Can you install leds that show which magnets are firing as well?
Has anyone tried a motor-less stir plate using sequenced electromagnets? I know it's difficult to beat the price on throw away muffin fans, but thinking all that wasted mechanical motion is pointless.
Aren't many of the computer case fans folks use for stirplates brushless anyway? I suspect you'd have to get something like that really close to the starter vessel - probably wouldn't be generating much of a field, and the diameter is awfully small.
Still, it might be an interesting exercise to disassemble a case fan (remove the fan blade part) and see if you could get a stir bar to spin separated by a piece of glass or plexiglass.
Has anyone tried a motor-less stir plate using sequenced electromagnets? I know it's difficult to beat the price on throw away muffin fans, but thinking all that wasted mechanical motion is pointless.
I think my Lab disk, VWR made by IKA works that way. The thing is less than a 1/2" thick. I's rated for 800ml but I've used it for 1 liter starters. The description is:
VWR Lab Disc Magnetic Stirrer 115V, 50/60Hz. Speed: 15-1500rpm. Stirring capacity: 800mL of water. Ultra-flat stirrer with advanced magnetic coil technology has no moving parts to wear out. Direction of rotation can be set to reverse every 30 seconds. Polyester plate surface. 11.4Wx16.1Dx1.2Hcm
I use it for small starters or when snatching yeast from a bottle,
I use my StirStarter for anything larger.
I'l like to take one of these apart - like I said in my last post I could not wind strong enough magnets and I want to see how they did theirs.
I've never seen another one come up for sale. I bought it used 5 years ago. The phone number on the back is (910) 452-7059. Maybe you could get some info from them.
I did a chase on-line and it looks like the model didn't survive. I'd think if it were truely better than the rotating magnet model then they would still be acound and would have at least 3 cometitors building something similar by now.
You could just buy a stir plate - several of us are building low cost versions for sale.
Without sidelining this discussion, each of us think our design is the best.
I'm still lmao reading some of the older threads. Had no idea it was such a cutthroat market.
I wonder if you can understand what I'm going through. These things are, like, OMG it's 1980 again and I'm reading the IC Cookbook with LM317 and 555 timer hacks. And I somehow can't get myself to drive to Radio Shack to see if they have a muffin fan hanging on their wall.
Couldn't I just pump air into the starter with the aquarium pump and approximate all this stirring?
BTW, I'm about to launch a stir plate that will easily stir a 5 gallon batch. I have a batch on my prototype now and it's happily stirring away. This stir plate is not for starters even though you could do a starter on one. It's for high gravity brews that tend to stall before they finish.
How much? Very interested. I can imagine many microbreweries that might be interested in this. For those guys, 5 gallons is a starter
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