Gasvap Modifications

[pargyle]

Chucked the tube out long ago, so cannot give you details, but in the past I bought a cartridge of sealant/adhesive designed to be used on wood burners etc. Worked well.

You could try high temperature silicone/adhesive for ovens - sticks both glass and metal and is pretty cheap; usually only rated to about 300 degrees C.

Sounnds like good ideas ... thanks.

 

[user 819]

Silicone thermal paste will work, sticks like s**t to a blanket once heat activates the curing.

 

[victor meldrew]

Silicone thermal paste will work, sticks like s**t to a blanket once heat activates the curing.

It is however a good conductor of heat .

 

[citrus]

@pargyle so you vaping from the top down ? . ... i have been going under the mesh floor instead or thru the poly nuc front .. and letting the hot fumes rise up - are the fumes denser than air ?

 

[Amari]

@pargyle so you vaping from the top down ? . ... i have been going under the mesh floor instead or thru the poly nuc front .. and letting the hot fumes rise up - are the fumes denser than air ?

Pargyle is a non-treater - post 3.
Most of my floors have an under-floor entrance so I cannot poke the GasVap through the hive entrance. I speculate that vaping from the top, via a hole in the rim of the CB, seems more efficient than vaping under the OMF. I believe the vape is particulate rather than gaseous so I hope the 'fumes' sink through the hive. I'm happy to be corrected.

 

[victor meldrew]

Pargyle is a non-treater - post 3.
Most of my floors have an under-floor entrance so I cannot poke the GasVap through the hive entrance. I speculate that vaping from the top, via a hole in the rim of the CB, seems more efficient than vaping under the OMF. I believe the vape is particulate rather than gaseous so I hope the 'fumes' sink through the hive. I'm happy to be corrected.

I use underfloor entrances .
I have drilled a hole in the rear of each floor . Over the mesh but under the frames. . When not in use these hole are plugged with the appropriate sized rawl plug !
My entrances are open fully all year long including when vaping .

 

[pargyle]

@pargyle so you vaping from the top down ? . ... i have been going under the mesh floor instead or thru the poly nuc front .. and letting the hot fumes rise up - are the fumes denser than air ?

I don't treat my bees but I've been using the Gas Vap (and a pan type sublimator) on someone else's bees I've looked after. The Gasvap works well from above the crownboard. I made this which sits in the hole in the crownboard and directs the sublimate into the top of the hive.

 

[pargyle]

And here's the modifications I made so that I don't burn my fingers ...

 

[fizzle]

And here's the modifications I made so that I don't burn my fingers ...

Is that cork or wood for the cap? Nice idea either way as it does get very hot.

Edit: Ok, reading back is see its wood.

 

[pargyle]

Is that cork or wood for the cap? Nice idea either way as it does get very hot.

Edit: Ok, reading back is see its wood.

It's a hardwood cap .. I turn them on my lathe and then they go on to the cap with a bit of fire cement to stick them on there ... I've also now added a self tapping screw as the fire cement can soften with heat and the screw through the centre into the top of the cap makes sure the wooden cap stays in place.

 

[fizzle]

It's a hardwood cap .. I turn them on my lathe

I dont have a lathe but might try it with a plunge router. I think those caps are about 1 inch/25mm. Should have a bit that size.

 

[pargyle]

I dont have a lathe but might try it with a plunge router. I think those caps are about 1 inch/25mm. Should have a bit that size.

It doesn't matter if it's a fairly loose fit as it's good to leave a bit of space for expansion - I drill the centres out with a forstner bit ... I think I use either a 22mm or a 25mm ... can't remember and it's a bit late to go out and look ... I'll have a look tomorrow and report ... It does not even need to be a round cap .. you could just use a bit of square timber and cut the corners off ... just needs to do the job unless you are bothered by the asethetics ....

 

[fizzle]

It doesn't matter if it's a fairly loose fit as it's good to leave a bit of space for expansion - I drill the centres out with a forstner bit ... I think I use either a 22mm or a 25mm ... can't remember and it's a bit late to go out and look ...

No worries. I'll check tomorrow also. Not too bothered about the aesthetics if it stops getting finger burned (again).

