Oxalic Acid Pan Evaporator 12 Volt

[Kate Atchley]

Beekeeping forum have a long recent debate on that... http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=35764

Thanks madasafish. Fractious and interesting! Might buy the recommended Suaoki kit for next winter.

[The Drone Ranger]

Thanks madasafish. Fractious and interesting! Might buy the recommended Suaoki kit for next winter.

Hi Kate
there's a lot of googling going on over there and lots of "expert" opinions
The battery I use is fairly easy to carry it has a handle and a built in charge indicator
Can't speak for other vaporisers but the varrox uses 12A the first start up stone cold
Every subsequent use when its warm it will be just under 9A I've measured it

If you can time 2.5 mins accurately that's plenty time for vaporising
Extra time just flattens the battery quicker so that's a good reason to avoid it
If you stick a varrox in water the tray/cup bit falls out and you waste battery power reheating it

Most people settle for a car battery which they buy or acquire
An AGM glass mat deep discharge one will survive longer
reduced life is relative so instead of surviving 500 recharges it might be 250
That could be 10 recharges a year for 25 years

My standard batteries are 44Ah and were bought in 2011 and work just as well now as then

I did 13 hives this afternoon with one of them, and it would have done loads more if it hadn't got dark at 4pm

Some theoreticians would have you believe nothing short of a battery from a Mars lander will do

Frankly google is just a menace sometimes

You do need a fair size in Ampere Hours so a pokey little battery just won't do the job
The duty cycle is about 2.5 mins on then 10 mins or longer off (not continuous )
Google it if you don't want to take my word for it Lol!

[madasafish]

This is my first application of oxalic using sublimation. It's so simple. And non messy. And very cheap.

What more can any Scot want?

[The Drone Ranger]

I agree madasafish

Here's a couple of very bad videos on varrox (links to youtube)
You will need to be very bored to enjoy these
Use the fast forward button liberally as I haven't made any effort to edit them
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IngXoRNHeUM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DX5JMAgCTY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtT7HoD6Iq0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j0I3SnQAb4

[The Drone Ranger]

I haven't had much luck trying to use varrox on Paynes Nucs
Tried two (of my own) different but equally useless designs which involved too much disturbance
In the end I have just used the trickle treatment for them

[The Drone Ranger]

This is the vapouriser I built three years ago, I was given the glow plug by a local garage making the total cost £4.60 it works perfectly.

http://www.digitaldodo.com/oxalic-acid-vaporiser-plans/

Hi Lancs Lad
Being a twit I have only just looked at your plans
What a great build
Very neat and by careful design its more energy efficient
5A and 2min is very good
How many hives did the motorbike battery do ?

By the by removing the entrance block is the same with a varrox

[Kate Atchley]

I haven't had much luck trying to use varrox on Paynes Nucs .... In the end I have just used the trickle treatment for them

Back on page 8, 16 December I posted pics of two boards I made to use with my Ukrainian vaporiser, beneath the mesh floors of Swingy hives and Paynes nucs. They seemed to work okay though I haven't checked whether most of the crystals ended up chilled out on the mesh. They were very easy to make and use.

Drone Ranger thanks for all you've shared. I''m converted to sublimation where possible and will be more savvy about battery use next year. I wasn't disconnecting the battery until all the crystals were gone but realise I can disconnect sooner and let the heat do the rest. Even so, this Ukrainian kit is slower than Varrox (and they've confirmed that) so after the first treatment, from cold, I reckon it needs at least 3 minutes of power, then another 3 minutes or so to allow the vapour to rise and circulate. That's on single brood boxes. Double brood presumably need a bit longer with the extra OA crystals.

[madasafish]

Picture of my crude but effective vapouriser . Total Cost £2.75 (glowplug ebay)

[GRIZZLY]

I use a "VARTA 12v 12ah" motorcycle battery which only measures 6in x 6in x 4in and is quite light in weight compared to a car battery. This is 100 amp capacity. I can treat at least 10 hives providing I fully charge it at the beginning of a session.

[Calum]

trickle all the way, partly because i hate wearing a gasmask, and my kids like to come to the bees, I dont want to get gasmasks for them either.
also it doesnt look good to the public, beekeepers going at their bees like that and arguing we are trustees of nature - just doesnt look good.