What are all the options available for distillation mantles like with heating and stirring.
I’ve seen glasscol, china various brands, random white label models, summits, xd, bvv, and some others.
Looking for some options to replace a couple units that have been dying, while one lost spinning today I am on the hunt. Who makes the best mantles on the market?
Connor.
is there where spdking swoops in to recommend the genesis or something
anybody with other suggestions?
I use fisher brand mantels and i’ve had some great success with items from BR Instruments.
But seriously - you can get heating mantles with spinning tech from like every laboratory supply company. Fisher, Cole Palmer, VWR, etc
How much do you want to spend? How big do you need them to be? Temp range? What controller do you already have or do you need a new one?
GlassCol you can get from Grainger.
Sometimes you can fix them yourself. And also many laboratory supply companies (local not national) have techs that will fix this kind of stuff.
Replace a motor. Replace a belt. Replace the arm. So many options for fixing them.
Which one do you already have - perhaps its easier and cheaper to repair than to get a new one.
Let us know what you decide to do on your spinner adventure.
Currently using china mantles. The last ones from USA labs were horrendous. I’ve had some luck with across and bvv mantles but they seem to be the same.
I haven’t bought any other mantles because I assumed they were just worse from sellers who spend even less on units.
I am unaware of vwr, or Fischer or palmer mantles.
I tried calling multiple sellers for glasscol or thier white labeled ones(like LS and xd) but I couldn’t get much detail out of them, and some have said that they are overpriced and you get better spinning from China mantles.
I repaired my USA labs unit twice and it’s dead; I have had to cut and rewire my across one once but the spinner died, and the last one I have is the bvv cheapo mantle. It’s the same as the across I think so I know it’s on its last leg.
As for budget id like to save some cash, but I’m not confident going the cheap route will work. People have talked about hot plates, with blocks and I’m open to that and have to price it out to see if it’s worth it. heidolph makes a decent hot plate, but it’s not cheap and lacks some features.
i use a glascol mantle
i like it pretty well and its made here in the USA.
USA Labs heating mantles are covered by their warranty… how long have you been running it?
Spinners die for many reasons. Often its something simple (motor change out or new belt).
Why are you rewiring things? Wiring has NOT been a wear part in my experience. I’m not randomly having to rewire everything every 6 months to a year… so what’s really going wrong there?
There are small terminals made of cheap ceramic or connections that slip so sometimes you have to replace those ceramic blocks or terminals. Or replace them with something else.
Having used a lot of different mantles, summit makes by far the best mantles but they are outrageously expensive, the extremely strong stir magnet makes for a much better distillation. I have only used the 12L techno heat and that thing kicked ass, the new ones look even more fancy.
That said I currently use all glascol, (2L, 5L, and 20L) and they are okay. I like that when I am doing different size distillations I can simply swap the mantle and use the same heat and stir controller. They dont heat at the bottom where the stir bar sits and that can get incredibly frustrating waiting for your stir bar to start spinning. The whole flask of oil can be at 100C but your stir bar will be stuck in the tiny part of cold oil in the bottom. Major design flaw in my opinion.
I keep my eyes out for a used technoheat but I don’t do enough distillation these days to warrant buying a brand new one. I used a 2L AI mantle for years and it was a pretty good china mantle for the price and reliability. I had a 20L USA labs mantle burn out after a few uses and they were kinda dicks about the warranty and would not replace it so I wouldnt go that route again.
After your comment I called them and they said the techno models are EOL and they only had one or two left in stock. They offered me a discount but we’re upfront that parts are inexistent now due to manufacturers no longer offering parts. So it’s sold as is.
The tech guy offered a Genesis unit, claims that one controller can opperate 2-50 liter models. All the parts used are future replaceable and obtainable for many years to come due to the intricate design specs excluding any custom or specialty electronics and controllers.
The systems they offered were only a few hundred more than a glasscol but glasscol was missing some features that summit came standard with.
I’m on the fence. So waiting if anyone else has any advice
If the price difference was only a few hundred dollars I would be very surprised if anyone on here would choose the glascol over the genesis, although I am interested to hear others thoughts on this
Kueugelrohr FTW
Fwiw, usalabs mantel actually does really well overall, ai usually leaves to much heat transfer adhesive in their attaching of the thermal rope inside to cover their heating element so you usually end up having to “rough in” the new mantle. Imo if you’re going Summit you might as well bite that one and take the price tag for all it’s worth but you can build a system out to perform just as well if not better dare I say. Glascol Rpms are inconsistent compared to others magnetized motors for the spin bar. Other than that they hear well, but I always had problems with them over shooting. Whatever you do find something you will be comfortable on, but don’t let a salesman oversell you.
With that said I got a full turkey spd 6500 takes it delivered.
If there is one Frankenstein solution I ever made that I am the most happiest about it s
Building my own magnetmixer on a 22L spd mantel with botom drain
A big centerhole baring a belt drive wheel to match the bearing a belt spanner and a motor (used ika overhead stirrer) on a vfrd
These 6 parts on a base plate make a great magnetmixer
BUT it s the ability to drain your mantel that is the best the best
No more dismantling and putting together etc etc any good welding shop can assemble this in a day s work
You make a good point. As a bonus I can get rid of all the stacked controllers and sensors boxes.
After seeing this I started to think more about it.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CqD_rveB7M7/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Going to take the plunge. We will see what arrives.
I put a order in for a 5 and 12 liter. I’ll see it in a week.
What was the price for each of em?
The store manager who does the pricing is pretty professional over there. I got a few gold bullion off but nothing to brag about. After talking his ear off, he wiggled a few stones around and he had the warehouse shop around for the lowest shipping cost since they are shipped together on a small freight pallet to b.c.
After four calls this is was one of the top technical and professional sales experiences I’ve encountered despite even myself or others I’ve heard going at it with elliot in the past. There has definitely been some sort of management change and role swapping over the years because the service was exceptional.
The technical and scientific part of the consultation was intense, as Elliot said “built with love by himself” the in depth knowledge was undeniable(even direct comparisons with detailed circuit knowledge of other brands). These units are each built by him from the ground up. I was pretty shocked. I didn’t realize he designed, engineered, wires up, solders, and programs each one, one at a time.
Shamelessly he used the Gucci sales pitch.
Oh, and you can swap the bowl by itself if a spill or burn out occurs, or from solutions getting into the bed, and rebuild the mantle with four screws only. He shared the video from YouTube of one being built.
After that I was hooked like a fish on crack.
