Maxant Bottling Tank

[Bakersdozen]

At the state beekeeping meeting, I got into a bidding war for a Maxant Bottling Tank and hope that I don't regret it.  Based upon the brand, I stuck to my guns and paid $101.  It is older and I can't find any serial numbers or model # on the unit.  Comparing the measurements to Maxant's website I can tell that it holds 16 gallons.  It will need a new gate, electrical cord, and new lid.  I plugged it in and could tell the heating element was working but the electrical cord was getting warm in the short time I had it plugged in.  I don't see a temperature gauge.  Pictures are below.  Any thoughts?  I hope you don't tell me that I should have let the other guy have it!

[RAST]

Out on a limb here having never used/worked on one.  Probably about 1500 watts @ 120v = 12-13 amps which will "warm" a small cord. Does it look like original cord?  Does the thermostat work? Did you have any liquid in it? Uses an immersion thermometer. Heating element (if I'm close on guessed wattage) should read in the 9-10 ohms range.  Apparently didn't blow your circuit breaker in your dwelling so the element is probably good. You need to put some water in it and drop a thermometer in it and see if the thermostat is working.     

[BoilerJim]

I think you did good. Even if you end up replacing a heating element.

[Bakersdozen]

I was able to test the tank today.  I filled the reservoir with water and dumped about 2 gallons of tepid water in the tank.  No breakers were blown.  The cord was warm near the plug, but not hot. The gate is the first thing to be replaced. Rusted screws, broken, and leaky.  I did this in my unheated honey house so indoors it might heat up even faster.  It would definitely heat up faster if I didn't have to catch the water leaking out of the gate and pour it back in the top! The water got to 130 degrees which is too hot I fear.  I can't see a way to adjust the temperature.  The homemade lid with flaking paint has got to go.  That has no place around food.

[G3farms]

I have a 16 gallon Maxant bottling tank with the no drip valve and love it, Just wish I had gotten the bigger one.

Is yours a "tank inside of a tank" or "jacketed"?  it does not look like it from the pics, looks more like the water to warm the tank is only on the bottom. Mine is a tank inside of a tank and the heating element has an adjustable thermostat. I unplug the thermostat instead of turning it off, that way it will stay set to your desired temp. I try to run mine at 100 F and let honey settle for at least over night before bottling. Kelley use to have a good selection of heaters and pics. if you can find the maker of the heater then look them up on the net. It has to have a thermostat on it some where and may be adjustable, just might need a screwdriver.

Instead of a plastic gate I would swap it out for a ball valve or the no drip valve. You will not be disappointed. The plastic gate will be a dripper, I do not trust them for any long term storage.

Mine has a sight tube on the side to tell how much water is in the jacket and a thermometer that goes to the inside of the honey tank.

For a hundred bucks you did not get hurt at all, if you were closer I would give you your money back.

[Bakersdozen]

G3farms, the tank is not double walled.  The heating element is only in the bottom of the tank.  There is no sight tube and the hole for the thermometer has been plugged.
We were able to get the orange cover off of the thermostat and adjust the temperature setting with a screw driver.  By that time we had removed the gate so I have no way to tell if the adjustment was better, worse, or didn't do anything.
I showed the pictures to a good beekeeping friend.  She suggested the ball valve as well.  They work great and are a lot less expensive.
After a trip to a Mom and Pop hardware store I at least know that I need to find a valve to fit the 1 1/4 inch female opening.  I may go back and get a plastic valve to that I can put water in the tank and get the thermostat adjusted.
Late Friday I got hold of Jake from Maxant.  From my initial description he thought it was a wax melting unit but wasn't sure. He asked for pictures, which I sent. I remeasured the diameter of the tank and I was wrong.  It's only 15 inches, not 17. I don't know how I got that wrong the first time.  He made the statement that after 50 years and a lot of different models, he needed to see pictures to figure out what I had.

[iddee]

Go back to the hardware store and get an adapter from 1 1/4 to the size of the ball valve that they have,

[G3farms]

That will work fine as a bottling tank.
1 1/4" x 1" bushing
1" x 2" nipple  2 each
1" 90 elbow
1" ball valve
teflon tape
stainless would be preferred but a little more expensive
brass (lead free) will work good also

A word of advice, when screwing the fittings into the tank, or together, use a back up wrench. In other words it will take two wrenches, that way you are pulling against another wrench instead of pulling on the tank tank nipple risking tearing the tank nipple off or distorting the tank side wall.

Bizzy Bee and me went through Blue Ridge Honey Co. extracting room and bottling room, and all of his bottling tanks are water bath heated on the bottom of the tanks also. These are like 500 gallon tanks.

[G3farms]

Here is a pic of a 3/4" ball valve I put on a plastic 5 gallon bucket. I did cut the threads off of the bottom of the valve to limit the honey sticking to the threads. Worked really well for bottling smaller containers.

[G3farms]

I also put two wraps of "reflectix" insulation on my bottling tank to help hold some heat in. It looks like silver bubble wrap, made for HVAC duct work.