Wax poting

[walcen]

Hi guys,I know this subject has been kicked around a few times by big Tee and others but hey! the more the merrier.

I spotted these beauty therapy wax pots on Evel-bay for about $19 free post from Hong Kong but they will only reach a temperature of around 55 deg c 131.0 F and that's most likely give or take a few degrees. Is this sufficient to pot pick ups? Is there a minimum temperature requirement above the wax melting point?

400ML Paraffin Warmer Wax Heater Salon Spa Manicure Pedicure Strip Waxing R1BO | eBay

regards to all

Walt

[Lyrebird Steve]

Only thing I can think of here is that its 400ml.

Using the formula for calculating volume of a cylinder with Height = A & Radius = Z

Volume = Pi . ZZ . A

It looks like it would be 5cm tall with a radius of 5 cm (diameter 10 cm ) or 2" tall 4" across

Might not be a whole lot of room in there

[David King]

I bet you could add a layer of insulation around this pot and boost the internal temp considerably. If it's got an actual thermostat you could probably mess with the calibration or just tear it out and add a PID controller.. It does look tiny. I think a rectangular shape is much more convenient. I still do my potting in a tall narrow glass jar in a water bath. The wax melts quickly that way and I can fit longer coils. Keeping a lid on the jar boosted the temp about 10ºC

[walcen]

Yeh I did the glass jar in the hot water on the kitchen stove thingy the other day on a tilie bridge pick up that I'd just rewound, mind you it was my first potting experience and the missus was not pleased L not too L. But I got to thinken there's gota be a better, cleaner easier way.

Regarding the size of the Pro Wax 100 it looks to be at least 4'' in diameter, plenty of room for potting one pick up at a time. and insulate the pot what a great idea.

But the question remains regarding minimum potting temperature? Is 60 deg C the magic number or can we give or take a few degrees

[walcen]

Ok after doing some more research and asking the obvious people, My Daughter, it seems that these melting pots take an age to heat up and even a bigger age to melt wax let alone getting it to temperature. Life's too short.

regards to all

Walt

[big_teee]

Hi Walt:
I have a small Crock pot.
It has 2 heat ranges, and It gets real hot, but still takes a while to melt the wax.
I think you are making the right decision, and your little pot would probably be painfully slow.
I used to heat wax in a coffee can out in the driveway, with a open flame.
Not recommended, but it is not quite as fragile as most want us to think.
It has a 400F degree flash point.
I like to keep it 140-150 f degrees. I think you would call that 60C+
With my pot I have to work at keeping it cool enough.
Good Luck with what you come up with.
T

[David Schwab]

Hi guys,I know this subject has been kicked around a few times by big Tee and others but hey! the more the merrier.

I spotted these beauty therapy wax pots on Evel-bay for about $19 free post from Hong Kong but they will only reach a temperature of around 55 deg c 131.0 F and that's most likely give or take a few degrees. Is this sufficient to pot pick ups? Is there a minimum temperature requirement above the wax melting point?

400ML Paraffin Warmer Wax Heater Salon Spa Manicure Pedicure Strip Waxing R1BO | eBay

regards to all

Walt

That's what I use, a paraffin warmer. It works great, gets pretty hot actually, and except for mine leaking a bit, has worked well for several years.

These are better than using crock pots because they keep the wax at a safe temperature, and you don't even have to turn them off. Mine if often on 24 hours a day for weeks at a time. It's on right now and ready to go.

[walcen]

Hey hey Terry and David. Why did I know you guys would jump in?

David I agree with you regarding the safe constant low temperature, this was my thought as well but they still only achieve 55 degrees C and my question is still how low is too low for potting.

Terry I have a mini crock pot that I scrounged from hard rubbish collection and it works. Do you use the ceramic pot or do you some other pot in it's place?

regards

Walt

[big_teee]

Hey hey Terry and David. Why did I know you guys would jump in?

David I agree with you regarding the safe constant low temperature, this was my thought as well but they still only achieve 55 degrees C and my question is still how low is too low for potting.

Terry I have a mini crock pot that I scrounged from hard rubbish collection and it works. Do you use the ceramic pot or do you some other pot in it's place?

regards

Walt

Hi Walt:
I use the Crock pot and the lift out ceramic pot. a good thermometer is very important with the crock pot.
We have another guy here that uses and old coffee pot dripper.
Just the warmer and the small coffee pot.
He said it keeps it around 140 or so.
Good Luck

[David Schwab]

David I agree with you regarding the safe constant low temperature, this was my thought as well but they still only achieve 55 degrees C and my question is still how low is too low for potting.

If the wax melts, it's hot enough. The melting temperature of paraffin is between 46 and 68 °C (115 and 154 °F).

Hot hot do you want it? I don't know why you say "only"... stick you hand in something 131°F and see how hot it is. When I take the bobbins out they are too hot to handle with my bare hands.

I tried a small food warmer crock pot looking thing once. I went up to about 150°F. It was so hot it deformed a plastic bobbin. So the paraffin baths are perfect.

[David King]

Temperature is important to some extent. The hotter the wax the quicker it can heat up all the wire in the pickup and soak through the coil. I'm also willing to bet that the hotter the wax is the more easily it penetrates as it becomes less viscous.

[David Schwab]

When you put the pickup in the hot wax, the pickup gets hot. In a short time the pickup is the same temperature as the wax. It does not take long for all the wire to get hot, just a couple of minutes. I don't understand why everyone keeps saying this. There is nothing preventing all the wire from getting hot.

The only thing hotter will will do is shorten the time needed, but it's already pretty short. Go past 150°F and you can deform plastic bobbins.

I leave my bobbins in for 10 minutes, but I have done it in less time and they are still well potted. I can verify that the wax gets all the way into the coils on my pickups when used with the paraffin warmer.

[Lyrebird Steve]

When you put the pickup in the hot wax, the pickup gets hot.

My workshop (ie old tin garage) gets quite chilly of an evening when I'm working, as I'm ata reasonable altitude up the mountain. As a result there is significant temperature differential between the pickups at room temperature and the wax. This results in an instant hardening of the wax as it comes into contact with the pickup creating a weird ghost like shrouded appearance.

It takes a significant amount of time (more than 10 minutes) for this to melt and the air bubbles to start coming out from the coils. If this happens its going to need 30mins or so in the hot wax. Not a big deal for Strat/Tele forbon based coils ... not keen to do this with plastic coils though.

I've seen people (you tube) pre-heat with paint-stripper heat guns before potting (possibly to avoid sudden temperature change ??)

[David Schwab]

I see the wax get hard around the bobbins too in the winter here, but it lasts only a few minutes. My place never goes below 67°F.

Having the wax hotter won't help you if your bobbins are that cold. And in fact it will take longer for the bobbins to reach a higher temperature.

I bet you do some actual tests you will see that either your wax isn't hot enough or it's not taking as long as you think it is to penetrate the coils.

There's no reason to preheat the coils. What advantage is it? It's just wasting your time. The wax will heat the bobbins. What you can do is sit them on top of your wax warmer, but again, I see no point. They are going to get hot one way or another.

[RedHouse]

...I see no point. They are going to get (hot) one way or another.

Totally agree with that.

Get the proper temp going (steady) and just consider the first 4 minutes the "pre-heat".