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Author Topic: Extractor's done- for now  (Read 4741 times)

Offline RC

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Extractor's done- for now
« on: July 13, 2013, 10:12:40 pm »
I finally got my extractor finished. Turned out pretty good, but I already can see some improvements coming. It's not as refined as a store bought model, but it'll do.
I hope to try it out tomorrow, if the weather allows.




Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Extractor's done- for now
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2013, 12:34:39 am »
RC,
Looks real nice. How many frames does it hold? Do you have a gate valve that just doesn't show in the pictures.
I see it is on wheels. That will be great for moving it around but when you are extracting, you will need to lock it down some how.
Consider adding a cover. When I open the cover, a large amount of air comes out. It is so much so that the drag with the cover open is so much that it slows the basket down a lot. Our concern is that the motor has to work a lot harder.
Right now, my 18 frame, Mann Lake, extractor is filled to the top with honey. I took the basket out after extracting, cleaned it, including the grease in the center bearing, and filled it with 42 gallons of honey. We were afraid the legs might give out under the weight and so we screwed them to the board that was the top board of the shipping crate that it came in. We will bee bottling it this week.
Jim
« Last Edit: July 14, 2013, 08:55:14 am by sawdstmakr »
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
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Offline AllenF

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Re: Extractor's done- for now
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2013, 07:25:58 am »
Looks good.  Just one question, how hard  was it to mount it on the side wall?    :-D

Offline RC

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Re: Extractor's done- for now
« Reply #3 on: July 14, 2013, 12:59:21 pm »
Hey, Jim. It holds 9 deep frames and 18 mediums. It has a bottom center drain with a length of sanitary tubing extending out from under the bottom. It'll drain into a bucket with a filter.
I'm going to add a lexan top, just haven't got around to it yet.
It has locking casters. If that's not enough, I'll wedge it between the wife's washer and dryer.  :-D
Allen, you can mount anything to anything with duct tape.
I wanted to rob some honey today, but it looks like rain. Guess it'll have to wait.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Extractor's done- for now
« Reply #4 on: July 14, 2013, 10:20:08 pm »
Wow, 9/18. That's great. Sounds like it will work real well.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline Better.to.Bee.than.not

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Re: Extractor's done- for now
« Reply #5 on: July 18, 2013, 06:59:42 am »
looks like its built like a tank. nice fab work.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Extractor's done- for now
« Reply #6 on: July 18, 2013, 12:47:31 pm »
Yes and it looks like it will work better than my commercially built unit, especially if it drains better due to the shape. I used mine as a settling tank and bottle filler after I removed the motor/basket assembly. Spent a lot of time, last night, bent way over with one leg raised up real high in order to get the last gallon or 2 of honey out of it. Have the same problem after extracting.

How did it work out RC.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline RC

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Re: Extractor's done- for now
« Reply #7 on: July 18, 2013, 05:57:00 pm »
I haven't used it yet, Jim. I've only had one day off in 3 weeks and it rained all day. I hope to use it this Sunday.
It drained real good when I cleaned it. I made the bottom a cone shape and put the drain right on the bottom. When I was researching this thing, I read some posts that stated that the inverted cone most manufacturers use caused drainage issues, so I figured I would avoid that from the start.
All my ideas for this thing came from this, and one other, forum. I tried to incorporate what people liked about their extractors and avoid what they disliked.

Offline RHBee

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Re: Extractor's done- for now
« Reply #8 on: July 19, 2013, 07:45:11 am »
Nice job RC. As far as locking the extractor down--mine has wheels also. I used it last year and had a pretty unbalanced load.  I thought that the extractor was going to shake itself appart. I finally just let it go. It just kinda did the hula but that seemed less violent than having it fixed.
Later,
Ray

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Extractor's done- for now
« Reply #9 on: July 19, 2013, 12:12:17 pm »
I screw the legs to the OSB board that came as part of the shipping container and I still have to put all of my weight on the top to keep it under control.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline RC

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Re: Extractor's done- for now
« Reply #10 on: July 19, 2013, 05:31:02 pm »
That's the reason I decided to go with a 250 rpm motor, instead of faster. The force generated by unbalance is propotional to the square of the speed. So, if you can do the same work at a lower speed, the less force generated by the unbalance of the load.
I really questioned 250 rpm for a long time, but when Bix built his extractor and said it ran great with a cordless drill, I checked the speed of my DeWalt. it was 260 rpm. So I'm thinking this thing is going to work fine.
I put an adjustable speed controller on it, so if the load is really out of balance, I can run it at a slow speed until I get part of the honey out of the frames. Once it simmers down, I'll ramp it up.

Offline RC

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Re: Extractor's done- for now
« Reply #11 on: July 22, 2013, 02:17:40 pm »
I used the extractor yesterday for the first time. That thing worked great. It wobbles a little from the unbalance, but I didn't have to hold it and the drain line never moved away from the bucket.
It drains completely clean, thanks to the bottom drain. It took me about 2 minutes to clean it with a water hose.
I only extracted one super, the rain ran me off before I could get anymore off the hives. If I can catch good weather, I've got plenty more.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Extractor's done- for now
« Reply #12 on: July 23, 2013, 02:57:43 pm »
I used the extractor yesterday for the first time. That thing worked great. It wobbles a little from the unbalance, but I didn't have to hold it and the drain line never moved away from the bucket.
It drains completely clean, thanks to the bottom drain. It took me about 2 minutes to clean it with a water hose.
I only extracted one super, the rain ran me off before I could get anymore off the hives. If I can catch good weather, I've got plenty more.

 :pinkelephant: :piano:

I wish mine would drain all the way. I suspect floating on wheels might work better than mounting it to a board.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline RC

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Re: Extractor's done- for now
« Reply #13 on: July 23, 2013, 06:45:19 pm »
The casters seem to let it just sort of wobble around. I didn't even lock them.
There was a lengthy discussion on BeeSource about this. Some of the folks over there actually had their extractor mounted to the floor and changed over to casters. Some of the comments seemed to indicate that the casters helped. It certainly works good for me. I think that the casters help dissipate the energy from the unbalanced load, instead of transferring the energy to whatever the extractor's mounted to.

Offline RHBee

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Re: Re: Extractor's done- for now
« Reply #14 on: July 23, 2013, 07:51:35 pm »
RC, That's how it worked out for me. Last year, not knowing any better,  I just allowed the extractor to wobble around with the imbalance. It looked funny but didn't seem to beat the equipment up.:) Worked out fine.
Later,
Ray