Show us your DIY stir plate!

Frazeart · Dec 31, 2014

My repurposed mac mini. Turbocharged.

n240sxguy · Dec 31, 2014

Frazeart said:
My repurposed mac mini. Turbocharged.

That's gotta be the most expensive stir plate ever.

IronLion409 · Dec 31, 2014

First prototype ....

Westermans · Jan 5, 2015

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1420514568.853969.jpg

Just finished today.

Westermans · Jan 9, 2015

Finished product View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1420861903.208353.jpg

zgreenside · Jan 14, 2015

Never wanted to spend the $45-100 on a stir plate when I could just use a growler and shake it every few hours or when I could, but you guys have inspired me!

Parts list:
Cigar Box - $1
PC Fan - Free (Perks of working in IT)
Magnet - Free (Again

)
AC/DC Adapter - $9 (didn't know a cell phone charger would work...probably could've saved a few bucks)
Super glue - $4
Bolts #6-32 + nuts and washers - $2

I need to get some more pictures of it, but here it is:

I think I'm going to make another one soon, this time pay more attention and properly line up the fan to be dead center, and use a cell phone charger instead so that I can save the extra $9 for another yeast pack.

MI_Dogman · Jan 15, 2015

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421361407.845786.jpg

Cigar box!

govner1 · Jan 15, 2015

Another cigar box. Parts totaled about $10.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421364733.486982.jpg

Browningbuck · Jan 15, 2015

Trying a few different magnets

rowan57 · Jan 18, 2015

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421572434.075408.jpg

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421572459.731457.jpg

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421572533.436405.jpg

http://youtu.be/dkctBl9maj8

Very happy with this, I'm far from electrically inclined so it was a learning curve. Still need to solder the connections.

ibrewmyown · Mar 16, 2015

My neighbor and I brew together so we brew 24 gallons at a time. Many times we will do two different - 12 gallon batches into 4 - 6 gallon carboys and use two different yeasts in each batch to compare flavors. Even if we use the same yeast I need 4 stir plates for starters so I built a 4 place stir plate to do them all at once. The body I bent out of some aluminum and the top and bottom are stainless steel kick plates from a door. The stainless steel is a good quality so it does not effect the stir bar it any way. Here's a "Night Mode" picture as well as a video clip.

View attachment 2015-02-28 01.14.33.mov

CGish · Mar 16, 2015

Very Nice! Are those 2 liter flasks?

ibrewmyown · Mar 16, 2015

CGish said:
Very Nice! Are those 2 liter flasks?

Yes, they are all 2000 ml flasks. Sorry, I only had a video so I did a screen shot on my phone for this. The size is 8" x 28" x 2 1/2". I used a few old hard drives for the magnets, 4 computer fans and one power supply from an old phone I believe. The other parts were basic radio shack stuff (rheostat, switch and knob for each one)

DNKDUKE · Mar 16, 2015

ibrewmyown said:
My neighbor and I brew together so we brew 24 gallons at a time. Many times we will do two different - 12 gallon batches into 4 - 6 gallon carboys and use two different yeasts in each batch to compare flavors. Even if we use the same yeast I need 4 stir plates for starters so I built a 4 place stir plate to do them all at once. The body I bent out of some aluminum and the top and bottom are stainless steel kick plates from a door. The stainless steel is a good quality so it does not effect the stir bar it any way. Here's a "Night Mode" picture as well as a video clip.

SA-WEET!:rockin:

Frazeart · Mar 18, 2015

Fun repurposing.

View attachment Video Nov 02, 2 53 20 PM.mov

SteelManCM · Apr 6, 2015

From this:

To this:

Photo%2BFeb%2B26%2C%2B11%2B39%2B25%2BAM.jpg

See the build steps here.
http://imperialhops.blogspot.mx/2015/04/dual-stir-plate.html

1fast636 · Apr 9, 2015

ibrewmyown said:
My neighbor and I brew together so we brew 24 gallons at a time. Many times we will do two different - 12 gallon batches into 4 - 6 gallon carboys and use two different yeasts in each batch to compare flavors. Even if we use the same yeast I need 4 stir plates for starters so I built a 4 place stir plate to do them all at once. The body I bent out of some aluminum and the top and bottom are stainless steel kick plates from a door. The stainless steel is a good quality so it does not effect the stir bar it any way. Here's a "Night Mode" picture as well as a video clip.

