Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS => Topic started by: little john on February 10, 2018, 09:24:35 am
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For a short time now I've been considering various alternative methods of melting wax in small quantities for various beekeeping jobs, and it was while mooching around one supermarket yesterday that I noticed that bottom-of-the-range slow cookers and rice cookers are absurdly inexpensive - with a price-tag little more than the cost of a one-off stand-alone heating element needed to make any similar diy project. So, think I'll investigate further next week and buy a couple.
I have no doubt that their temperature control will be none too accurate - but that should be easy enough to remedy.
LJ
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I make soap, so I watch for slow cookers at flea markets and yard sales. I have bought 8 or 10 in the last 10 years for 2 or 3 dollars each. ""2.70 to 4.00 English pounds.""
They are cheap enough for me to give one away when I teach a newbee to make soap.
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You will find all you want in the dumpsters at self storage facilities. What I don't like about some of them is they heat from the side wall instead of the bottom. Another possibility is Mr Coffee throw away's especially if they have the glass pot. These get thrown away in areas that have hard water because the heating tube gets clogged. The warming element might still work. The warming element will not boil water and the pot has a nice spout for pouring. I haven't tested if it is warm enough to melt wax. It is just an idea.
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That's not a bad idea, Ace. If the hot plate doesn't get hot enough, it should be simple enough to bypass the resistor regulating the temp so that it gets a bit hotter. I know this from an emergency fix I did to a coffee maker back in my starving-young-pup days.