Maple Syrup Update

The new stand is working well - it was mentioned here:

https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2026/03/new-perch.html

Then a couple things happened.  First there was the snow storm so I wasn't able to get any sap to boil.  The second was that I realized something.  I hadn't checked the calibration on the refractometer in a long time.  So I put a little distilled water (sap) on the slide and zeroed the reading.

there is an adjustment screw under the round black cap above: ATC

I was able to restart the boils after the ski experiment:

https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2026/03/red-ski-is-for-right-foot.html

The last few boil results have been good (ideal brix is 66.7):

boil    brix    evaporation in grams (roughly 1 percent)
----    ----    ----
 29     66.5     44
 30     67       47
 31     67       46
 32     65       44
 33     67       43

Boil #31 did trip the bimetallic breaker but that is somewhat random.  Overall I am quite happy, massing the distilled water (rather than measuring the volume) AND recalibrating the refractometer have made a big difference.  I am declaring victory, 5 in a row means sap boiling is in control (even without a control chart or stats) !

Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm