CDL Chinook User manual

USER MANUAL
CDL Maple sugaring equipment
13/02/2019
High efficiency wood evaporator

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
With automated air adjustment system
Thank you for choosing a The Chinook high efficiency wood evaporator by CDL.
Our 40 years of experience working with sugarmakers ensures you that you acquired a
performant and quality piece of equipment. Before using this product, make sure you
understand all the following instructions. If there is any problem upon reception of this
product, please immediately contact CDL or your local representative.
FINDING INFORMATION
Make a record for future use
Brand:_______________________________
Purchased Date: _______________________________
Model Number: _______________________________
Serial Number: _______________________________
Serial number location
The serial number is located to the back of the evaporator.
Serial # location

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
Table of content
Finding information 2
Table of content 3
Safety 3
Evaporator installation 4
Operating the evaporator 9
Maintenance 11
Troubleshooting 13
Dimensions 14
Performance 15
Parts 16
Warranty 17
SAFETY
A wood evaporator can be a dangerous piece of equipment. Always wear heat
resistant gloves and clothing when you fire an evaporator. Often, visitors can be in
the sugarhouse. Make sure they stay at a safe distance from the evaporator,
especially children.
A wood evaporator works with solid material (wood) and produces intense heat in
front of the arch and around the smoke stack. For the location of your evaporator,
make sure you have a concrete or ceramic floor strong enough to support the weight
of the evaporator and its content as well as at least 24” between any wall and the
smoke stack. If you need to put it closer to the wall, a heat barrier (ceramic blanket
for example) should be installed. Also, make sure that your steam and smoke stacks
have a free way to the roof of the building (avoid rafters). Also, your ceiling should
be high enough for you to raise the hoods safely with a cable and pulley system.
IMPORTANT: Make sure to contact your insurance company in order to verify their safety
standards.
If your building is not insulated, you will have a better combustion and a better steam
evacuation. If it is insulated, you will need to have an air intake inside your building (air
trap, open window, etc)

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
INSTALLATION
1) Remove the wheels from the evaporator (if you have some).
2) Level your arch with the adjustable legs. Use a carpenter’s level onto the smooth rail
(pans are off the arch at this point) and adjust the leg adjustable bolts located at the
very bottom of the legs as needed.
3) Once the evaporator is leveled (length and width), make sure the locking nuts are
secured and tight.
4) Brick your arch (see drawing #C)
4.1 Place insulation board against inside arch panels using refractor cement to help
hold board in place if necessary. The insulation board can be cut with a utility knife
or saw. Always use a dust mask when insulating your arch.
4.2 Start placing firebricks in the firebox. Start around the grates and work up and
towards the rear of the arch. Refractory cement is applied in THIN layers only to
stick the firebricks to the insulation board and to each other.
4.3 The last layer of bricks at the top of the arch should be cut at an angle to allow heat
to touch as much pan surface as possible.
(drawing A). Do not force bricks into location. A too tightly bricked arch could
create problems.
4.4 Build a wooden form to allow you to pour castable concrete around the front end
of the arch. No bare metal should be exposed to the intense heat.
4.5 Fill the form slowly to make sure you have no air pockets in the concrete.
4.6 Allow 24 hours for concrete and mortar to set and dry with a room temperature
between 60 and 70 0F.
4.7 After a minimum of 24 hours, check to see if any area may need refractory cement
to fill any cracks or crevices.
4.8 Remove the form.
4.9 IMPORTANT: Make sure there is no air space between the top of the
bricks and the top steel rail. If there is, push in some wool insulation. If
heat directly hits the railing, it will warp.
Top arch rail
Brick
Drawing A

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
4.10 It’s highly recommended to cure the concrete. Follow the following
procedure for optimal results:
a) Air cure at ambient temperature (no less than 400F and no more than
1000F) for 24 hours, keeping surface damp with light water spray, curing
compound or covering with plastic
b) Elevate temperature to 2500F and hold for 1 hour per inch of thickness
c) Elevate temperature 500F per hour to 5000F and hold 1 hour per inch of
thickness
d) Elevate 1000F per hour to 10000F and hold for 12 hours
e) Elevate 1000F per hour until 15000F, and let the temperature gradually
come back to the ambiant temperature.
Note: if at any time during the heat up excessive steaming is noted, STOP
the procedure at that point until steaming slows. If steaming is during a
holding period and continues for more than 15 minutes, reduce
temperature by 1000F
5) Place the pans on the arch. Start with the flue pan (the bigger one). Adjust it to the
back collar. Then install the syrup pan(s) on the front of the arch. Install the base
stack behind the flue pan and be sure that flue pan is levelled.
Don’t forget to install the insulation bars between each pan, they have to be
installed like this :
You don’t want the insulation to be touched directly by the flames.
6) Install the roof jack, base stack, stack pipe, collar and stack cover (please make sure
that the stack cover is installed, the cover has to be against dominant wind). Ideally,
have a rope coming down from the stack cover to a place where it is easy to operate.
7) If you have a drop flue pan, you need to raise the front of the pan (3/16”) to help
drainage.
Insulation
Board or
wool
Brick
Grates
Drawing B

