno arch too, right? How do you like it all in all? Im thinking of something like that this summer. :?

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I am curious too as my arch is an inferno arch, I just don't have the blower on the back and the airtight front, but I will have both in a couple of months.

I do think a lot of it goes back to the evaporator length. A 3x12 has four more feet of flue pan versus a 3x8, so more fire is making contact with the pans and less going out the stack.

[lobstafari]

I was confused....for some reason I thought the inferno was Leaders version of the Intense-o-fire :? shows ya how much I know! :lol:

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jeremy,

Leader's inferno arch is a square sided arch in any size evaporator. It comes with an insulated, locking airtight front with a extremely high speed Leader brand blower mounted on the rear of the arch!

Hope it helps you out! Sure is a lot cheaper than an intenso-fire arch!