Stirplate power?

SSBrew - 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Gumbys_Brew

Gumbys_Brew

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2008
Messages
404
Reaction score
10
ok i have put together a stirplateusing anthony_lopez's cheap and easy build with the exception of the box being an old cigar box and i did not put the magnet directly on the fan instead put it on a spacer (plastic/PVC) recommended by Dan Jeska (great idea and suggestion) from stir starters a vendor here on the boards.

everything works great except for it seems as if the magnet spins too fast for the stir bar to keep up even with the rheostat at its lowest setting. it will spin just really slow. i should also mention i do not have an actual stir bar yet was just testing it out with a screw driver extension piece and my power supply is 9vDC instead of 6Vdc as in the project sticky. is it that my power supply is too much power, or is it that i don't have an actual stir bar? although i cant see that making that much of a difference. i know i could be wrong though hopefully its that i dont have an actual stir bar
 
More Power!!

You canna change the laws of physics!

It's got to warm up!

If you mix the matter of the fan magnets, with the anti matter of the stir bar, the stir plate will be blown to bits!
 
more power? the fan spins plenty fast i'm just not sure if its too fast for the stir bar or in my case for just testing reasons a small metal rod. are you meaning to give the rod time to warm up to the stirplate?
 
I wouldn't go any higher than 5 volts on the power supply. Even at that, I can only use the lower range of the potentiometer.

Also, Stir Bars are magnetic so they will work much better than your screwdriver extension. Do yourself a favor and repay Dan Jeska for the information you got. Order a couple of his stirbars, thats where I got mine and he has a great price. You'll also get it in just a couple days
 
ok thats what i was afraid of because i'm using 9 volts i was afraid it was too much. it was the only one i had available to sacrifice for the project haha. well looks like i'll be going to the shack for a new power adapter. thanks for the help and info.

alright cool wasn't aware Dan Jeska had stir bars
 
Gumbys_Brew said:
more power? the fan spins plenty fast i'm just not sure if its too fast for the stir bar or in my case for just testing reasons a small metal rod. are you meaning to give the rod time to warm up to the stirplate?
Click to expand...

Sorry. I saw the thread title "Stirplate power" and it caused some bizzare childhood Mr Scott flashback.

I agree that you want a stir bar because it is magnetic and will give you better coupling. Also there is more than one way to skin a cat. I power my homemade stirrer of one of those Rat Shack power supplies that has multiple voltage settings. Instead of using a potentiometer in the circuit I just turn the voltage level up or down. I usually start at like 3 volts to begin then raise the voltage up. I think I end up at 5 or 7 volts for the level that gives me a good stir with 1.040 ish wort.
 
Zen_Brew said:
Sorry. I saw the thread title "Stirplate power" and it caused some bizzare childhood Mr Scott flashback.

I agree that you want a stir bar because it is magnetic and will give you better coupling. Also there is more than one way to skin a cat. I power my homemade stirrer of one of those Rat Shack power supplies that has multiple voltage settings. Instead of using a potentiometer in the circuit I just turn the voltage level up or down. I usually start at like 3 volts to begin then raise the voltage up. I think I end up at 5 or 7 volts for the level that gives me a good stir with 1.040 ish wort.
Click to expand...

lol no worries after i replied i finally figured out you were just playing around. i would have done the same thing just to let you know.:mug:
 
Yep, what they all said. Get a real stir bar. It will help.

Another thing you could try is, get a larger resistance POT or build a little voltage regulating circuit. You should be able to build one super cheap.

I might even have an extra one laying around. I used an old PWM circuit I had and I use a 12v power brick from an old router. I can adjust my Stirplate so the bar just barely spins or up to the point I think it is going to put an eye out when it kicks away.:rockin:
 
I actually use a power adapter I found at RadioShack that allows me to adjust the power output right on the adapter. I have the options for 3, 5, 6, 6.5, 7, or 7.5 VDC. Works great. I usually run my stirplate on the 3VDC setting with absolutely no throwing of the stirbar. http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3875410

Everyone else is right, you'll definitely need a stirbar. There's really no way to test how your stirplate functions until you have an actual stirbar to test with.
 
bad coffee said:
http://stuff.nekhbet.ro/2006/06/18/how-to-build-a-5v-regulator-using-78l05-7805.html
Click to expand...