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
8) Install the float boxes and transfer fittings. All valves and fittings will need Teflon
tape applied prior to installation.
9) Install the sap level gage (if acquired) on the side of the flue pan. Remove glass tube
before installing. Don’t overtighten the glass tube holding nut.
10) Install the draw off valve on your syrup pan.
11) Connect power to the fan of the Chinook (by a licensed electrician), IMPORTANT,
the blower motor runs on 220Volts. If you hook it on 120V, you will burn the motor
and it won’t be warrantied.
12) Use only dry wood free of paint, glue or other chemicals. Never use tubing, rope,
plastic bags, old tires (rubber), coal or any other combustible.
Note: the quality of the wood you will use is an important factor in the performance of your
evaporator. Poor quality wood will cause a more frequent opening of the doors and can
reduce the quality of the final product (darker syrup). For example: oak provides 29 million
BTU per cord vs 16 million BTU for spruce. (see table 1)
TABLE 1
Heat produced by each type of wood (Million BTU per cord)
Oak 29
Sugar maple 29
Beech 28
Yellow birch 26
Ash tree 25
Elm tree 25
Larch 24
White birch 23
Poplar 18
White pine 17
Lime tree 17
Spruce 16
Fir 16
PRE-FABRICATED CHIMNEYS
If you decided to buy a pre-fabricated chimney to install with your evaporator, please refer
to the manufacturer’s instructions. A chimney can get up to 1000 F degrees and even more
on an Chinook. Before installing this type of equipment, make sure it’s made for this kind

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
of conditions and validate with your insurance company that it’s in compliance with their
safety standards.
Air inlet
If your building is not insulated, you will have good combustion and better evacuation of
steam. On the other hand, if it is well insulated, you will have to make sure you have air
inlets to improve the combustion and the chimneys.
IMPORTANT
We highly recommend to use a spark catcher with the smoke stack cover. Any forced air
evaporator may blow sparks out of the chimney. A spark catcher will help reduce the risk
of a fire. That’s why proper air adjustment is very important in order to reduce the amount
of sparks leaving the arch. We also recommend to inspect and clean everyday the spark
catcher because ashes may plug it over time. There is always a risk of fire when burning
wood, so don’t leave anything flammable outside the sugarhouse.
Chimney stack cover :
Always install the chimney stack cover to prevent it from being closed by the wind or that
it oscillates or damages itself in high winds.
IMPORTANT : Contact your insurance company to make sure that your installation
complies with all the safety rules required by your insurer.

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
INTENS-O-FIRE BRICK INTERIOR
NOTE: In a bricked firebox, steel parts and components must not be exposed
to fire. The fire in the chamber is hot enough that it can quickly damage
steel.
Here is a photo of a firebox. Note
that the back is flat, but the tops
of the walls are angled to allow as
much heat to reach the pans as
possible. Layer bricks against
each other, using a thin layer of
high-temperature cement to hold
them together.

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
ELECTRICAL BOX
Modulator
terminals
Control circuit
CB1 switch
Blower
contactor C1
L1, L2, N, 1
Connection

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
OPERATING THE EVAPORATOR
Before starting the evaporator
§ Open the stack covers
§ Make sure all valves are operational
§ Make sure the pan outlets are not clogged
1. Close all valves on the evaporator.
2. Make sure the evaporator feed tank is at least 12” higher than the water level in the
rear pan. Connect the tank to the rear float box. A valve must be installed at the tank
output.
3. Install a thermometer at the output of the last syrup pan. Calibrate it by placing it in
boiling water and setting the temperature to 0 degrees.
4. Open the valve of the maple water tank that leads to the flue pan. Fill the pan to 2”
over the top of the flues. After starting the evaporator, bring the level to around 1”
above the flues. (Adjust the rear float to maintain the water level)
5. Open the valve on the front float box and raise the water level in the syrup pans to
at least 1 ½”. (Adjust the front float to maintain the water level)
6. Make sure the valve at the feed tank output is always open. If it is closed, you may
burn the flue.
7. Now you are ready to make a fire. Use wood that is 20” long and split to 2–3” in
diameter for smaller evaporators; larger units may take larger wood. Fill the firebox
with paper, cardboard and wood. Place the wood 6” from the door.
8. Close the air shutters by pushing the 3 adjustment knobs all the
way in (Photo 1). Photo 1 ->
9. Adjust the temperature of the automatic controller to +/- 500 °F in
order to have full manual control once the evaporator has
started.
10. Start the fire and close the door.
11. Start the blower

