Need help troubleshooting my stir plate

[whovous]

Last night I made a starter in a 2L flask and put it on my Maelstrom stir plate. This morning, we had a power failure that lasted several hours. My wife called me when the power came back on.

Each of the four buttons (Power, Speed, Time & Pause) works as expected (i.e., the LCD readout lights, changes displayed speed or time, etc), but the stir plate does nothing. The unit blinks when the speed is changed. Is this an error function?

I found the "Owner's Manual" online, but it is singularly unhelpful; it contains no troubleshooting advice, and no name, address nor phone for the manufacturer.

The good news is that I was able to find my order on Amazon, so I should be able to return it. Still, I'd rather make it work than go through all that hassle.

Does anyone know how to troubleshoot a stir plate? This was a really nice toy when it worked.

 

[xpops]

you most likely need to know enough about electronics to open it up, use a multi-meter to check voltage on the components to see if the power outage took anything out.

I'm not familiar with that model, but it sounds like it could be an issue with the motor if all lights/buttons work, but no spin.

Depending on what you spent, it might make more sense to return and get a new unit rather than mess with it, not fix it, and void the warranty :S

 

[Nokt]

First thing I would do is unplug it and wait 1 minute. Plug it back in and see if it works.

 

[whovous]

I'll check when I get home, but I suspect the box won't open easily, so getting inside to check the voltage likely will void the warranty. Good point.

I will try the long unplugging suggestion. We've already tried a few seconds a few times.

 

[xpops]

if you're going to try the long unplug, also hold down the power button while it's unplugged. That will help drain any capacitors of any energy, depending on what kind of circuitry they have going on inside the thing.

 

[Morrey]

The good thing about Amazon is that if you are still in the return period, they will credit your account as soon as they see the return label scanned at UPS. Personally, I'd return it (if possible) since this indicates a failure that may resurface at any time. I have this same stir plate and it doesn't seem easy to work on for the typical home user.

I'd rather be safe with a new unit than sorry I kept it and it fails (again) after the return period is over....your decision is up to you of course.

 

[whovous]

I bought the Maelstrom thru Amazon via Northern Brewer. Their reviews suggest returning for exchange should not be much of a problem. I will likely do that, but I want to brew the next two weekends and would really like to have this thing for starters between now and then.

I took a closer look when I got home, and it looks like six Philips screws hold the top on. If I want to open it up, I should be able to put it back together with no trouble. If I want to open it up.

Anyway, I got home this afternoon after several hours unplugged, and found three things:
1) It powered up and the magnets spun the first time I tried;
2) The magnets do not spin every time I run through the cycle. This is not a voltage thing; if they do not spin with the power at 1, the magnets won't spin with the power at 5. However, if I go through the cycle again (the unit takes increases from 1 to 5, then resets to 0, there is no other way to turn it down), it very well may start up again the next time through;
3) The third thing is the weirdest. With the starter in the 2L flask, I cannot get a vortex, or anything resembling a vortex, to save my life. The Maelstrom used to make it extremely easy to get a vortex, to the point where I always felt the need to turn it down because the cone was too big. Now, it either rattles continuously or it throws the bar off to the side and goes quiet.

I put another bar in a 1L flask with water and it is a simple task to line the bar up over the center and get a vortex almost without trying.

I feel like I am missing something here, but I have no idea what it might be.

Thoughts?

 

[whovous]

3) The third thing is the weirdest. With the starter in the 2L flask, I cannot get a vortex, or anything resembling a vortex, to save my life. The Maelstrom used to make it extremely easy to get a vortex, to the point where I always felt the need to turn it down because the cone was too big. Now, it either rattles continuously or it throws the bar off to the side and goes quiet.

I put another bar in a 1L flask with water and it is a simple task to line the bar up over the center and get a vortex almost without trying.

I feel like I am missing something here, but I have no idea what it might be.

Thoughts?

It turns out the stir bar in the 2L is much longer than the stir bar in the 1L. Short bars center more easily. I will probably still exchange the Maelstrom, but simply using a shorter bar will likely solve many problems. It does not explain why the longer bar centered before the power failure and not after, but I think I can live without solving that mystery.

 

[Morrey]

It turns out the stir bar in the 2L is much longer than the stir bar in the 1L. Short bars center more easily. I will probably still exchange the Maelstrom, but simply using a shorter bar will likely solve many problems. It does not explain why the longer bar centered before the power failure and not after, but I think I can live without solving that mystery.

Different sized bars make a big difference in what happens. I bought a 7 pk of assorted bars from Amazon to go along with some 1" and 1.5" bars I already had. By filling the flask with tap water and experimenting with various bars, you can really get a feel for what each bar does and the vortex it can create at various speed settings.

I generally do a two day starter. I'll start the bar on one speed when beginning the starter, then increase the speed as the yeast count builds and the starter gets thicker maybe on day 2. Just play around with various bars and see what they offer.

 

[kh54s10]

I guess from what I read, that the stirplate is not working correctly? I imagine it took a surge when the power came back on and it fried something in the circuitry. If you can get it replaced I would go that route.

I think the stirbar thing might be partially related. If it worked before, and doesn't now, it could be the electronics have changed the action of the stirplate. But different bars will act differently.

 

[whovous]

Power outages are a way of life here in DC, so I do not think there was a surge involved like you might get in a storm. This was a blue sky outage. Still, it does seem like something happened.

I think this starter pretty much finished on its own, so I am probably OK this time. I need to do another starter in a day or two, and will hold off on the exchange until that one is done. It is interesting how much difference a larger stir bar can make. The increased distance between the poles of the magnet makes centering more difficult, I guess.