My Oxalic Acid Vaporizer

Hi all,
I have been researching oxalic acid vaporizers. This is what I built and wanted your opinions on it. I made everythingg from scrap I had in my shop. The box is a shallow supper that I screwed up and cut the boards too narrow. The first two pics show it set up for use with a portable propane torch. The last pic shows it set up for 12 volt use. All the copper fittings are tig welded for an air tight joint.
Let me know what you think,
Thanks all,
Caleb

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That is a nice big horse but can she run? What shortcomings of existing designs led you to this design? No criticism, just asking for your "elevator pitch". You do nice work.

That is nice. I like things that are built well. Did you use real glass? I would imagine it will work really well from what I have seen other people doing on you tube and such. I wonder if someone has a screened bottom board if that throws off the fumigation. Will you make a video of this in use next?
Nice Job!!!

Hi
Thank you for the kind words.
Over the past couple of of talking to people and studying designs online I decided that I liked this design. Not saying that this one is any better than any other design. I like being able to see what's going on in the hive through the glass window. After testing it out I do think at some point I will cut the height of the box down some. I did notice after the OA is vaporized that I can remove the combustion chamber and use an unlit smoker to pump air into the hive pushing the vapors every where.
It is real glass in the window though I suspect plexiglas would have worked fine. I am running screened bottom boards. My thinking was once the vapors start to cool the OA should start to recrystlize and fall. Hopefully coating everything through out the hive. I'll see if I can post a video.
Thanks
Caleb

Hi, Making it a bit shallower would line up with another video I saw but if it is working well than I wouldn't think it would matter that much. The unlit smoker Ideas is a great Idea for pushing the vapor through. From what I have heard the oxalic vapor works excellent. Ya have to watch out not to breathe it in. I have seen a few videos of this process but I would like to see your technique. Your box is the nicest one I have seen. Does the vapor kill the small hive beetles too?

Could you give us some details on the 12 volt setup?

Beautiful job on this one shadow, I would like to learn more about your heat source and the 12 volt system as well......Bill

I have read that copper shouldn't be used because it off gasses when heated directly and may kill the bees.
I have no proof, just something to consider.

Hi all,
I'll post some more pics and info on my 12V setup today.
The OA vapor will take care of Varroa and Tracheal mites but doesn't take care of small hive beetles or wax moths. I wished it did but if the bees stay mite free and strong they can handle the shb and wax moths.
Heated copper will off gas but the biggest amount of gas is oxygen. The rest is inert gas. Brass and aluminum should be fine too. I would stay away from black iron and galVanized pipe as they do release some bad gas when heated.
Thanks,
Caleb

Shadow, is there a particular reason you used tig a welder?

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Originally Posted by shadow-cw

Hi all,

The OA vapor will take care of Varroa and Tracheal mites but doesn't take care of small hive beetles or wax moths.
Caleb

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My understanding is the OA vapor will not kill Tracheal mites.

More pics and info.
The research I have done by talking to people, everyone tells me that OA will kill varroa and tracheal mites. Right now I can not say for 100% sure that it will.

I tig welded my joints basicaly because I could. A high temp solder or braze should work fine as long as the joint can take 300-315*F of heat. This is the temp that OA vaporizes. Tig welding the joints I know for certain that they will hold. Please disreguard the huge blob of filler material you can see in one of my welds. It's ugly but will hold just fine, I should have ground it down to help the looks.

In the bottom pic is my 12V set-up. It just an old extention cord, two battery clamps, a piece of 1" aluminum, wire ring connectors, two set screws and a glow plug. I used a Champion CH69 glow plug but an Autolite 1104 will work too. One end of the aluminum is threaded for the 1/2" pipe and bored for a combustion chamber to put the OA in. The other end is bored to accept the glow plug. I turned the threads off the glow plug and a set screw holds it in place. This way I dont ever have to worry about the threads gallding in the aluminum. Hot wire hooked to the glow plug and a ground wire hooked to the body of the device.

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Do you put the OA directly in the glow plug? Just curious on the residual material build up.
Thanks, interesting idea, although I kind of like the FBM style where you do not have to lift the hive (I do not like the $175 price).

The aluminum piece is not bored all the way through. There is about 3/8" of aluminum between the combustion chamber where the OA goes and the glow plug. OA never touches the glow plug. The OA vaporizes pretty clean with very little residue.

I really don't know what it would cost to build this set-up as I built it out of stuff I already had around my shop but I would guess a lot cheaper than $175. I have a small machine shop with different welders, torches, a lathe and mill so I can build a lot of things myself. A vaporizer to use with a propane torch can be built for a few bucks.

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Originally Posted by shadow-cw

The aluminum piece is not bored all the way through. There is about 3/8" of aluminum between the combustion chamber where the OA goes and the glow plug. OA never touches the glow plug. The OA vaporizes pretty clean with very little residue.

I really don't know what it would cost to build this set-up as I built it out of stuff I already had around my shop but I would guess a lot cheaper than $175. I have a small machine shop with different welders, torches, a lathe and mill so I can build a lot of things myself. A vaporizer to use with a propane torch can be built for a few bucks.

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Very interesting, I may have to look into this. I have the Country Rubes SBB with the oil tray in right now and they have a port on the back of the base (for the smoker) I may be able to put the vaporized OA in through. How much do you use in a regular dose? 1 tsp, 1/2 tsp. etc. I think this implementation will be much more cost effective. Thanks for sharing!

Update I have found both plugs mentioned $10-15 and the OA $10 (wood bleach which works fine per Mike Bush) on Amazon.

Everything I have read or been told says 1 gram of OA per deep. I use a 3/8" copper pipe cap and a 1/2" copper pipe cap. Both have a short piece of stainless steel tig rod soldered to them for a handle. The 3/8" cap will hold nearly exactly 1 gram and the 1/2" cap will hold 2.2 grams. From my research you would have to really try to overdose a hive, something like 8 grams per deep for an overdose.

I bought my OA on EBay. $12 for two pound. That much should last for years.

Thanks Shadow for the detailed info, I have a stainless steel tube and propane torch that I have been using to vaporize on top of the hives but I have been wanting something that I could place into the entrance which has a controlled heat and this might just be the ticket.....Bill

I forgot to mention earlier. 300-315*F is the temp you want to shoot for. Too hot and the OA will burn instead of vaporizing. Burning OA will produce CO2 and water vapor which will not kill the mites.

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Originally Posted by shadow-cw

I forgot to mention earlier. 300-315*F is the temp you want to shoot for. Too hot and the OA will burn instead of vaporizing. Burning OA will produce CO2 and water vapor which will not kill the mites.

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Did you build in a temperature controller? If so will share it? Thanks again!

I don't have a temperature controller. Everyone tells me to just hook it up to a 12v battery for 45-60 seconds. I'm going to test it with a thermal imaging camera when I get a chance to see exactly how many seconds it takes.