Considering buying a stir plate. Suggestions?

[tiredofbuyingbeer]

I'm thinking about buying a stir plate. I want the one that will be least expensive to me in the long term while also able to properly aerate 2 liters of starter in an Erlenmeyer flask. Any advice?

 

[dstockwell]

http://www.stirstarters.com/

 

[h22lude]

Stir Starters is used by a lot on HBT including me (http://www.stirstarters.com/index.html). It does work but I think there are better ones out there. I have always had trouble with the bar not staying (and I use the bar it came with).

Kal from The Electric Brewery has high reviews for this one (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...ry-20&linkId=f31bc5cecffb370ee2bf94dfe648c16e). I will probably get this one after I buy a few other things I want first. (http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=321636)

 

[kh54s10]

If you have an old computer handy and have some DIY skills you could make one for less than $15. If you have things to scavenge you could do it for even less. I built mine in a cigar box that I already had. I had to buy a potentiometer at Radio Shack, and some screws. I already had some polyurethane for the box. Total for me was $7.40

There are other threads on stirplates with links to cheap ones.

 

[Burquebrewer]

If you have an old computer handy and have some DIY skills you could make one for less than $15. If you have things to scavenge you could do it for even less. I built mine in a cigar box that I already had. I had to buy a potentiometer at Radio Shack, and some screws. I already had some polyurethane for the box. Total for me was $7.40

There are other threads on stirplates with links to cheap ones.

+1. Build it and save $100 or more.

 

[IslandLizard]

If you have an old computer handy and have some DIY skills you could make one for less than $15. If you have things to scavenge you could do it for even less. I built mine in a cigar box that I already had. I had to buy a potentiometer at Radio Shack, and some screws. I already had some polyurethane for the box. Total for me was $7.40

There are other threads on stirplates with links to cheap ones.

Exactly ^

If you're a little handy you can build your own. And use 2 strong magnets (eBay, KJ Magnetics, Amazon, etc.).

I think Gavin found the easiest one to build from a portable USB fan, IIRC.

 

[kh54s10]

+1. Build it and save $100 or more.

Maybe save about $40. http://shop.greatfermentations.com/product/stirstarter-2-liter-stir-plate/yeast-nutrients-starter-supplies/

Did the price on the Stirstarter increase a lot over the last few years? I thought it used to be about $30.

 

[hezagenius]

I use this one and like it a lot. $42 and Prime shipping, not too shabby. I think I paid close to $60 for it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008F0CTBA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[h22lude]

+1. Build it and save $100 or more.

I'm sure there are some that cost over $100 but most for home brewing are well under $100. $45 for Stir Starter and $60 for the one Kal uses. If someone has no parts and needs to buy them all, they may save $20 DIYing it (if that).

I'm all for DIY but if I'm only saving $20 or so, I usually just buy it especially if that product has really great reviews. Like the eBay STC-1000. I built mine a few years ago but now would just buy an Ink Bird.

 

[tiredofbuyingbeer]

Thanks for the advice. I ended up going with the stir plate h22lude recommended. Seems like a reasonable price range. Seems like a good bet since the Braukaiser guy uses it and his observational data seem to be the most reliable available to me for predicting starter cell growth.

 

[tiredofbuyingbeer]

I'm not sure I want to deal with the frustration of trying to build one when the alternative is about a $50 purchase. Haven't soldered in a few years and I don't feel confident in my ability to put together something reliable.

 

[kh54s10]

I'm not sure I want to deal with the frustration of trying to build one when the alternative is about a $50 purchase. Haven't soldered in a few years and I don't feel confident in my ability to put together something reliable.

I put mine together 5 years ago following a DIY thread on HBT. It took an hour or so. I hadn't soldered any for a decade previously, and haven't since.

It has been totally reliable. It occasionally will throw the stirbar. But I hear some still have that with commercially made stirplates also.

I had an old computer that was going to be recycled, and decided to give it a try. For me it was a fun project and was not frustrating.

 

[stz]

I'd love to be able to justify buying a nice one, but nice ones are quite expensive and the cheaper ones aren't much better than what I could DIY. Get a 9V-12V volt DC motor, a PWM voltage controller board, a suitable DC adaptor, chassis mount switch, chassis mount power socket to match the adaptor, a stack of neodymium magnets N40+, a stirrer bar and a plastic project box/hammond enclosure. All these things are easily scavenged or $1-$2 on ebay. You only need a little wire, solder, soldering iron, drill, hot glue gun and a few pieces of scrap plastic to mount and shim things. I had most of it laying around, PWM boards to spare because I bought a few different types to build a pump controller. Had some foam sticky pads laying around which meant I could even give it some sexy anti skid/vibration feet.

 

[Burquebrewer]

I'm not sure I want to deal with the frustration of trying to build one when the alternative is about a $50 purchase. Haven't soldered in a few years and I don't feel confident in my ability to put together something reliable.

Soldering? What soldering, lol. I built this last year using an old cardboard sony camera box (free), a cpu fan from an old PC I had laying around (free), rare earth magnets from said PC (free), a plate of glass from a small picture frame I had broken a while before (free) and a variable voltage DC converter from radio shack ($7.99). As you can see from the picks below, there is no soldering involved. I've used it about 20 times and I rocks! I can adjust the voltage on the plug to adjust the speed of the rotation.

$7.99 and stuff I had lying around.

 

[Burquebrewer]

I've used this with a 2 liter flask and even used a one gallon carboy a couple of times for 10.5 gallon batches, because the speed is adjustable, it never throws the stir bar either! Its ugly, but I don't care about that...it makes great starters, which make great beers! If the cardboard box gets ruined, I'll just replace it with another! I may wind up putting it in a wooden box down the line, but so far have not needed to change anything.

 

[dadbrew]

My friend teaches high school chemistry and gave me an old stir plate. Also, if you have any friends who work in labs, they might be good to hit up too. Call me a mooch, but free stuff is pretty cool.