Cleaning Soot From Pan Flues
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Handcrafted in USA Handcrafted in USA Most often, the Smoky Lake Backflip Preheater is used with a Smoky Lake evaporator hood. At the back of the hood there are four precut ports through which the nipples of the preheater will extend. (Note: Only the nipples fit through the holes on the hood. NOT the female fittings that are welded to the preheater.)
IMPORTANT: After you pull the nipples through ports on the hood, make sure the preheater has been positioned as far backward as possible inside the hood. You need to ensure that the condensation collected in the preheater’s drip tray is able to drain into your hood’s gutters. If you don’t slide the preheater all the way back, water from the drip tray could re-enter your evaporator pan and it will then need to be re-evaporated.
Next we will discuss what needs to happen with each of these four connections at the back of the hood. In this overview, we are assuming that the float box is to the right of the preheater when you are standing facing the back of the evaporator. This will be exactly as it is demonstrated in the example installation photos below. Conversely, if your float box is to the left of the preheater pipes, you may opt to hook up the preheater as a mirror image of what we are describing (illustrated at the bottom of this article for reference).
Facing the preheater from the back of the evaporator, the lower left pipe is where your cold sap will enter the system. It is recommended to connect to a head tank that has a shut-off valve. This will allow you to close off raw sap from your system at the end of a boiling day. Just don’t forget to open the valve again the next time you start boiling!
The hot sap will exit the system and go to the float box from the upper right.
The vent can be extended up from the upper left. It will need to be taller than your head tank.
The lower right can be used as a drain. Most commonly a valve is added here. When you are finished boiling for the day, you will want to use this drain to remove the sap from the preheater. Otherwise, sap could freeze inside the pipes and cause damage.
If your pan set is configured opposite of the above scenario (In other words, your float box is on the left when you are facing the back of the evaporator), then all of the preheater connections will be a mirror image of what we described above. See the photos below for further explanation.
