What Magnets/Stir Bar do you use for your Stir Plate?

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I use two of the 1/4"x1/8" rare earth disc magnets from magnacraft at amazon.com They work great.
 
I use one magnet from a hard drive centered on a 12 volt fan.

2219000680026788845S425x425Q85.jpg



I got the stirbar from McMaster-Carr.

I had other stuff to order and just added them on.
 
I recently picked up 6 stir bars on eBay for less than $15.....food for thought.
 
I get my stir bars from Northern Brewer. I wait until I am ordering something else due to their flat rate shipping. My magnets came from a harddrive, but you can get several different sizes at RadioShack.

Also, I keep a magnetic wreath hanger (for a front door) in my brew box. That way if you pitch the bar in the carboy by accident, you can easily fish it up the side of the glass.
 
I just used the other magnet from the hard drive as a stir bar. Shoved it into a piece of vinyl tubing and then cut and sealed the ends of the tubing with pliers and a lighter. Works great.
 
@MSUConrad, I was curious about that, I just finished my stir-plate build and after testing with water and some black pepper I almost dumped my stir bar down the drain and was curous what to do if it ends up in the fermenter... Thanks for the tip
 
lowlife said:
Im curious why they need the band in the middle?
Click to expand...

It gives the bar something to rotate on reducing friction and allowing better vortexing. plus it makes less noise. Also helps if you have a weak magnet.
 
mobilecabinworks said:
It gives the bar something to rotate on reducing friction and allowing better vortexing. plus it makes less noise. Also helps if you have a weak magnet.
Click to expand...

I bought some of those. The stir bar kept getting thrown. I took a razor blade and removed the band. No more thrown bars.
 
Harvestsmiles said:
@MSUConrad, I was curious about that, I just finished my stir-plate build and after testing with water and some black pepper I almost dumped my stir bar down the drain and was curous what to do if it ends up in the fermenter... Thanks for the tip
Click to expand...

It's a good idea to have an extra magnet around to attach to your flask and hold your stir bar when decanting and pouring your starter into your batch. Unfortunately, if you lose your stir bar in your fermentor, I would just suggest leaving it there until your transfer your beer. To me the risk of reaching in to get it isn't worth it, though I guess you could try to fish it out with a sanitized spoon. Since your stir bar should be sanitized, I wouldn't be worried about leaving it in the fermentor, just make sure you remember to get it out later so you don't dump it down the drain (made that mistake)...
 
mtnbikerbrewer said:
It's a good idea to have an extra magnet around to attach to your flask and hold your stir bar when decanting and pouring your starter into your batch. Unfortunately, if you lose your stir bar in your fermentor, I would just suggest leaving it there until your transfer your beer. To me the risk of reaching in to get it isn't worth it, though I guess you could try to fish it out with a sanitized spoon. Since your stir bar should be sanitized, I wouldn't be worried about leaving it in the fermentor, just make sure you remember to get it out later so you don't dump it down the drain (made that mistake)...
Click to expand...

**TIP - If you want your stirbar out of your flask or fermenter, you can get a nice rare earth magnet and slide the magnet up the side and the stirbar will follow, right up to the top.

To prevent scratching, just place a thin piece of paper or fabric between the magnet and the fermenter/flask.

This will get the stirbar right up to the lip and onto the magnet without having to touch the fermenter.
:mug:
 
LandoLincoln said:
I bought some of those. The stir bar kept getting thrown. I took a razor blade and removed the band. No more thrown bars.
Click to expand...

Thrown bars tends to be an issue of too fast of a rotation ( you don't need to spin super fast to keep yeast suspended), or a vessel with a bottom that is not flat (like a mason jar or growler). Removing the band probably allowed enough fiction to keep the bar from throwing. If it works, use it!
 
I know this thread is old, but since this is the everything stir bar thread...

I built a little DIY from a computer fan, a hard drive magnet, and a small stir bar. The only stir bar my shop carries is a half inch. When hooking the fan to 9V the bar gets thrown. I have to hook it to a 5V adapter to get it to not throw. But at that speed and that size bar I am only getting a small 3/4" dimple in a 1,000ml starter. Is this enough to oxygenate it? How could I increase the vortex without throwing the stir bar? Would a larger stir bar create a larger vortex without throwing at the same speed?

Thanks!
 
steelerguy said:
I just used the other magnet from the hard drive as a stir bar. Shoved it into a piece of vinyl tubing and then cut and sealed the ends of the tubing with pliers and a lighter. Works great.
Click to expand...

Is it really necessary to encapsulate the harddrive magnet. What harm is there in letting it come in contact with the starter (assuming that you sanitized it)?
 
Has anyone ever used on of these cross shaped stirring bars? Seems like they would generate the most turbulence.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007EZ3IBW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I tested my homemade "zero cost" stir plate with a hard drive magnet in a mason jar... awesome vortex. I think I'm going to try that since I haven't spent any additional funds on this.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
O.k. I also picked up the small disc earth magnets from Harbor Freight. How exactly did you place them, because mine are not spinning the stir bar. I tried placing one in the middle and then three straight across and neither worked. What am I doing wrong? We use this to make colloidal silver and feeling under the weather. Help please. :) It would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thank you, so o.k. to put it in Lehmans terms then just flip them till they are on the side that has a stronger "attraction" for lack of better words? Did you use just one of them??? Many thanks
 
rengelma said:
Has anyone ever used on of these cross shaped stirring bars? Seems like they would generate the most turbulence.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007EZ3IBW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I tested my homemade "zero cost" stir plate with a hard drive magnet in a mason jar... awesome vortex. I think I'm going to try that since I haven't spent any additional funds on this.
Click to expand...
No but I use this one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002VBW6QC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

519ovsf5N-L.jpg

which is not the typical pill shape but more like a cylinder with some corners carved away and it works great. Very easy to spin up even in my 5L flask and seems to create a lot of liquid agitation. I use a pretty cheapo homemade stirplate which cost me only $3 for the rheostat as I had everything else and that spin bar has been rock solid on it over four starters.

I paid only $3.95 with free shipping for it at the beginning of the summer and for some reason the price skyrocketed later.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
spirulina said:
Thank you, so o.k. to put it in Lehmans terms then just flip them till they are on the side that has a stronger "attraction" for lack of better words? Did you use just one of them??? Many thanks
Click to expand...

North poles only attract south poles and vice versa. Stir bars tend to be north on one end and south on the other, even when they are build of two magnets. If you use 2 magnets on your stir plate, you have to make one north pole up and one south pole up or both sides of the plate will be trying to attract only one side of your stir bar, rather than each magnet separately attracting one side of the bar and matching the spin.

So.. not stronger attraction exactly, but one side will attract and the other will repel, so as long as one is up and one is down on the plate it will be able to match with the bar. Just make sure the two magnets you use for the plate attract each other on the sides you use in the up position like on the bottom picture below. On my plate, I only used one to save magnets, but I understand that when used correctly two magnets create a stronger field. No worries at all :)

9DG9ztS.png
 

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