# Separate heating system for uncapping knives



## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

Has anyone ever built a separate system for running their knives?

No, but I will be shortly.

Crazy Roland


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Yes I run that heating unit with oil also. The nice thing about the seperate unit is not having to run all the plumbing between units.


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## borada bee doc (Feb 6, 2010)

I had not heard of running oil in the lines. Why is this done and what pumps it? Mineral oil? I have been heating the hot knives and sump tank for several years now with items cobbled together hurriedly just to get up and running. It has worked well enough that I have not upgraded yet. I use a 5 gallon water heater with water recirculated using a 12 volt DC utility water pump from Harbor Freight. It is an open system with a standpipe to accommodate for temperature related expansion. Two ball valves regulate flow distribution. The pump is powered with a 6 volt battery which receives continuous charge and purrs away nicely (half speed)with this power source. The only problem I have encountered was the rubber impeller of the marine version pump failing due to heat. The fresh water pump has a hard plastic impeller and has worked well for 2 seasons. These pumps are probably not designed to last so keeping a spare on hand is advised but for $35 its a cheap way to move water.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

We have a small water heater mounted overhead with a recirculating pump. The heated water flows first through the uncapping blades then via pex, heats the floor under our in floor honey sump. It works very well and I doubt that I have $500 in the whole system.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

borada bee doc said:


> I had not heard of running oil in the lines. Why is this done and what pumps it?


Canola vegetable oil is used. Water causes mineral build up, corrosion and pitting.


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## Crabo (Jan 17, 2012)

Anyone have any pictures?


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Not the best shot but you can see the water heater mounted on the wall in the background with the water lines running down along side the airlines. 
http://s470.photobucket.com/user/jimlyon/media/Mobile Uploads/1417281611_zps81356151.jpg.html


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Crabo said:


> Anyone have any pictures?


Its located under the uncapping drive;





It keeps out of the way nicely and by having a seperate unit you can adjust the temp to what ever your liking is on the blades. I set mine at 200Degrees F


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## RAK (May 2, 2010)

Ian, I run water in my Cowen heater. I set it to 200 but when operating, the actually temp is around 150f. Does the oil actually heat up to 200?


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

RAK said:


> Ian, I run water in my Cowen heater. I set it to 200 but when operating, the actually temp is around 150f. Does the oil actually heat up to 200?


That's what the display reads,


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## Crabo (Jan 17, 2012)

I couldn't see the heaters very well, so I cropped them and added some fill light. I put them here to help those out following this thread. We have limited room in our honey house and the cowen might be the way to go.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Crabo, actually you have zoomed in on our auxiliary 20 frame extractor (nicknamed "mini me"). The water heater is mounted overhead with an expansion tank extending above it. Sorry, despite a lot of time trying and the magnanimous help of Graham the finer points of posting pictures continues to elude me.


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## Markt (Feb 8, 2012)

I've got a tankless propane water heater that runs all the domestic hot water as well as pumps it through the in floor heat lines of the building. I added an additional pump that sends the water through the ceiling down to the uncapper, through the floor under the sump and then returns it back up through the ceiling. The only potential hitch I've found is to make sure the hoses on your uncapping knives have two clamps on each fitting and are extremely tight as the fittings aren't barbed for some reason and will be under the same pressure as your normal plumbing system. It would be a bad spot for a leak.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Markt said:


> The only potential hitch I've found is to make sure the hoses on your uncapping knives have two clamps on each fitting and are extremely tight as the fittings aren't barbed for some reason and will be under the same pressure as your normal plumbing system. It would be a bad spot for a leak.


.....and its a rare extracting season when you don't have at least one of theses hoses spring a leak. Of course whether it's a few ounces of water or canola oil, it isn't that big of an issue. Just don't use anti-freeze or anything else inedible in the system.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

jim lyon said:


> Crabo, actually you have zoomed in on our auxiliary 20 frame extractor (nicknamed "mini me"). e.[/QUOThE]
> 
> That is an awesome idea. At the end of the day I always have a small annoying pile of problem frames to scrape off


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## Crabo (Jan 17, 2012)

jim lyon said:


> Crabo, actually you have zoomed in on our auxiliary 20 frame extractor (nicknamed "mini me"). The water heater is mounted overhead with an expansion tank extending above it. Sorry, despite a lot of time trying and the magnanimous help of Graham the finer points of posting pictures continues to elude me.


Jim, this picture makes a lot more sense!


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## mitch30 (Feb 8, 2014)

How hot do you run the water at?


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