Here is some pictures of my new steam based wax melter:
I use a plastic box with a lid. In the bottom I use a metal tray (from a fish product) to collect the melted wax:
On top of that I use a some kind of mesh (used in cooking). Sorry, not sure what the correct english word is. In that I put the wax:
Then I close the lid. In the lid I have to holes in opposite ends. In one of them I put in the tube from the steam cleaner:
The steam cleaner takes about 2.5 dl (about one US cup). This gives steam for about 5 minutes. That is a bit short, but almost enough for one round. This means I have to refill during use. refilling a hot steam cleaner is not totally safe, but quick enough. In retrospect, I should have bought a larger one.
So it takes a bit more than 5 minutes for the wax in the picture. This is not a lot (a little bit more than half a norwegian frame which is roughly a medium super). This means that the capacity is really low, but it fits my needs since I only have two hives. With insulation and a larger box and a larger water tank, it would take 10 norwegian frames in about 20 minutes with room temperature outside (asked a professional Norwegian beekeeper that uses steam into a regular styrofoam hive box with 10 frames to melt his wax).
I need to re-melt the wax with a finer mesh to make really clean wax. A fine mesh at the first stage would quickly clog the mesh. I'm never going to use hot water on the stove to melt wax again. Done that once, and it wasn't a success. A solar wax melter is not for me, as I have nowhere to put it. I live in an apartpment with too little sun on the balcony. So I'm very satisfied :-) Not much wax, but I want to keep it anyway :-)