[Dubby's]

Another happy customer here- I received the vaporizer from Joerg today just in time for my fall treatment start. It worked fine right out of the box (I did a couple of dry runs and one with water just to clean any residue) and I treated 10 hives in a fraction of time it would have taken me when using the wand. Also this allowed me to treat the nucs that don't have entrance hole big enough for wand head. The best part is that I can do it from the back of the hives without having to stand in the fly path of the angry bees that find the entrance closed. Silicone plugs are very easy to insert and remove without any tools, temperature control is spot on. Plus it is made in Canada, happy to support local businesses! Thank you, Joerg!

They look well built. Cant wait to get get mine.

 

[Biermann]

Hello All,

A short update:

I am building them steady, but some times have difficulty getting needed parts, so waiting for one part of ~20 stops the whole process.

Here a picture of housings on my welders workbench. We definitely don't cut corners. I feel we build the best unit on the market, no plastic, no wood. All welded, good material and good workmanship.

I have shipped close to 200 and have had one unit that has failed and I replaced it free of charge, free of shipping and hope to see the unit back since I like to know what went wrong.

Beside that, a little issue here and there, fixable over the phone or through email.



Don't know why this picture is not upright!

Cheers, JoergK.

 

[dgl1948]

Just an update on this vaporizer. We have used the Provap for a couple of years with no real issues other than the Teflon caps. We purchased extras and they are to big for the cup and we have had a bit of an issue with the O rings sealing. We decided to speed things up and have a backup and added the Biermann vaporizer to our lineup. We used both this fall. Both worked well other than the cap issues with the Provap. I like the construction of the Biermann better and there are no issues with the cap sealing on it. I would certainly recommend it over the provap..

 

[grozzie2]

I like the construction of the Biermann better and there are no issues with the cap sealing on it. I would certainly recommend it over the provap..

The plugs issue was interesting to read.

I was on the phone with somebody a couple hours ago, they were asking about the differences between the provap from Beemaid, and this one from Joerg. My answer was 'same heater, same pid, different case which I actually prefer, and you can buy 3 of them from Joerg for the price of one Provap from Beemaid'.

 

[Biermann]

Thank you for the comments. I did have problems with the Mypin PId's, about seven have given us problems and I did replace as soon as I could and I am not 100% sure we found the problem, but I believe it was related to the internal contacts. I remove them all now from the housing and use a little pull toll made from a wire to pull the contact out a little to increase the contact pressure. I also apply some dielectric grease to have the contacts protected. I also will switch to the Ink-bird PID once the test units with he Ink-bird have worked without problems.

It is frustrating having the units on your bench for 4-5 hrs, test with water and let them cycle succesfully, to have the buyer use the darn unit for five treatments and having problems. Particularly when they are deep down south across the 49th.

I will have a prototype out for treating straight down, to go through the inspection hole in the lid, picture to follow. You all know their is no multi tool that will do it all.

JoergK.

 

[Biermann]

Hello, some info to my construction, the thought behind it and some simple facts.

The low 3/16" exit copper tube has a reason! Copper is the best thermal conductor one can use (I could use silver if you are willing to pay for it).

The units I build are for hobby beek's, but I have many with guys doing 5,000 and more hives. They use about 1 for 500-1,000 hives.

Now, transmitting the 300 watt heat from the element to the bowl is one thing, but keeping the vapor tube hot is a different can of worms, but as much important as heating the bowl. I have tried larger diameter tubes, 1/4" for example, but did not get as nice of a vapor 'blast' as with the 3/16. My tube goes in close to the bottom and bends up along the back side of the entrance just to a level under the plug. This makes the dropped charge to be vaporized before it gets to the exit, vapor tube.

I noticed that the soft copper hardens over time with the 400-430°F and should not be bend much after 5-10 uses!

The InkBird ITC-106RH is much superior to the Mypin TA4. From factory setting, it does not over-shoot as much as the Mypin and automatically converts the C° to the correct F° and vise versa, so no resetting of the target temp. when changing from C to F. The PID holder is much better then the flimsy little clips on the mypin.

