# Show your Vaporizer!



## longarm (Apr 21, 2006)

I want to apply OA to my hives and have planned on drip.. but if building a vaporizer is not a tremendous hassle then I might consider changing the plan. I have only 4 hives or so and cannot justify purchasing a commercial vaporizer. I have a propane torch - the type used to sweat pipes, etc (actually I use it only to singe the last down filaments left after plucking off of the birds I shoot to eat). Is this sufficient?
So I guess my question is this: what is necessary to build a vaporizer?


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## Sundance (Sep 9, 2004)

Dave's the man on homemade OA vaporizers.

As far as justifying the expense......When 
you compare OA's cost to other treatments
out there, even with the cost of the 
vaporizer it's darn cheap.
s


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

BWrangler used to have diagrams and instructions for home made OA pipes used with a propane torch on his web site, but he has now removed them and is only promoting the commercial battery operated type. 

I purchased an electric vaporizer when I had 4 hives. It seemed like an expensive purchase at the time but it has worked extremely well for me. When you consider that the Vaporizer cost is close to the same price as one nuc, to me its a no brainer. 

And the personal risks of breathing in the vapors are eliminated when using a commercial type vs. having to hold the torch to the pipe while hunched down right next to the hive. Your health is invaluable. 

You may want to do a search here on vaporizer.. seems that I remember seeing some home-made electric vaporizers talked about and photos also. Could save you a few bucks.


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## magnet-man (Jul 10, 2004)

I use borosilicate glass, Pyrex, test tubes and glass pipe. It lets you see what is going on. If you are careful, you won't crack the glass. When it does break, it is not explosive but just cracks. I found it cheaper than brass fittings and is air tight. 

I will post a picture on my web site this weekend.

[ December 08, 2006, 12:07 PM: Message edited by: magnet-man ]


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## drobbins (Jun 1, 2005)

the ones I built are trivial to make if you have access to machine tools, but unfortunately, most folks don't
here's a few pics of one

http://www.drobbins.net/bee's/oa_evaporator/ 

the store bought one from Heilyser is very nice too

Dave

[edit] I'm looking forward to magnet-man's pictures









[ December 08, 2006, 04:57 PM: Message edited by: drobbins ]


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## hzxlvf (Aug 31, 2006)

How is the temp controlled on these things? I read somewhere (cant find it now)that too much heat will transform the acid into some other chemical that is bad for the bees.


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## brent.roberts (Dec 31, 2005)

None of the ones I've seen have temp control. The Heilyser instructions tell you to do a test out in open area. The time it takes for the OA to come up to vaporizing temps will vary a bit with battery condition and lenght of cable.

Using a fully charged tractor battery and about 12 feet of 10G wire, I found it starts to vaporize after about 30 seconds of power on. I leave it connected for about 45-50 seconds then remove the power for 10 to 15 seconds so it does not boil and splatter, then re-apply power for 10 to 15 seconds. By the time I get to abot 90 seconds total time, there is nothing left but a trace of white powder in the aluminum dish.


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

I also use a home made diseal glow plug type vaporizor. certainly not up to drobbins metal making standards....very nicely done, but it works for me. it consist of the following parts: a 4x 14 3/4 light aluminum angle broke into the shape of a L across the short dimention. drill a hole slightly smaller than the glow plug thread at the bottom of the break in the aluminum and centered on the long dimension of the now bent aluminum. using a tap with the same thread pattern as the glow plug tap the drilled whole. cut a small piece of stainless steel sheet 1 and a quarter inch square and formed into the shape of a W. this is my tray that covers the glow plug and receives the crystalized oxalic. i attach this 'tray' to the formed aluminum with self tapping screws (I grind off the part of the screw that penetrates the aluminum). the L shaped aluminum slides into the front door and I use masking tape to make this closure almost air tight.

as mr roberts described it takes about a minute and a half for the 4 to 5 grams of oxalic to oxidize.


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## Axtmann (Dec 29, 2002)

When you heat up your home made pipe vaporizer with a torch the whole procedure should take at least 5 minutes. If you heat OA to fast and the temperature is too high (with a torch in no time close to 1000º) the high heat will burn and destroy the OA in no time. You will se a lot of smoke but most of it comes from the water in OA but you will have lots of white ash left in the pipe. IMO this kind of handling OA is almost useless. 
Compare to an electric vaporizer with an open pan, OA cant go fast enough out of the pipe when you hold a torch on the pipe end. To have a good result you should heat the pipe very slowly up.


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

The crack pipe style is just a 2" piece of 1/2" copper pipe, a 45 degree 1/2" elbow and a 2" piece of pipe with a copper cap. I use a plexiglass cover about 2" tall with a 1/2" hole for the pipe. That way I can see what's happening as I heat it. Another 1/2" cap servers as the measuring cup for generic wood bleach style OA. It's very easy to get the touch for vaporizing. You get a nice snowfall inside and the vapor is easy to distiguish from steam or ash. It's really not rocket science.

[ December 25, 2006, 08:18 AM: Message edited by: Ross ]


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## kjbann (Jun 30, 2009)

My homemade version of the electric vaporizer sold online. Kind of a hurry up project, but it seems to work fine. The glow plug and a M10x1.0 hex nut were the only purchases. The rest was laying around my fab shop. Overall height of the unit is 5/8".

http://s636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/kjbann/Bees/Equipment/Oxalic acid vaporizer/

Capacity is 0.5 cubic inch which is about 6.25 grams of Savogran Wood Bleach oxalic acid. I plan to treat with about 2.5 grams which is 5/8 teaspoon according to weights I got using my reloading scale. The OA seems a little damp to me. It's probably been in the hardware store for a while.

The vaporizer did it's thing in about 90 seconds with the 5/8 teaspoon test load.

Here is some data I collected which may be of use:
1 teaspoon of Savogran Wood Bleach = 58 grains =3.76 grams = .133 ozs.
1 teaspoon = 0.301 cubic inch
1 Cubic inch of Savogran = 12.5 grams

I don't have high mite levels (first year hives) but I plan to treat each hive in November.

I'm wide open for suggestions or comments. Anything I should plan to do differently? What about sealing off the SBB? Does the sticky board do an adequate job?

Ken


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## drobbins (Jun 1, 2005)

Hi Ken,

your climate is colder than mine
I treat mine at Christmas so they are broodless
you don't want the mites to have a place to hide, it won't kill mites in a sealed cell
November may be fine for you but I'd kind of go for the end of the month
maybe other folks will comment, I just don't know about your climate
in November my bees are still gathering pollen

Dave


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## kjbann (Jun 30, 2009)

drobbins said:


> Hi Ken,
> 
> your climate is colder than mine
> I treat mine at Christmas so they are broodless
> ...


Dave,
I hope to get some local feedback on the timing. I got my nucs from Purdue the last of May. I was told at that time to treat with OA during November because there should be no brood. Purdue is 60 miles north of me and it's a little colder up there.

Thanks,
Ken


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