Here is pretty much the same thing but it is adjustable with a potentiometer

http://www.national.com/mpf/LM/LM317.html#Overview

Here is a kit if you want to build one. Just replace the screw pot with a full size pot so you can mount it to your stirplate case.

http://www.electronix.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/499_501/products_id/19492

If you want to go this route I could help you out. I am in circuit building mode right now at my house. I am building a voltage regulator for some walmart digital thermometers I am putting into my rig. I am also building a PWM circuit for boil kettle control. Either one would work for your stirplate.

I could make an extra one and send it to you. It should not cost too much. I have to look but probably under $10
 
Gumbys_Brew said:
.
i should also mention i do not have an actual stir bar yet was just testing it out with a screw driver extension piece and my power supply is 9vDC instead of 6Vdc as in the project sticky. is it that my power supply is too much power, or is it that i don't have an actual stir bar? although i cant see that making that much of a difference. i know i could be wrong though hopefully its that i dont have an actual stir bar
Click to expand...

A real stir bar is also a magnet so it will be attracted to the other magnet on the fan .. All you are doing right now is moving a piece of steel with the magnet. My stir plate uses a 9v supply and works great
 
ok well its good new that its the stir bar or lack of stir bar. thanks to all the replys
 
CARL'S ELECTRONICS in Oakland Calif. They have 15 and 30 amp fully asswembled PWM for sale at $21.95 and $28.95. It sounds like overkill, I have the 15 amp PWM that I use for other projects is why the higher amperage. I use a small jack to connect it to many other projects. They also have assembled delayed start and stop timers, couple seconds each way to 20 minutes in NO / NC contacts. This on another project allows me to back flush and foward flush plus PWM and balance check fuel injectors. These units alone have paid for themselves 30 times over and counting. With no time to build within a couple days delivered what I needed and testing the same day. The PWM is also works great for the stir plate, the 4" fans are pigs and draw 0.72 amps each. I can run a couple stir plates at a time for the large stout starters.
 
Gumbys_Brew said:
ok i have put together a stirplateusing anthony_lopez's cheap and easy build with the exception of the box being an old cigar box and i did not put the magnet directly on the fan instead put it on a spacer (plastic/PVC) recommended by Dan Jeska (great idea and suggestion) from stir starters a vendor here on the boards.

everything works great except for it seems as if the magnet spins too fast for the stir bar to keep up even with the rheostat at its lowest setting. it will spin just really slow. i should also mention i do not have an actual stir bar yet was just testing it out with a screw driver extension piece and my power supply is 9vDC instead of 6Vdc as in the project sticky. is it that my power supply is too much power, or is it that i don't have an actual stir bar? although i cant see that making that much of a difference. i know i could be wrong though hopefully its that i dont have an actual stir bar
Click to expand...

You can use a higher resistance rheostat. I used a 25 ohm rheostat with 300 degree range of adjustment and I have a full complement of speeds from barely moving to a too high speed with my 12v power source.

How many RPM was your fan rated for at 12V?
 
alright well i have solved the problem thanks to the many replies here. what i did was swapped out the 9volt power supply for a 5 volt and then put in a small round magnet and it worked just fine now i need to get a stirbar to put it to use.
 
Randar said:
You can use a higher resistance rheostat. I used a 25 ohm rheostat with 300 degree range of adjustment and I have a full complement of speeds from barely moving to a too high speed with my 12v power source.

How many RPM was your fan rated for at 12V?
Click to expand...

thats actually exactly what i have a 300 degree 25ohm rheostat i'm not sure what the rpm rating is and don't really want to take the fan out to check. but since it works better and alot more smoother i'm guessing the rpms are pretty high.
 

Similar threads

Nagorg
Stir Bar Size for Maelstrom Stir Plate
Replies
17
Views
2K
wepeeler
wepeeler
H
Yeast starter not starting
Replies
16
Views
1K
HB2112
H
K
CraftBeerPi Wiring and Case Questions
Replies
6
Views
2K
kdw2pd
K
A
BrewPiLess esp32 Build
Replies
4
Views
609
DuncB
D
duncan.brown
Brewery Dashboard
Replies
18
Views
2K
suprchunk
suprchunk
SSBrew 300

Latest posts

Back
Top