Here the bottom vapor tube with a Mypin TA4-SSR. Great to treat through the top lid with inspection hole.

 

[dgl1948]

Just a thought about the bottom vapor tube. If the base was a little bigger and solid it would work real good through the feeder holes. Pull the cap off the lid and have the base completely cover the hole while vaporizing. Remove machine and reinsert plug. I think it would make things very easy.

 

[crofter]

I dont think it necessary to change the base; Just have a 6" or so square of thin ply wood or sheet metal to put on top of the inner cover,with a hole in it for the discharge tube.

 

[dekster]

I dont think it necessary to change the base; Just have a 6" or so square of thin ply wood or sheet metal to put on top of the inner cover,with a hole in it for the discharge tube.

Wouldn't that also allow the use of regular vaporizer with side discharge tube? It would be possible to insert it at a slight angle through a small hole in plywood/sheet metal at the feeder or inner cover.
Does vaporizer have to stay level or can it be tilted let say 15-20deg? I would love to vaporize through the top and bottom holes without buying another vaporizer...

 

[crofter]

Wouldn't that also allow the use of regular vaporizer with side discharge tube? It would be possible to insert it at a slight angle through a small hole in plywood/sheet metal at the feeder or inner cover.
Does vaporizer have to stay level or can it be tilted let say 15-20deg? I would love to vaporize through the top and bottom holes without buying another vaporizer...

How much tipping allowable would be controlled by where the inner end of the discharge pipe is. In Biermann's regular unit it is high on the rear wall so you could tip it vertical and it would still work. It justs complicates the issue of being able to invert the unit so the charge dumps out of the cap to initiate boiloff which can take place with the discharge pipe safely inside the colony. I have not seen video of the bottom discharge unit being used through a top cover.

There is a thread here where someone uses a lift ring with a plexi cover on top of the colony and injects through a hole in its side. Looks entirely effective and convincing.

 

[dekster]

How much tipping allowable would be controlled by where the inner end of the discharge pipe is. In Biermann's regular unit it is high on the rear wall so you could tip it vertical and it would still work. It justs complicates the issue of being able to invert the unit so the charge dumps out of the cap to initiate boiloff which can take place with the discharge pipe safely inside the colony. I have not seen video of the bottom discharge unit being used through a top cover.

There is a thread here where someone uses a lift ring with a plexi cover on top of the colony and injects through a hole in its side. Looks entirely effective and convincing.

Yes, makes sense. I use Joerg's vaporizer where the tube end is high enough, but you are right about inverting the unit, I have to try and see if it is physically possible.
I have seen the video with plexiglass and I believe his conclusion was that vapor distributes more evenly when performed from the top, that is why I'm looking at this option. I want to be able to do it via inner cover as my hives are insulated in winter/spring and it would not be possible to vaporizer via side hole in the upper box/inner cover.
Then again, I don't know if it is a good idea to blast OA directly into the bee cluster that would be centered underneath the inner cover hole at that time of year, maybe bottom hole would be safer approach...

 

[Biermann]

Yes, makes sense. I use Joerg's vaporizer where the tube end is high enough, but you are right about inverting the unit, I have to try and see if it is physically possible.
I have seen the video with plexiglass and I believe his conclusion was that vapor distributes more evenly when performed from the top, that is why I'm looking at this option. I want to be able to do it via inner cover as my hives are insulated in winter/spring and it would not be possible to vaporizer via side hole in the upper box/inner cover.
Then again, I don't know if it is a good idea to blast OA directly into the bee cluster that would be centered underneath the inner cover hole at that time of year, maybe bottom hole would be safer approach...

My 2 cents worth: having the bowl tipped up or down up to 30-45° should actually work better since the OA contacts the wall better, where the heat band is. If it falls on the bottom, the heat has to move from the wall to the bottom and it delays vaporization slightly.