Stir Plates
- Thread starter rkorn74
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
Lots of great reviews for stirstarters.com https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f173/stirstarters-com-278756/
https://bellsbeer.com/store/products/StirStarter-%2d-Yeast-Starter-Stir-Plate.html
Inexpensive and it works great. Highly recommend this one.
Inexpensive and it works great. Highly recommend this one.
I recommend stirstarters.com, if you want to buy a stirplate, they have a reliable warranty. BUT, If you are up to easily making a stirplate for cheap. Check out this thread, I used the same fan and have great results. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-shamelessly-cheap-12-diy-stir-plate-338695/
+1
Build one! It's super simple, fully customizable and you get the satisfaction of having built something yourself while saving a heap of cash. If I can do it, anyone can! :rockin:
+1 for this link: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-shamelessly-cheap-12-diy-stir-plate-338695/ It's about as basic as you can get.
+1 for this link: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-shamelessly-cheap-12-diy-stir-plate-338695/ It's about as basic as you can get.
stratslinger
Well-Known Member
Another recommendation on stirstarters here - check out their website. Even if you decide to go the DIY route, the guy offers up plans with pictures and everything on how to do it yourself. But these things cost only about $10 more than you could probably put one together for. For your time, the $10 is probably worth it.
Just a note about their service: I received one of these as a Christmas gift about a year ago. Recently, I've noticed that it's been tossing its stirbar quite frequently, so I emailed them to ask for advice on what I could do to fix the problem. Dan from Stirstarters emailed me back within a couple hours, asked for a number to call me at, and immediately gave me a call. We talked briefly, did a little troubleshooting, and as a result, I've got a brand new stirbar to try. If that doesn't correct the problem, he wants me to reach back out to him and he'll replace the stirplate. All this, just a little more than a year after the sale. Very good, very quick service. Nothing to complain about there!
Just a note about their service: I received one of these as a Christmas gift about a year ago. Recently, I've noticed that it's been tossing its stirbar quite frequently, so I emailed them to ask for advice on what I could do to fix the problem. Dan from Stirstarters emailed me back within a couple hours, asked for a number to call me at, and immediately gave me a call. We talked briefly, did a little troubleshooting, and as a result, I've got a brand new stirbar to try. If that doesn't correct the problem, he wants me to reach back out to him and he'll replace the stirplate. All this, just a little more than a year after the sale. Very good, very quick service. Nothing to complain about there!
Evan_L
Well-Known Member
Definitely more fun to make one! Really easy, even if you don't know electronics, plenty of posts to help you through it.
kombat
Well-Known Member
I'm going to go against the grain here and recommend AGAINST building one. I built one, and it didn't work. The power supply was not strong enough to turn the fan with the stir bar in place (although it would turn the fan alone). After I replaced the power supply with a strong one, it spun fine, but the stir bar wouldn't spin in the flask - it would just jump around a little, then be flung off to the side of the flask and sit there.
After all the cutting, drilling, wiring, breaking the magnet out of an old hard drive, I got discouraged and broke down and just bought one. Save yourself the frustration.
After all the cutting, drilling, wiring, breaking the magnet out of an old hard drive, I got discouraged and broke down and just bought one. Save yourself the frustration.
I agree. I've been working on one for the last couple of weeks. I've tried a couple of different magnets, boxes, trim heights...and I can't get the damn magnet and stir bar to play nice with each other. I think it's spinning too fast or something. I'm just going to buy one from StirStarter.
Do your research and you won't have this result (evidenced by all of the successful builds out there). Most fans will have a power consumption rating. ALL power supplies are have their current rating. If you're supply isn't enough, duh, of course it's not going to work!
If you're not mechanically or electrically inclined at all you could buy one. I considered buying one but I needed 4 so that become cost ineffective. I am building one from components I purchased plus parts laying around the house for $97.
