# Electric Uncapping Knife Temp.



## airbalancer (Mar 15, 2003)

I picked up a couple of pierce electric uncapping knives at a tag sale today. Having never used on of these before, I was suprised just how hot these things actually get. I can see how scorching the honey could be a problem. There is a small set screw in the center of the knife which I believe controls the temperature, but I am thinking about adding a dimmer switch of sorts to control them better. My question is; what is the optimum temperature I should be looking for?
Mike


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

In theory you want it to cut the wax and not scorch the honey. In my experience it always gets too hot at the start and then when I'm doing a run of uncapping it gets on an even keel. Then I turn it off while I extract that batch and when I turn it on it scorches again. If anyone has a solution, I'd love to hear it.


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## ikeepbees (Mar 8, 2003)

Michael the only thing I have been able to do is to start uncapping on that first run before it gets hot enough to scorch. If I let it heat up too long, though, it does as you said.

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Rob Koss


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## airbalancer (Mar 15, 2003)

Has anyone had any experience with using a solid state controller to adjust the temp? I see in the catalogs they sell some knive with them included.
Mike


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## beeman 202 (Jan 8, 2003)

I've found you just gotta keep uncapping. If you need to stop uncapping, unplug. Otherwise it can scorch. If you are constantly uncapping, it keeps the blade cooler.


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