I'll chime in here, as I'm a barber, and I use the Campbell's Lather King daily. They are designed to be left plugged in for extended periods of time, as once they've been unplugged and have cooled... it takes a least an hour to heat the lather up to optimal conditions. There are no 'On' or 'Off' switches... plugging the unit in is what turns on the heating element. We only unplug ours during the days we are closed. As for home use, I will just say that they probably aren't worth all the hassle. They do make a fairly large footprint when sitting in your bathroom and such. They are supposed to be used with a proprietary shave cream (either Campbells' or Gabel's), but instead, we mix Arko shave cream with the appropriate amount of water, and it makes a much better lather with which we use for our hot towel neck shaves, and our Luxury Hot Towel Shaves.
Now the hassle... They do require maintenance and cleaning from time to time (about once a month or so, because they do gunk up with all the residual lather, etc...). We take ours completely apart, wash and clean all the parts thoroughly, put them back together, then run the proprietary cleaner/conditioner through them.
There are no air-pumps, or high-tech electronics to make these machines work. Basically, there is a water tight cup (which holds the liquid shave cream), fitted with a tension valve, which when opened by the button, drips a small amount of lather down into a tube. Inside this tube, sits a large, Lucite worm gear (of course this gear is attached to the electric motor). The heating element is a large, coated wire, folded in on itself a few times, and sits just under the tube in which the lather drips into. Since the tube is made of a metal, the heat is transferred from the coated wire to the tube, thus heating by induction. The motor spins the worm gear at a very, very high rpm, and this is what mixes in the air to make the lather. Since the gear is a 'worm' gear, the spinning of this gear is what causes the lather to expel out the front in the correct direction. By pressing the button on the top, will simultaneously open the drip valve and turn the motor on. As soon as the button is let up on, the gear immediately stops spinning, so there is no oozing of lather coming from the exit hole.
This design hasn't changed in over 50 years, as I also have two vintage Lather Kings from the 1940's and the 1950's (all chromed, and just beautiful!), and the inner workings are exactly the same. The only difference is that the vintage models have a curved, ceramic heating element (much like you would see in a toaster) instead of a folded, coated wire. The vintage models are completely made of metal, whereas the more modern ones have plastic housings and motor coverings.
Now the hassle... They do require maintenance and cleaning from time to time (about once a month or so, because they do gunk up with all the residual lather, etc...). We take ours completely apart, wash and clean all the parts thoroughly, put them back together, then run the proprietary cleaner/conditioner through them.
There are no air-pumps, or high-tech electronics to make these machines work. Basically, there is a water tight cup (which holds the liquid shave cream), fitted with a tension valve, which when opened by the button, drips a small amount of lather down into a tube. Inside this tube, sits a large, Lucite worm gear (of course this gear is attached to the electric motor). The heating element is a large, coated wire, folded in on itself a few times, and sits just under the tube in which the lather drips into. Since the tube is made of a metal, the heat is transferred from the coated wire to the tube, thus heating by induction. The motor spins the worm gear at a very, very high rpm, and this is what mixes in the air to make the lather. Since the gear is a 'worm' gear, the spinning of this gear is what causes the lather to expel out the front in the correct direction. By pressing the button on the top, will simultaneously open the drip valve and turn the motor on. As soon as the button is let up on, the gear immediately stops spinning, so there is no oozing of lather coming from the exit hole.
This design hasn't changed in over 50 years, as I also have two vintage Lather Kings from the 1940's and the 1950's (all chromed, and just beautiful!), and the inner workings are exactly the same. The only difference is that the vintage models have a curved, ceramic heating element (much like you would see in a toaster) instead of a folded, coated wire. The vintage models are completely made of metal, whereas the more modern ones have plastic housings and motor coverings.