Sounds like you had a magnet issue. Did you try to use any disc magnets or only the HDD magnet? Did you mount the magnet directly to the fan rotor or did you build a stand off? Did you have a speed control circuit or were you just running full blast? This probably doesn't apply to you since you used an HDD magnet but it is absolutely critical that when using disc magnets that one magnet is pointed N while the other is S. The stir bar itself is a magnet so it's going to be attracted to the opposite poles below it.
stratslinger
Well-Known Member
See, this is the line of thought I completely don't get... You can buy a StirStarter for $45, shipped. Everything's done. Now don't get me wrong - I'm a DIY guy myself. I've got a keggle HLT and brew kettle that I drilled myself and put together all the weldless fittings. I mounted my pump in a toolbox and added a couple bells and whistles. I built a fermentation chamber and an ebay temp controller. I figured that building vs buying a stirplate was almost a break even prospect once time was figured in, and I wanted to focus on other projects at the time. If I even thought for a second that the parts would cost more than double what the finished product would cost, I never would've had to stop and do any mental math to make a decision...
william_shakes_beer
Well-Known Member
There are a few peculiarities that you need to understand, but making a stir plate is no big deal, Just remember:
1. The stir bar needs to be at the geometric center of the fan to stir on the center of its length. If its off center it will get thrown when it encounters the resistance of the liquid.
2. The magnets (if you choose to use hard drive magnets which a lot of people do) need to be separated from the fan motor to prevent it from locking down the motor coils. That will also greatly reduce the amount of current required to get the bar turning.
3. You only need to move the liquid around. While its really cool to pull a tornado all the way to the bottom of the container, only continuous movement is really necessary
4. The starter container needs have a thinb flat bottom. An erhlyrmeyer flask works well. I'm sure there are also other containers available.
4. If you are not mechanically inclined, if you get frustrated easily, or if you feel uncomfortable working on something you are going to plug in to the wall (you know who you are) by all means there's no shame in purchasing one. I built mine because I had the parts, I read the threads in the DIY forum, and I have made small electrical projects in the past, and because the only sources I saw on amazon were scientific devices costing several hundred dollars. For some reason equipment usually used in a lab tends to be inordinately expensive.
1. The stir bar needs to be at the geometric center of the fan to stir on the center of its length. If its off center it will get thrown when it encounters the resistance of the liquid.
2. The magnets (if you choose to use hard drive magnets which a lot of people do) need to be separated from the fan motor to prevent it from locking down the motor coils. That will also greatly reduce the amount of current required to get the bar turning.
3. You only need to move the liquid around. While its really cool to pull a tornado all the way to the bottom of the container, only continuous movement is really necessary
4. The starter container needs have a thinb flat bottom. An erhlyrmeyer flask works well. I'm sure there are also other containers available.
4. If you are not mechanically inclined, if you get frustrated easily, or if you feel uncomfortable working on something you are going to plug in to the wall (you know who you are) by all means there's no shame in purchasing one. I built mine because I had the parts, I read the threads in the DIY forum, and I have made small electrical projects in the past, and because the only sources I saw on amazon were scientific devices costing several hundred dollars. For some reason equipment usually used in a lab tends to be inordinately expensive.
I think you overlooked the fact that he was building four stir plates for about $97that makes the cost of building one under $25. I spent about that much building mine, and it would have been less had I not spent $5 or so on underpowered magnets the first time around. After figuring that out, I got a couple of trashed hard drives, ripped the magnets out of them and ended up using one. Works like a champ!
These are the most important points to remember. An off center magnet will just toss the stir bar against the side of the flask. And a powerful magnet sitting directly on the fan won't even allow the motor to start. I used a little square of about 1" thick double-sided foam adhesive to space the magnet away from the motor. I even cut the blades off my fan to reduce resistance further.
But really, I have to question the patience of someone who won't even entertain the idea of building their own stir plate. I don't want to put anyone off, but patience and tinkering is pretty much the name of the game in homebrewing... But what do I know? :cross:
I built two and have plans to build a bunch more for friends or whoever (When I get some free time), but I've seen a Stirstarter unit in demo at Bells Brewery at an open house and I was impressed with the build. I'm actually a bit surprised at the quality (and from what I've read, the support) from a local company at that price.
If you decide not to build one yourself (It's easy if you are careful), I don't think you can go wrong with one from Stirstarters.
If you decide not to build one yourself (It's easy if you are careful), I don't think you can go wrong with one from Stirstarters.
Im a big DIY guy too, but i went with stirstarters.com. $45 free shipping and lifetime warranty. Cant beat it. Buy that one and make one for cheap and see which one you like better. Besides one of them might crap out soon and you will have a spare.