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
12. Pull the grate adjustment knob to 1/3 (Photo 2) Photo 2 ->
13. Let the wood burn for about 10 minutes or until it is well lit.
14. Push the air grate knob all the way in (off position) and fill the
firebox with wood to within 4–6” of the syrup pans.
15. This means that the blower does not need to be stopped when
reloading wood. Only the air flow to the grates must be manually closed each time
to prevent flashback. Once the wood has been reloaded, simply open the air grates
to maximum (100%). Once the evaporator base stack has reached normal operating
temperature (which may take up to 30 minutes after lighting), automatic mode
(photo 3 on next page) will take over air adjustment to optimize operation. The
controller optimizes combustion to maintain the base stack temperature as
indicated on the controller. However, the temperature can be adjusted up to 700 °F
or less. The higher the temperature, the faster the evaporation. However, the
evaporator will consume more wood at higher temperatures. The rear air knob must
be set to maximum and the air door knob open 50–100%, depending on whether
you want the evaporator to boil more towards the front or the back. Aim to keep
the pressure positive (+0 to 0.05) for best performance. You may notice that the
magnehelic needle dips towards 0 when the controller requires more air in the
grates; this is normal. When to reload? When the controller can no longer maintain
the maximum temperature.
16. Have a defoamer nearby when operating the evaporator. If the syrup starts to foam
up excessively, put a drop of defoamer in the pan and the foam will go down.
Defoamer helps prevent syrup from moving between pans and creating a big mess.
17. Maintain the front and rear water levels by adjusting the floats.
18. The maple syrup is ready when it is 7 degrees above the boiling point of water. Open
the valve when the syrup reaches this temperature and close the valve once the
temperature drops.
19. Repeat the previous step every time the temperature reaches 7 degrees above
boiling.
20. Once you have more experience, you can decrease the sap level in your pans. The
ideal level is 1” above the flue in the flue pan and 1½–2” in the syrup pans. The lower
the level, the faster the boil. However, lower levels also increase the risk of burning
the pans.

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
PHOTO 3
Open to 100% once
the evaporator has
reached normal
operating
temperature (+/- 30
minutes). The
modulator
modulates the air
flow.
Close when
loading.

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
Example
When the evaporator is working optimally, it will reach 600 °F and aim to maintain that
temperature. When the temperature starts to drop by 10–15 °F, it’s time to reload.
When reloading, push the embers to the back and keep 1–2” on the grates to light the new
wood more quickly. Put a row of wood on the grates up to 6” below the pans. Do not go
past the edges of the grates.
Diagram:
Adjustable
up to 700 °F
600 °F
550 °F
Maximum required temperature
Actual chimney temperature

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
Control panel
Firebox
temperature
display
Base stack
temperature
Negative
pressure (draft)
in the firebox
600 °F
580 °F
Maximum
requested
temperature
Actual base
stack
temperature
Blower
ON/OFF
Button
Firebox temperature
Not used
Base stack temperature
Requested temperature
Press the arrows to adjust the
requested temperature

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTE: THE HEAT COMING OUT OF THE FRONT OF A
WOOD EVAPORATOR IS INTENSE WHEN THE DOOR IS OPEN. ALWAYS WEAR
HEAT PROTECTIVE CLOTHES COVERING ALL YOUR BODY, INCLUDING GLOVES
AND GOGGLES. SEVERE BURNING COULD OCCUR IF THE EVAPORATOR IS
OPERATED WITHOUT ADEQUATE PROTECTION.
If there is a power outage, let the air adjustement for the door and the back
the same, close the air under the grates and open the door slightly (1/2’’) to
bring enough air in to burn what’s left inside the evaporator safely.
Similarly, when stopping the evaporator at the end of the day or the boiling
period leave the door open for the same reasons.

