Silca Wax System

[fogrider]

So, Josh has out done himself! it looks like a cool techie hot pot so this will put dent in the sale of crockpots. And with a built in stand, your coat hangers are safe. And I know in the days of $15K bikes, $100 bucks is not a huge ask, but a similar hot pot can be bought for $20 bucks for waxing. Am I missing something?

[Talrand]

Silca logo adds $80 value.

[Permanent socks]

I bought a silca wax system for my son. The main benefit compared to the crock pot that I've been using for years is the regulation of temperature.

Silca wax requires precise temp control. A crock pot isn't capable of that, either not getting the wax warm enough or more likely burning it from too much heat.

Similar to waxing skis if the wax smokes it's cooked. Using the silca pot i immediately noticed that there is less smell, meaning I was over heating my wax with a crock pot.

Seemed like a small price to pay for not ruiing $60cad worth of wax.

[marciero]

I "researched" options on this. There seem to be several broad categories of wax melting devices. You have crock pots or similar, wax pots for hair removal, medical device (forget what those did exactly), and for candle making. I guess the Silka unit would be a new category- made expressly for bike chains. Before Silca introduced their own unit, Josh raved about this instapot- for cooking as well as bike chains. It was still like $90 at my local Walmart. Way too many bells and whistles.

I settled on this pot for candle making. It had the right combo of capacity- not too big or too small - temp control, and price.

[blakcloud]

Someone posted something similar on an Instagram post and Josh responded. He said something like, though the outside is indeed the same as it is a cost consideration move, the internals were not. Better switching units and thermostat. Don't quote me on this but it was something along these lines.

[AngryScientist]

It just makes sense that they would offer a dedicated melter device.

You have to imagine the light bulb that went off in the marketeering war room:

"Dude, we're selling high zoot wax to guys who are melting it in $20 garage sale crock pots...."

An obvious opportunity.

[andrew+]

I just bought a $25 wax heater intended for hair removal and the Silca unit. The Silca's wax pot is slightly larger and the heating system does seem faster and more accurate. The chain hanging stand is also super helpful. I kept the Silca.

[marciero]

Originally Posted by blakcloud

Someone posted something similar on an Instagram post and Josh responded. He said something like, though the outside is indeed the same as it is a cost consideration move, the internals were not. Better switching units and thermostat. Don't quote me on this but it was something along these lines.

Im sure they would use quality components where it counts. They are Silca. Its a value proposition each of us have to make. Do I need one degree accuracy or is 2 degrees enough in a wax melter? Taking 6 minutes vs 9 minutes to heat up, etc. I would prefer a more stout pot but than the thin alu one but oh well. Actually I think Silca's is alu rather than say stainless or ceramic

[Mikej]

You can only do 1 chain at a time in the Silca pot. Also, it’s difficult to get a stiff chain in the Silca pot. They should include 4 of the wire chain holders. I have one, but a crock pot is better. I put it on low and vent / control the temp by offsetting the cover. Look, it’s still just parifin wax not some super technical compound. Seems like everything they come up with has some special way to make it work. Crock pot and a temp gun is the way I do it. I still use the red chain hanging stand though.

[Veloo]

When I did my first waxing a couple of months ago I was watching Josh's Youtube vids where he was using the Instant Pots. I recall he liked them for the quick heat up and temperature stability.

I've got a 3 qt Instant Pot and saw some inner pots on FB Marketplace for relatively cheap. Still haven't gotten around to getting one yet. May just get a whole pot in case it gets messy. Some go for as low as $30 on Marketplace.

I'm guessing even the 3 qt Instant pot it larger than the Silca one which appealed to me in case I'm not to careful with an flying wax.

[RoosterCogset]

Originally Posted by Permanent socks

I bought a silca wax system for my son. The main benefit compared to the crock pot that I've been using for years is the regulation of temperature.

Silca wax requires precise temp control. A crock pot isn't capable of that, either not getting the wax warm enough or more likely burning it from too much heat.

Similar to waxing skis if the wax smokes it's cooked. Using the silca pot i immediately noticed that there is less smell, meaning I was over heating my wax with a crock pot.

Seemed like a small price to pay for not ruiing $60cad worth of wax.

$15 gets you a crockpot on Amazon that has a 160 degree warm setting. Silca isn't that 'precise' in dictating temp, saying anywhere between 150-190 degrees. Heck, this is one of their methods for heating up their wax

[unterhausen]

An NTC thermistor and temperature controller costs $30 from amzon and makes any crock pot a precision heater.

[NHAero]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

An NTC thermistor and temperature controller costs $30 from amzon and makes any crock pot a precision heater.

Would you link what you’re referencing please?

[julian3141]

Originally Posted by RoosterCogset

$15 gets you a crockpot on Amazon that has a 160 degree warm setting. Silca isn't that 'precise' in dictating temp, saying anywhere between 150-190 degrees. Heck, this is one of their methods for heating up their wax

This method works fine for me. Quite happy with how the chain comes out and it's very hard to overheat the wax, also it costs zero extra dollars.

[Wunder]

I use a mini deep fryer. Some degree of temp control and much more powerful than a crock pot so melts quicker. I’m sure the Silca one is fine too but mine was like $20 from Best Buy on clearance.