Double Stir Plate - Home Made

[Anthony_Lopez]

I fear The Pol might have missed my quote a few pages back...

Thanks for the kind words... you should give it to the original poster of this thread, since this is his chance to show off what he made!

 

[The Pol]

YOU inspired him, you are an inspiration.

 

[Anthony_Lopez]

And fortunately for "The Pol", I mispoke while very drunk 10 years ago and called a hulkish looking woman a, "HERMS"

i was talking about this one...

 

[The Pol]

I saw that, do I need to put you in the credits on my vids now too, since you INVENTED HERMS?

 

[Anthony_Lopez]

that would be stellar... also,do i need to PM Tx to let him know about me inventing brewing forums?

 

[The Pol]

You are missing out on some royalties. You need to file a lawsuit.

 

[Anthony_Lopez]

Hehe... i'm gonna leave this thread for the OP...

 

[keelanfish]

I love this place. You guys are very entertaining.

 

[Tripod]

So, first off, I got the inspiration for this DIY project from Anthony Lopez (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-stirplate-cheap-easy-build-86252/) and from a guy in my homebrew club who had the ingenious idea of building a single stir plate out of a rubbermaid container. Thanks to both for the ideas!

So, I decided I'd like to have two stirplates so I could use 1000 mL flasks and still do a big starter. I used cooling fans that had adjustable speed controls built in. I had them, but if you don't, coolerguys.com is an excellent source. I used an old power supply from a computer I had and it has a built in on/off switch, so that was nice. Note, in power supplies, black wires are ground, reds are 5 volt DC and yellows are 12 volt DC. I first hooked up to the red and the fans didn't spin very fast. But when I changed over to the yellows I had to turn them down. Below are a couple pics of the build:

1 Rubbermaid Container $7.00
2 Computer cooling fans (adjustable speed) $salvaged
1 Computer Power Supply $salvaged
2 Harddrive Magnets $salvaged
1 Tube of Crazy Glue $2.50
3 Wire Nuts (had them)

So, for under $10, I built a double stirplate. Still waiting for my stirrods, it's a little sad that they are more expensive than the plate, but you can't have everything.

Finished Stir Plate

Top Removed

Also note I drilled some vent holes in the sides of the containers. Power supplies have a tendancy to get hot, so this was important. The container's lid is water tight, but with the holes drilled for the on/off switch and vents, I would classify as water resitant. I would recommend using on a GFCI protected outlet.

This is an excellent idea! I have been searching for a project box that was big enough for the fan I've been using and the rubbermaid is brilliant! Further, it is water-proof (or at least it can be) and super easy to open if you need to get into it.

Sometimes the simplest answers are right in front of you...I tend to over complicate things.

-Tripod

 

[GreenMan]

Is it possible to use too big of a magnet to stir? Like I understand that you don't want to use a larger magnet in the beaker then you have on the fan to prevent throwing it but if you got a bigger fan like a 120mm or even a 230mm you could put a larger magnet on that to use a larger magnet in the beaker. This size case would allow for a larger fan.

 

[Anthony_Lopez]

I don't think you are going to find a magnet weaker than the stir bars we are using when culturing. The biggest issue in using a super strong magnet would be slowing down the fan due to the magnet's field interrupting with the fan.

 

[GreenMan]

That makes sense. Thanks.