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
Troubleshooting guide
Float doesn’t hold a constant level of sap
§ The rubber piece of the float arm needs to be replaced or readjusted.
§ Float box arm needs to be realigned.
§ Make sure there isn’t sap inside the float (hole in the float).
Syrup is being made in the first pan
§ It’s normal when you start. Draw off some syrup and put it in the flue pan to get
the movement going.
§ If problem continues, reduce your draft (see draft adjustment) to reduce the
heat in the front pans.
Intense heat in front (the doors become red)
§ Not enough air coming from the door, adjust the door air knob.
§ Not enough draft (see draft adjustment).
§ The burning wood is too close to the doors (need to be at least 6” from the
doors).
Intense heat in the base stack (or the evaporator boils slowly)
§ Too much air coming from the grates, adjust grate air knob.
§ Too much draft (see draft adjustment).
The front of the evaporator warps or the metal is crumbling
§ The metal frame is exposed to the heat, protect it by repairing with castable
concrete on all the exposed surfaces.
If the control modulator is no longer working, you can continue to operate the evaporator
in "manual mode" by going below the evaporator (access through the side door) to
disengage the control motor that trigger the air line. Thus, you will be able to adjust the air
of the grid manually.
*** For any other problem, please refer to your local representative.

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
MAINTENANCE
Pan cleaning
1) Fill the pans with filtrate or clean water. Fill them to the top.
2) Add CDL-recommended pan cleaner (read the label to determine how much to add).
Heat the water to approximately 90 oC, extinguish the fire and let sit overnight.
3) Drain and rinse the pans with a lot of water to ensure that no acid remains.
4) Fill the pans to the top again, then add sodium percarbonate to neutralize any remaining
acid. Let sit for 15 minutes. Drain and rinse one last time.
5) Never use abrasive products, wire brushes, steel wool or products containing chlorine
or muriatic acid.
6) If there is burnt syrup on the exterior of the pans, you can use a commercial oven
cleaner (cold oven) to remove it. The cleaner will dissolve the syrup without damaging
the pans. To make the pans shiny again, use an industrial foaming glass cleaner.
IMPORTANT: If even the slightest amount of acid is left in the pans between seasons, the
acid will have eaten holes in the pans by the next season.
When to clean the pans
How often your pans will need to be cleaned depends on the time of the season and the
amount of deposit left at the bottom of the pans. Check syrup pans every hour. When there
is too much deposit at the bottom, clean the pan or replace it with a clean one. For rear
pans, cleaning frequency depends on the size of the evaporator and the amount of minerals
in the sap. Generally, one clean in mid-season is enough. If there is too much of a mineral
deposit in the water pan, it could burn or crack at the bottom of the grooves. It should be
checked every day.

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
At mid-season and end of the season
Remove the hatch from behind the evaporator (photo below) to gain access to the base of
the heat exchanger and remove all ash and dust accumulated using a vacuum cleaner.
In between season storage
1) Put all your pans on wood blocks to let air circulate in the arch and under the pans. Too
much humidity can cause damage.
2) It is necessary to brush all the flues inside and outside with the appropriate brush.
Always make sure the flues of the pan are clean;
3) Never leave any kind of cleaning product in the pans, it will damage them and it’s not
covered by the warranty;
4) O-rings should be greased with food use grease (to prevent shrinking and drying)
5) Visually check and visually inspect the condition of the ceramic wool in the evaporator
assembly and similarly for the brick of the firebox and see if it is necessary to make the
replacement and repair.
Remove the hatch
to gain access to
the bottom of the
base stack
to clean ashes.

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
DIMENSIONS AND PERFORMANCE
Specs
Complete
evaporator
Frame only
Performance
us gallons/hr
Width x length
Part #
Part #
2,5X8
6700301C
677422AFC
100
2,5X10
6700401C
677424AFC
125
3X10
6700501C
677430AFC
150
3X12
6700601C
677432AFC
180
3,5X12
6700701C
677436AFC
227.5
3,5X13
67007011C
677435AFC
245
3,5X14
6700801C
677437AFC
245
4X12
6700901C
677442AFC
240
4X13
6701001C
677443AFC
260
4X14
6701101C
677444AFC
280
4X15
6701201C
677445AFC
300
5X12
6701301C
677446AFC
300
5X14
6701401C
677450AFC
350
5X15
6701501C
677451AFC
375
5X16
6701601C
677452AFC
400
6X14
6701701C
677454AFC
420
6X15
6701801C
677453AFC
450
6X16
6701901C
677455AFC
480
6X18
6702001C
677456AFC
540

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CDL Maple sugaring equipment
Gallons quantity in a flue pan
Size (feet)
Flue height
(inches)
US gallons
(equal to the flues)
US gallons (for every inch above
flues)
2 ½ x 5
5
15.6
7.5
2 ½ x 6
7
21.9
9
3 x 7
7
30.9
13.2
3 x 8
7
35.1
15
4 x 8
7
45.9
19.8
4 x 10
7
56.1
24.9
5 x 10
7
70.3
30.9
5 x 12
7
83.4
37.2
6 x 10
7
84.3
37.2
6 x 12
7
99.6
44.7