LYSON Insulated Centrifugal Wax Melter

01 · HOW IT WORKS

Steam first, spinning after

The 3,000 W heater warms the water at the bottom and the steam rises through the perforated basket, where whole frames, cappings or pieces of comb go, and melts the wax. Then the 250 W motor spins the basket: centrifugal force throws the melted wax against the drum wall, from where it runs to the bottom and out through the 6/4″ butterfly valve; the dry cake of cocoons and debris stays in the basket. The insulated body keeps the heat in cold rooms and the catalogue puts a load at about 20 minutes.

02 · THE CONTROL

PT100, capped temperature and water cut-out

The digital controller with PT100 probe sets the bath temperature and holds it, which is what keeps the wax from cooking: above 100 °C for hours it degrades and loses quality. The low-water protection cuts the heater if the bath runs dry, the typical failure of these machines. A few litres of soft water are topped up before each load; with hard water the wax comes out milky.

03 · WHAT IT RECOVERS

Honey from cappings and wax from black frames

From undrained cappings the honey is recovered too, settling by density to the bottom after the cycle. From old, black frames less wax comes out than from light comb, because much of the weight is already cocoon and residue, but what a solar melter would leave in the slumgum does come out. Every kilo of recovered wax goes back to the hive as foundation: closing the cycle at home instead of sending it out.

04 · WHO IT IS FOR

Honey houses and cooperatives renewing frames by the hundreds

It is a workshop machine: from about a hundred hives with yearly frame renewal, or a cooperative centralising the melting of several members, the investment makes sense against the solar melter (3077), free but seasonal, or the steam melter with basket (313), slower and with more labour. Below that, those two cover the work. Complements: a tank for the recovered honey, a wax settler and a foundation mill.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

The melter is supplied with its basket, controller and cable, to order; the outlet sits 370 mm off the floor for a container underneath.

⚠ PRECAUTIONS

Steam and water above 90 °C: open the lid with gloves and face turned away, never with the basket spinning. Top up the water before each load and never bypass the low-level cut-out. Disconnect from the mains before cleaning; clean basket and drum hot so propolis does not set, on a grating with a drain because wax drips.