Heated Settling Tanks

[DocMartin]

Having being fortunate enough to have honey after only our first season we now are left with task of jarring it after extraction to honey buckets. We realise the need to warm the honey to ease its flow and note numerous posts about honey warming cabinets.
Has anyone any experience of settling tanks with integral heaters and their advantages and disadvantages?

 

[Ian123]

There not needed for the quantities you’ll have, room temp is fine. Spend the money on a tank with a good gate/tap though.

 

[DocMartin]

Thank you for that. In terms of the tap. What should I look out for in terms of construction? I am no engineer but I assume metal with plastic seals.

 

[blackcloud]

Good gates are usually stainless steel and devastatingly expensive,but good.
I have gates on all the buckets
Easily moved around between the freezer if necessary and no waiting between transfer for the bits to settle.
Cheap ones are ok but you will need to leave them loose open and in the dark when not in use.
Bear in mind they are intended for flat surfaces so mounting them on a round bucket isn't great
I've found a good few turns of Ptfe tape on the back of the thread helps in this case

 

[Nige.Coll]

Heated settling tanks are good for letting the honey settle after extraction. I use one and it removes the need for filtering as all the bits float to the top. It is also a great tool for making syrup in as it has a stirring mechanism. It's not a hobby set up.

If your honey is set in a bucket then a heated settling tank is useless you need a warming cabinet.
If you are worried about the honey becoming too thick to run out of the settling tank for jarring a brewbelt can help with that.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Or one of these from Lidl. They go on sale a couple of times a year

Amazon have similar but more expensive

 

[nantmoel]

I wrap my tanks with a heater mat (underfloor type) I have a thermostat on it, its ideal for warming honey to settle it. I normally leave it a week before bottling it, I remove the scum a few times during this time and take the final scum off before bottling. I tend to turn it off 24hours before I bottle the honey. If you have one sitting in buckets I suggest you make a warming cabinet to put the buckets in overnight.

 

[robmort]

Plastic gate valves are fine and work well. They seal against the thin curved bucket sides with a silicone O-ring; nothing else is needed. Another silicone O-ring seals the valve.

As with all gate valves, the gate needs to be kept fairly tight to seal and applying sealing pressure with a finger when opening or closing helps avoid overspill.

No need for a settling tank if the honey is filtered first. Heating also not needed if the honey is not crystallised.

 

[drex]

I would not be without my warming cabinet, a decommissioned fridge with a tubular heater and thermostat. So many uses and cheap to make.

 

[victor meldrew]

I would not be without my warming cabinet, a decommissioned fridge with a tubular heater and thermostat. So many uses and cheap to make.

There are black lamps low wattage .
any recommended thermostat?please

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

STC 1000 - cheap as chips on fleabay
and Hausen tubular heaters

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Having being fortunate enough to have honey after only our first season we now are left with task of jarring it after extraction to honey buckets. We realise the need to warm the honey to ease its flow and note numerous posts about honey warming cabinets.
Has anyone any experience of settling tanks with integral heaters and their advantages and disadvantages?

Thank you for that. In terms of the tap. What should I look out for in terms of construction? I am no engineer but I assume metal with plastic seals.

Thorne's sell a very decent plastic gate valve. I mount mine to a plastic honey bucket using food grade silicon sealant between the outside of the bucket and the flange of the valve. The supplied o ring and clamping nut fit inside the bucket.
I've got an old undercounter fridge which ceased to work so I stripped out all the loose parts except the lowest shelf and sat a 30cm tubular heater in the bottom, mounted the lowest grid shelf on a couple of wooden supports to carry the weight of a full bucket (I didn't trust the flimsy shelf supports moulded into the fridge sides) and control the heater with a st1000 digital thermostat. I've mounted the thermostat and wire connectors in a plastic electrical enclosure from eBay The controls sit on top, the heater cable and the sensor cable pass through notches in the soft door seal. Simple but effective.and it does the job.

 

[JamezF]

I've said it before, but I think it bears repeating here... Some people may feel as though using something like the STC-1000 is beyond their ability, but honestly, if you can wire a plug you can wire a tubular heater up to an STC-1000. It's really not complex. It just needs a little care (and a few basic tools such as screwdrivers and wire cutters).

James

 

[Anduril]

There are black lamps low wattage .
any recommended thermostat?please

I've moved away from the STC 1000 and instead use the Inkbird ITC100VH for 240v or an Inkbird ITC 100VL for 12v. They use Solid State Relays and K thermistors. These are PID Controllers (Proportional–Integral–Derivative controller).

 

[WoodenBeam]

Having being fortunate enough to have honey after only our first season we now are left with task of jarring it after extraction to honey buckets. We realise the need to warm the honey to ease its flow and note numerous posts about honey warming cabinets.
Has anyone any experience of settling tanks with integral heaters and their advantages and disadvantages?

If investing in a settling tank then I’d personally not hold back & get a heated one - Abelo do a good range which I’d recommend. Disadvantage is cost. Advantage is with a little warmth the Honey will settle quicker and god forbid you’ll never have a huge amount of Honey set in a tank.
When I first started out though I used the rectanks with plastic gate valves from Thornes, takes a bucket at a time, good size & easy to wash in the sink. Still use now for messing about with single batches.

 

[blackcloud]

I use Inkbird heat and humidity controllers,good quality.
I've currently got a Itc308 Wi-Fi warming a bucket.
UK-plug in connections and controllable by my phone from anywhere with an internet connection.Simplicity itself for those who indeed have something better to do...
The app gives real time and historical data readings.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I've said it before, but I think it bears repeating here... Some people may feel as though using something like the STC-1000 is beyond their ability, but honestly, if you can wire a plug you can wire a tubular heater up to an STC-1000.

you can buy the controllers now with a pre - fitted socket, so all you have to do is plug the heater in

 

[PeaBee]

Plug and play ones like the inkbird and the one in JBMs post are great and remove any worry that my shoddy wiring skills and general electrical incompetence might burn the house down!

 

[D&D]

I would not be without my warming cabinet, a decommissioned fridge with a tubular heater and thermostat. So many uses and cheap to make.

I’ve read several times about refrigerators that have been adapted as warming and cooling cabinets. Can they be set up to do both warming and cooling? What equipment is needed for the set up?

 

[JamezF]

I’ve read several times about refrigerators that have been adapted as warming and cooling cabinets. Can they be set up to do both warming and cooling? What equipment is needed for the set up?

That's quite possible and it's not uncommon to see it done for home brewing purposes. Obviously you need a functioning fridge to start with for the cooling part and then you just have to be careful not to render it non-functioning when you put holes in for the cabling for the heating system and temperature sensor.

James