Stirplate shenanigans!

So I accidentally bought a magnetic stirrer on eBay. Thermolyne Model S131125Q Cimarec stirrer. This thing is big! The top plate is 7"x7" and it weighs a ton.



It rolls from 60-1200 RPM and can handle loads up to 25# on the plate. I'm still waiting for my Erlenmeyer flasks to come in so I put a flat bottom plastic bucket on there with over a gallon of water. The green dye was just for fun

At medium speeds it pulled a really nice vortex.



Then I cranked it up towards the high end of the spectrum. The vortex came all the way down and started sucking air bubbles into the solution. Made a really cool looking show!



I wonder if the extra air would be good for the yeast or the ridiculous RPM would obliterate the poor little guys. That picture was probably at about 1000 RPM.

-Joe

Holy crap! what did you pay for that thing? Mine (homemade) can barely pull a vortex with more than 1.5L. If I spin it faster it throws the bar.

I paid $100 and it's brand new. It normally retails around $300.

As for throwing the bar, this one will throw it if you crank the speed up too quickly. If you ramp it up nice and smoothly it'll stay centered. Maybe you can squeeze a few more RPMs out of yours if you go really slowly

-Joe