Backyard Evaporator Set Up - Light It Up!

This is chapter 5 in our Backyard Evaporator Set Up Series. This series is a guide for using a StarCat or Dauntless evaporator in your own backyard.

In previous video chapters, we leveled the foundation, installed bricks and stack pipe and added sap to the pan(s). In this chapter, it's time to LIGHT IT UP! Let’s make a fire in the firebox and generate some steam!

Outline of this Video:
0:09 Safety First (Fire Extinguisher, Gloves, Safety Glasses Required!)
0:19 Optimal Firewood Size
0:50 Firewood Prep
1:25 How to Load the Firebox
1:58 Dauntless Vs StarCat
2:50 Using the Damper
3:44 How Does Fire Behave When The Door Is Open Vs Shut?
4:56 How Often Should We Add More Wood?
7:09 The Base of the Evaporator is NOT Storage Space
8:02 Steam Is Starting After About 5 Minutes
10:00 Middle Channel Starts Boiling First
10:50 Why Firebrick Temp Matters
11:30 Trickling Raw Sap Into The Pan
13:50 Adding More Firewood
14:18 Preview of Next Video (Thoughts on Coal Build-Up)

Tools You Will Need:
• Safety Glasses
• Leather Gloves
• DRY, 17" length Firewood (Split small!)
• Blow Torch or Lighter
• Fire Extinguisher (And understand how to use it in case the need arises!)
• Spare Bucket of Sap for Emergencies

In the next video in this series we will demonstrate a typical shut down procedure.