That's a thing of beauty great work man love the stainless alum look lol

KatoBaggins · Apr 9, 2015

Here's mine. I completed it today. The wood was scrap that was laying around. Works pretty well. Thanks for all the help everyone. This thread made it fairly easy.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1428636723.194670.jpg

FlyBoyKnight · Apr 17, 2015

My stir plate. Old PC fan with its own 3 place speed control switch. Old cellphone charger, spare washer, + pack of magnets from Lowes ($3).

The fan mount from the tower I took it out of houses the fan nicely while providing a platform to place the starter flask on (I removed the center covering to expose the magnets better.)

PS: The blue "underglow" (as I call it) adds a nice bit of flare to the device lol

Browningbuck · Apr 25, 2015

I found I hated moving my stir plate system around, so I integrated it into my brew table! $25 and now have 4 + a mobile. Works great for getting the yeast going right before my pitch

Can even do 4 gallon growlers at once(only two pictured )

jfrank85 · Apr 29, 2015

Going to be my newest stir plate addition, it's cool to be envious.

View attachment 1430323669505.jpg

View attachment 1430323684984.jpg

EJay · May 7, 2015

Here's mine - nothing special, though i did use a PWM controller and it works awesome.

I'm in it about $13:

$3 box - thrift store
$3 fan - thrift store
$5 PWM controller (Amazon)
Free - 12V power supply (had it on hand)
Free - button magnets (had on hand)
$2 - nuts and bolts - hardware store.

EcuPirate07 · Jun 7, 2015

Black Island Brewer said:
My DIY Stir Plate, using a 9V power supply ($3), used cooling fan ($3), Radio Shack Rheostat and Switch ($10) the magnetic back off my nametag ($0) and a cigar box ($0). The stir bar was the most expensive single item, 1 7/8 octagon bar, $4.99 shipped off of eBay.

Life is Good!
David

Holy hell you sir are a genius! I was pissed that I threw away an old computer tower a month ago that I could have used to salvage a magnet from for my build. Then I came across this post just looking for ideas of builds, I have tons of those name badge magnets for my business. I know this post was 4 yrs ago but thanks!

1fast636 · Jun 8, 2015

ClaudiusB said:
Variable speed, thermoelectric temp controlled and air.

Fixed speed, temp controlled and air.

I was looking back threw some of these and this thing is killer

EcuPirate07 · Jun 8, 2015

jfrank85 said:
Going to be my newest stir plate addition, it's cool to be envious.

Actually picked up the same one tonight. Easiest $2.50 I ever spent. I noticed the top is pretty thick wood. Have you turned it into a stir plate yet? Trying to figure out if it will work through the wood or if I'll have to cut a hole in the top.

alphaomega · Jun 10, 2015

This is probably the fifth attempt I made at building a DIY stir plate, but the first that I'm actually happy with.
A few WiFi routers were upgraded at work and I thought the old ones had dimensions that seemed promising. Turns out this was a really excellent box for building a stir plate. It is just the right size and stiff enough not to flex too much.
This time I also used slightly better magnets (I've had trouble with previous versions throwing the bar). Also, I glued a large washer to the fan and just stuck the magnets to it. It made centering them a whole lot easier.

SteelManCM · Jun 15, 2015

Winning!

BaylessBrewer · Jun 21, 2015

Just finished this today. Took a little adjusting the magnets to get the stir bar to stay put but I got it .
Only thing is it won't pull a full vortex wit the flask full to the 2000ml line. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1434925795.200078.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1434925812.295172.jpg

Biscuits · Jun 21, 2015

SteelManCM said:
Winning!

I LOL'ed! I might have to turn my Cisco Router into something brew related now.

SteelManCM · Jun 22, 2015

I had a few Cisco Switches sitting around. You can get one on eBay for about $30. I have a 5L flask that was just too big for my other plates. This is a 48-Port Cisco Catalyst 2950. It's a 10/100 switch, so it's out dated. $7000 when they first came out. Funny how technology can cause a price to crash so far.

I just posted the full build here:

http://imperialhops.blogspot.com/2015/06/stir-plate-for-5l-flask.html

Show us your DIY stir plate!

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