Wax cleaning and a bruheat boiler

[bontbee]

Has anyone tried cleaning wax in a bruheat boiler, please?

Back in the day, when I used to brew, the element in the boiler would occasionally "fur up" and cut out during the boil. IIRC it was down to the sugars in the wort.... I intend to wash the wax first, so sugars shouldn't be an issue, but I wondered if the crud emanating from the wax might cause a similar prob?

Any wisdom/warnings gratefully received, thanks

 

[Marton]

Sounds a bit hot to me if it’s boiling.

I use a slow cooker if I want to have the wax in contact with water in the early stages of cleaning so as to get the slum gum debris away

Beware of hard water and the risk of getting iron and other metals in the wax.


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[bontbee]

Thanks Marton, good points.

Fortunately, I still have the thermostat that came with the boiler, so there is a reasonable degree of control over the temp. The (replacement) element is copper coloured, rather than the usual "metal" colour of a kettle element, (though I have seen contradictory comments on the effect of copper on wax - definitive answer very gratefully received!) The reason for wanting to try the boiler is simply the quantity of wax I have this year.

Thanks for getting back to me.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Copper does discolor molten beeswax, you would also need to put some water in the boiler first, enough to cover/above the element by a few inches and then add your beeswax, ladle out the clean wax through a filter (old chip basket with tights wrapped round the outside works well) lowered into the liquid wax.
As the wax level falls you can add more hot water to raise the level, or more beeswax if you have it.

 

[bontbee]

Thanks for the clarification re copper and wax. And great idea for filtering wax out of the boiler. I'll give it a go! Thank you

 

[Finman]

.
Water into container and wax over the water.
Hot water melts the wax and honey and they do not burn against metal.
But when I boiled the mixture, fine dust mixed inside the wax..

With smaller fire wax and water will be separated and fine dust separates and makes a layer between water and wax.

So, boiling is a bad thing.

 

[bontbee]

Thanks Finman.

I'm afraid the title is misleading - "boiler" is just the name of the equipment - I don't intend to boil the stuff, just heat it to melting, but thanks for making sure I don't do it wrong. Ta