 

[understanding_bees]

So .. it needs a binder of some sort to hold it together - you only need a small amount

Reading through the various comments about powder, and tablets, and pressing tablets from powder, etc, . . .
If you have a dry powder, then it seems very reasonable that a binding agent of some sort may be required. If the tablet under consideration needs to be vaporised, then it also seems reasonable that the binding agent should vaporise as well. Even though we do not need this method in Australia (at least not yet! - and I hope that we never do), I have been thinking about a possible answer. Oxalic acid is very soluble in water, and I imagine that if powdered oxalic acid "powder" became damp that it might become lumpy rather than powdery.
What would be the effect of mixing the tiniest amount of water with a sample of OA, to make it slightly damp, and then pressing this damp material in a tablet making press? If this method works, then we could be certain that there would be no moisture residue from the vaporised tablet.

 

[Foxylad]

Does anyone leave the feeder on the maisemore poly nucs and hives? As going to vape though the feeder slot.

 

[Buzz Off]

I don't treat my bees but I've been using the Gas Vap (and a pan type sublimator) on someone else's bees I've looked after. The Gasvap works well from above the crownboard. I made this which sits in the hole in the crownboard and directs the sublimate into the top of the hive.

That's clever

 

[pargyle]

Reading through the various comments about powder, and tablets, and pressing tablets from powder, etc, . . .
If you have a dry powder, then it seems very reasonable that a binding agent of some sort may be required. If the tablet under consideration needs to be vaporised, then it also seems reasonable that the binding agent should vaporise as well. Even though we do not need this method in Australia (at least not yet! - and I hope that we never do), I have been thinking about a possible answer. Oxalic acid is very soluble in water, and I imagine that if powdered oxalic acid "powder" became damp that it might become lumpy rather than powdery.
What would be the effect of mixing the tiniest amount of water with a sample of OA, to make it slightly damp, and then pressing this damp material in a tablet making press? If this method works, then we could be certain that there would be no moisture residue from the vaporised tablet.

That does work Wilfred....but it tends to crumble ... a very small percentage if binder however solves the problem....the binder is in such small amounts it just burns off at the end and what is left is a small amount of friable carbon which is very easy to remove... you need very little water adding to the OA to make the paste and most of that reacts with the binding agent. The only difficulty making these OA tablets is making them one at a time in a hand press and getting a consistent weight. I've been experimenting for some time now . They take a little longer in the gasvap for the sublimation to start but once it starts it's the same as OA powder...

 

[Amari]

That does work Wilfred....but it tends to crumble ... a very small percentage if binder however solves the problem....the binder is in such small amounts it just burns off at the end and what is left is a small amount of friable carbon which is very easy to remove... you need very little water adding to the OA to make the paste and most of that reacts with the binding agent. The only difficulty making these OA tablets is making them one at a time in a hand press and getting a consistent weight. I've been experimenting for some time now . They take a little longer in the gasvap for the sublimation to start but once it starts it's the same as OA powder...

Is 'consistent weight' important? I've rather gathered that the dose of OA is not critical so I use the eyeball method.

 

[pargyle]

Is 'consistent weight' important? I've rather gathered that the dose of OA is not critical so I use the eyeball method.

Probably not that important but with the experiments so far I've found that the dry weight (after the tablets have dried) does vary considerably ... I'm sort of aiming for 2gm dry weight per tablet and with the hand making equipment I have I find it varies between 1.00gm and 2.2gm ... not sure why this is as weighing the 'dough' before pressing the tablet and using the same weight of dough should yield the same dried weight ... but it doesn't ?

 

[pargyle]

No worries. I'll check tomorrow also. Not too bothered about the aesthetics if it stops getting finger burned (again).

The actual caps are just under 22mm in diameter and I used a 22mm Forstner bit to drill the timber cap out .. it gives a loose fit. A bit of fire cement on the joint and then a self tapping screw through the top of the timber cap into the top of the copper cap ensures it stays in place. I countersunk the screw in case it got hot but it probably doesn't make much difference as you don't hold it by the top. I found that after a few vapes the edge of the timber cap gets a little charred but not that much (Probably me getting the thing a bit too hot during experimentation - I now find that once it is up to temperature you can turn the torch flame down to maintain the heat ...