advice please

[Heather]

I have a Grostopp 9 frame electric extractor.
In July, I noticed that there was an exudate of ?oil at the centre base and was very concerned as to possible contamination of honey. I had stopped extracting in time and kept emptying honey before it reached the centre.
I spoke to the supplier and they suggested I strip it down, clean out the ball bearing, slightly lubricate it with a smear of olive oil,then replacing and all should be well. I did so,but after a few uses,this week, I have seen a black exudate again. Not enough to drip, but enough for me to see on a cloth, when wiped around..

I always wash the extractor out with cold water using a hosepipe, and dry thoroughly, with room heat, not a cloth.

Anyone else had such a problem and how can I resolve, keeping the machine functioning well, but ensure my honey is absolutely pristine.

 

[Swift Nick]

I have a Giordan extractor 8 frame radial, it sounds a similar setup. It has a ball that the centre shaft runs on, I leave the gate valve open when extracting so it runs straight out through the strainer & filter into a settling tank, so the honey never reaches the level of the ball.
However when finished I undo the cross member at the top (4 bolts), lift the cross member and motor assembly off, the cage lifts out, you can then take out the ball, clean the drum & cage, clean the ball & recess, put a bit of Olive oil in and reassemble.
I think maybe not putting in too much oil and not letting honey or water get in with the oil will help, the ball reduces the friction, so hardly any oil is required. If I am extracting a full set of supers the strainer lets the honey through fast enough to set the gate open enough to stop the honey level reaching the bearing.
An image of the extractor is below, I hope it’s similar to you and helps.

 

[Millet]

I have a Grostopp 9 frame electric extractor.
In July, I noticed that there was an exudate of ?oil at the centre base and was very concerned as to possible contamination of honey. I had stopped extracting in time and kept emptying honey before it reached the centre.
I spoke to the supplier and they suggested I strip it down, clean out the ball bearing, slightly lubricate it with a smear of olive oil,then replacing and all should be well. I did so,but after a few uses,this week, I have seen a black exudate again. Not enough to drip, but enough for me to see on a cloth, when wiped around..

I always wash the extractor out with cold water using a hosepipe, and dry thoroughly, with room heat, not a cloth.

Anyone else had such a problem and how can I resolve, keeping the machine functioning well, but ensure my honey is absolutely pristine.

I have noticed similar with the extractor i have... after examination i found that the chrome quickly wears of on the ball bearing which causes it to go rusty... the resulting residue looks like oil but in my case it was rusty water.

I have now remedied it by measuring the ball bearing and ordered a bag full of catapult ammo on ebay of the same dimension as the ball bearing in the extractor.. after two extraction session i take the ball bearing out and clean out the hole it sits in.. i then but a little bit of sunflower oil on the new bearing and replace the old one before it gets too rusty...

This is the size my extractor takes..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9mm-STEE...0057.m570.l1311.R11.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.X9mm.TRS0

 

[Heather]

Def not rust, and I put a smear of oil only, but think the idea of allowing to flow whilst extracting will be the way to go. Bit of a nuisance to strip down and clean the bearing each time... I have other bee keepers coming to me to extract, and I just ask them to leave as clean as they find...
Thanks for your advice.

I see your settling tank fits under nicely. My 30lb bucket gave way, and could only get a 70lb locally (P****s)..and it wont fit under the extractor. Blocks seem the way to go, as demoed, but I lean on it whilst spinning (to keep steady, not for 'enjoyment') and at 5'2" may need blocks for me to stand on!!

 

[Swift Nick]

I see your settling tank fits under nicely.

This year was a learning curve, I do the same, stand on the legs, so I am going to glue & screw all three blocks on top of one piece of ply, big enough for me to stand on. That way the legs will be rigid together and the ply will make a place to stand without being up on the blocks. I think that will also help stop the legs working loose. It will still move around a bit when unbalanced, but as one assembly.

 

[oliver90owner]

There should only be a single point contact between the ball and cage spindle. It seems that some have never heard of stainless steel - using an appropriate grade will mean it does not rust. Cheap chinese ball bearings are just that - cheap.

I have always relied on honey to lubricate the bottom bearing. There should be little movement, if any, of the ball in the socket. Washing out honey from the bearing housing is not a difficult task, the biggest problem being not to lose the ball. I am wondering what is generating this ‘gunge’.

I have rarely extracted more than a couple of times each year, so the little extra time spent on doing the job properly is of the order of minutes.

 

[enrico]

I had similar problems
One of them was that honey reacts with any metal. It was reacting with the bolts that hold the bottom bar of my extractor to the extractor floor. This meant that as soon as honey touched it I got black streaks. I now completely strip every nut and bolt before and after use and clean them thoroughly. The same thing happened when the honey in the extractor got high enough to tip over the top of the tube holding the ball bearing, I now regularly empty the extractor so there is only the minimum amount of honey in it. In fact I have now made a table so that I too can leave the gate open at the bottom while it spins.

 

[Murox]

Extractors not fit for purpose

I had similar problems
One of them was that honey reacts with any metal. It was reacting with the bolts that hold the bottom bar of my extractor to the extractor floor. This meant that as soon as honey touched it I got black streaks. I now completely strip every nut and bolt before and after use and clean them thoroughly. The same thing happened when the honey in the extractor got high enough to tip over the top of the tube holding the ball bearing, I now regularly empty the extractor so there is only the minimum amount of honey in it. In fact I have now made a table so that I too can leave the gate open at the bottom while it spins.

What you are describing are fundamental faults in the design , clearly it is not fit for purpose, and totally unacceptable in something that should be made to food industry standards or better. You should demand a full refund of your money and return it post haste to the supplier with a strong letter of complaint detailing the faults and take pictures if you can. If this is a common problem then seriously consider taking collective legal action against the manufacturer.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I had similar problems
One of them was that honey reacts with any metal. It was reacting with the bolts that hold the bottom bar of my extractor to the extractor floor. This meant that as soon as honey touched it I got black streaks. I now completely strip every nut and bolt before and after use and clean them thoroughly. The same thing happened when the honey in the extractor got high enough to tip over the top of the tube holding the ball bearing, I now regularly empty the extractor so there is only the minimum amount of honey in it. In fact I have now made a table so that I too can leave the gate open at the bottom while it spins.

Noooo decent grade stainless steel such as used in food industry process plant will resist anything honey can throw at it. I spent years in the glucose industry where we used 316 stainless pipework to pump, convey process and store acidified (HCl) starch slurry, thin glucose liquor and heavy syrup after evaporation into final product. None of these contact fluids made any noticeable impression whatsoever.

 

[enrico]

Noooo decent grade stainless steel such as used in food industry process plant will resist anything honey can throw at it. I spent years in the glucose industry where we used 316 stainless pipework to pump, convey process and store acidified (HCl) starch slurry, thin glucose liquor and heavy syrup after evaporation into final product. None of these contact fluids made any noticeable impression whatsoever.

Mine was a plastic container and the bolts used are not stainless steel, nor is the tube that the bearing sits in. I think that black stain used to come from the olive oil that changed colour when the bearing was in use. The bolts are just ..... Metal. I can only say what I saw and not what should or shouldn't happen in theory.
E

 

[philipm]

I think because the bearing is poor grade steel as it degrades it leaves a carbon deposit behind .Probably worth getting a new stainless steel one.