Home made calf adlib feeder

[Bangoverthebar]

I was going to buy the heat time ad lib calf feeder. It can only feed 30 calves, the heater box is 2.2kw.
Im keen to try built a home made version.
You can buy a 3kw inline water heater, 1/2" bsp in and out reduce down to 8mm oipe through a hiko teat. Would it work. 4 pens of 20
Thanks

 

[Moors Lad]

You may have to explain a bit more what you want to do .. Do you mean the Heatwave feeder? They have a tank of water kept at a set temperature by a knob with a scale ( showing temperature) - the mixed milk passes through a plastic spiral pipe in the tank and comes out at the other end at the temperature that was set on the dial.
It looks like you want to pass the milk straight through a heater (doing away with the tank of "hot" water) ... How will you make sure it comes out at the correct temperature? Certainly with lamb milk it doesn`t actually "feel" very hot when at the correct temperature, just something to bear in mind - your in-line water heater may prove too "hot" for calf milk....

 

[Bangoverthebar]

You may have to explain a bit more what you want to do .. Do you mean the Heatwave feeder? They have a tank of water kept at a set temperature by a knob with a scale ( showing temperature) - the mixed milk passes through a plastic spiral pipe in the tank and comes out at the other end at the temperature that was set on the dial.
It looks like you want to pass the milk straight through a heater (doing away with the tank of "hot" water) ... How will you make sure it comes out at the correct temperature? Certainly with lamb milk it doesn`t actually "feel" very hot when at the correct temperature, just something to bear in mind - your in-line water heater may prove too "hot" for calf milk....

Most inline water heaters are temp controlled.38c-50c
The heatwaves limitation is it can only heat so much milk at one time. The more calves drinking, the cooler the milk.
A water heater would have more power so it could heat more milk per minute. £100 will buy a water heater

 

[Moors Lad]

If you went down the heatwave route you`d need 2 which might look expensive but I suppose it`s hard to know if 2 of those or your home made job would be the most efficient in terms of power consumption. Electricity is not a cheap item any more so you`d need to know which was going to be the least power hungry. It would soon pay for the 2 heatwaves if your gadget was more expensive to run OR you might save a fortune....!

 

[coniser]

We have some of them water heaters under sinks in a shepherds hut they are ok in the summer but struggle in the winter unless running very slow

 

[Bangoverthebar]

Any idea what power your are.
I cant find how much a calf drinks per minute

 

[coniser]

Any idea what power your are.
I cant find how much a calf drinks per minute

The water heaters are 4kw they were the biggest we could find 8 years ago. The temp can be set but it depends on the water is flowing. The shower in the hut is 10kw

 

[coniser]

Should have said the heater is on the mains water dont know if they would work of a tank supply

 

[Bangoverthebar]

Should have said the heater is on the mains water dont know if they would work of a tank supply

Calves would be sucking milk through the heater

 

[coniser]

Calves would be sucking milk through the heater

Should have thought about that