Cannery Updates in Process

I am starting to work on getting the cannery ready for the coming season. I have the usual maintenance items; steam leaks, bearing replacements, gasket replacements, vehicle service and so on. I also have two larger improvements that I would like to make. The first improvement needed is to simplify the exhaust box.

The exhaust box is a large metal box (4’W x 16’L) the cans travel though just before the can lid is put on. The purpose of this box is to allow air bubbles inside the can to jiggle out and to heat up the can before the lid goes on. This initial heating helps the can to pull a vacuum (sucking the top of the lid down) after the can is cooked and then cooled.

The cans make five passes through the exhaust box on six inch wide polypropylene chain. There are round metal disks at the end of each pass to turn the cans around and to start them going the opposite direction. These disks add a great amount of complexity to the exhaust box. Most of the problems I had with breakdowns in 2021 were related to this box and these disks specifically. My plan is to remove the disks and to make it so the cans slide directly from one belt to the next when they are changing direction. Fingers crossed but I think this will work.

Update: March 15th, 2022

We are continuing to tear apart the exhaust box which moves the cans through the canning process. Here are a couple pictures of the pieces removed and the end cut off of the exhaust box. I have almost removed everything that needs to come off and was marveling at the pile of parts. In the picture of parts there are sprockets that drive "combine chain", a sprocket for roller chain and a motorcycle transmission. It really is amazing to see the creativity of an earlier generation "getting it done" and it is time to start putting it back together.

Looks like you could build a bike out of the Exhaust Box parts!

While I was taking things apart I decided to change out the drive system for the exhaust box. I will replace the motor, gears, combine chain and motorcycle transmission with a 3 phase gear motor and frequency drive. I already have the motor and drive so there is little cost to make this change but a great reduction in complexity. I probably will not have this finished before we start making applesauce in the next couple weeks (this exhaust box is not used in applesauce production). I expect once the applesauce deliveries are done in April to get this buttoned up and ready for the summer canning season. Stay tuned to see the finished exhaust box later. . . try to contain your excitement!

Update: August 5th, 2022

How do the days fly by so quickly?

It really feels like just a few weeks ago I was cutting the end off the exhaust box (see March 15th and January 13th emails.) Now it is repaired perfectly and we are using it to can cherries, apricots and peaches. I will say that putting the exhaust box back together and making it work correctly has been a bigger task than I realized it would be. In my imagination it was a case of a few cuts, a little welding, some machining and boom it would be up and running. Well, the gulf between theory and reality is just as wide as normal. I am very grateful to get everything working because it was going to be difficult to explain it I didn't.

Coming up with a new drive system and mechanism for moving cans through the exhaust box takes creativity. I am at my most creative when I am under pressure, if the deadline passed a couple days ago then I start to get it done. One example of this was the drive for a chain (6 inch wide plastic conveyor chain) that carries the cans along the outside of the exhaust box to the seamer, the machine that puts the lids on. I have thought about how to drive this chain for several months but hadn't solved the problem.

"Chain, Chain, Chain . . . Chain of Fools" - Aretha Franklin

I wanted this chain to travel faster so I needed a larger sprocket, at least 12 inches across. To have two such sprockets made would cost at least $1,000 and that feels like a lot of money. I found a couple of 15 inch aluminum sheaves that I could use to make the drive sprocket with. I turned them down on the lathe so they would work but had a problem: the plastic chain was too slick for the smooth aluminum sheaves to pull. It was too late to order a sprocket at this point ($1,000 was starting to look cheap) so I was really feeling the pressure to make this work. I tried large rubber bands to give the sheaves some traction against the chain but the chain still slid and didn't pull. When my latest idea failed late one evening I was feeling desperate. I needed to get this working as ripe fruit does not wait!

I suddenly had the idea of machining sprocket teeth and inserting them into the sheaves, but I knew it would take too long. From that idea I realized I could insert nails into the sheaves and turn the smooth sheaves into toothy sprockets. I found some aluminum nails, drilled undersized holes evenly around the sprockets, pounded the nails in and then cut them off about 1/4 inch proud. When I wrapped the chain around the sprocket and fired up the motor the home-built sprockets ran perfectly. What a relief and just in time to get our canned fruit rolling down the production line.