My Stirplate... Cheap and Easy Build...

[tnorman93638]

Thanks mikerunsmountains. I tested for about 4-5 hours and it didn't get hot. So, I don't think I'll put holes in it. I bought the Pyrex after looking at the cheaper ones and I'm glad I did. Magnets are right under the lid. I can even open the lid and put the piece of plexiglass on it for looks if I want. Pretty cool looking with just water in the dark.

 

[mikerunsmountains]

Awesome. Used mine for 48 hours just as a test with no problems and no holes or anything in it.

 

[adamdillabo]

Just got mine finished up. Stir bar should be coming tomorrow.

Does this look right? Anything I should change?
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1426529760.259190.jpg

 

[mikerunsmountains]

Looks good! Just make sure those wires are secured in a way there's no risk of them getting into the fan. The one other thing that I did was put some hot glue around the power source cord on the inside of the box so that it couldn't get pulled on. Or find a tight rubber grommet or something.

 

[ibrewmyown]

My Stirmimator. All I have was a video so it's a screen shot. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1426558087.936856.jpg

 

[adamdillabo]

Just got my stir bar in the mail and could wait to fire it up trying to harvest some ommagang yeast.

It's really loud. And I can't start it on the plate. I have to hold it up a quarter of an inch and turn it on. The fan won't turn because of the strong connection. Once it gets going I can set it down. I put about ten napkins underneath but it's still clicks and clacks. Any suggestions?

 

[ibrewmyown]

I have some really strong magnets on mine and I don't have an issue with them being too strong. As far as the noise goes, you don't really have to have the stir bar dead center in the flask bottom. Mine is loud in certain positions. I just slid the flask around till it got quite and left it in that position and it made a huge difference in the noise. It could have been as far as an inch off center. There's also stir bars with a rib or ring in the center that I was told make less noise but I haven't tried them.

Do you have a picture? Did you make the stir plate? Maybe the fan is too close to the top?

 

[adamdillabo]

There's a pic of the inside a few post up. Here's it spinning. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1426732567.967193.jpg
Wife doesn't care for it. But I want to watch it. And make sure it doesn't catch on fire.

 

[ibrewmyown]

Hers a link to my post with a short video of my Quadrastir. The noise you hear is when the vortex sucks air. Keep in mind, there's 4 of them spinning at high speed so it sound like its loud but truthfully in person it's pretty quiet.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=6767095

 

[mikerunsmountains]

Adam, like ibrewmyown mentioned, try using a stirbar that has the rib/ring around the middle of it (if you're not already). I ended up putting a piece of that anti-skid drawer liner stuff under my flask and that quieted it down a bit. I also noticed that once I got my Pyrex brand flask, as opposed to the cheap off-brand one I had borrowed from a friend, that it got much quieter also.

The top picture is right after I put it on the stirplate and the second is about 19 hours later just before I put it into the fridge. Worked great for my Pliny clone!

 

[adamdillabo]

I think my stir bar needs to be a bit longer. I think the two poles are fighting making it click. And yes I do have a pivot point on it

 

[ibrewmyown]

I also noticed that once I got my Pyrex brand flask, as opposed to the cheap off-brand one I had borrowed from a friend, that it got much quieter also.

I have found the same thing using cheaper flasks but like I posted earlier, try sliding the flask around to see if you can find a quiet or more quiet spot. I have a couple 1000 ml good quality flasks and were quiet. I wanted to step the size up and I bought four 2000 ml off brand flasks for $15 each and one of them is loud with the bar in the center but when I slide it around, I can find a quiet spot and leave it there. It may be an inch or so from the center but the vortex is just fine. I believe my stir bars are 1.25 inches and they are smooth. I would think the larger the bar, the louder it would be?

What do you mean by the poles are fighting each other? If there are two separate magnets on stir plate, that may be what happening? I placed my magnet in the center of the computer fan. My magnets came from large server hard drives and they are very strong. They where hard to remove once stuck to something. I was able to just let the magnet stick to the fan and turn it on to make sure it was centered and not vibrate then marked and super glued it.

 

[mikerunsmountains]

I think my stir bar needs to be a bit longer. I think the two poles are fighting making it click. And yes I do have a pivot point on it

If you are using the dual magnet setup the best way to get them in the right position is to stick the stir bar you will be using directly onto the magnets and position them so that they do not extend beyond the length of your stir bar. That worked for me. And also try ibrewmyown's suggestion of moving the flask around a bit.

 

[adamdillabo]

I'm using 2 hard drive magnets stacked on top of each other. My thought was maybe it's only getting a good connection on one of the poles at a time and keeps jumping back and forth. I'll have to do some test after my ommagang is done

 

[adamdillabo]

Here a question for you guys. I'm worried about leaving the stir plate on while I sleep or im at work. I left it on last night but I did get up 3 times to make sure it wasn't over heating or anything. Besides less propagation any problem in running it for 12 hours stopping for 8 and running again?

 

[ibrewmyown]

I run all four of mine at the same time from one power supply all night/day and it doesn't even get warm. That being said, if you're worried about it, do as you said and turn it off for a while then on when you're awake. You'll likely get less cells formed but if you run it long enough you should be fine. There's nothing combustible on mine so I'm not worried about it.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1426820505.839265.jpg

 

[mikerunsmountains]

I wouldn't worry about it. I ran mine for four solid days just to see. Granted I work 12 hour shifts so I was off all four days and was checking on it periodically. Didn't even warm up a bit at all.

 

[IDoBleedBrew]

Here a question for you guys. I'm worried about leaving the stir plate on while I sleep or im at work. I left it on last night but I did get up 3 times to make sure it wasn't over heating or anything. Besides less propagation any problem in running it for 12 hours stopping for 8 and running again?

I was kind of worried about that myself since when I originally built mine I wired it wrong and it would smoke if it wasn't going full blast. But after I wired it correctly... I never smelled the smoke again. I let mine run for 48 hours the first time without incident. I'm going to go for 72 this next time, but since it is in a hard drive enclosure that is vented on three of the 4 sides... I think it will be just fine.

 

[adamdillabo]

If mine want made of wood I might feel better. Tried to see how big of a starter I could make. This is 3L probably over kill for most 2.5-5 gallon batches. Maybe I'll pitch half and save the rest for the next one.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1426850496.484459.jpg

 

[Stealthcruiser]

On the noisy stir bar dealio: I use a stir bar with the rib in the center, and they make a little racket.
I took some small, tight fitting O-rings, ( one for each end of bar), and placed them equidistant from the ends, which quietened it down considerably.

 

[gstojk]

Hi, Starting to set up a stir plate and just want to check if the comp. fan I picked up actually works before I go on. It's got 3 wires, green, black and yellow. The blue tooth charger cord I'm using has 2. I've tried different combos with no luck. The fan label says dc12v but the charger cord just has code numbers no dc or ac. Can't believe I'm stuck already. Should I get another power cord? Thanks

 

[ibrewmyown]

What is the voltage on the Bluetooth charger? Have you hooked up the black fan wire to the solid (not striped) charger wire and tried the other charger wire to the yellow wire on the fan? If you have access to a multimeter check to make sure your charger works. I had a bad one when I first built mine. It worked for a few hours and just stopped? I've found it works best to closely match the amps from the fan to the charger also.

 

[BOHICA422]

Had to put mine up

 

[gstojk]

WOW, now that is a thing of beauty!

 

[gstojk]

Thanks ibrewmyown. Scrounged another cord and yellow and black got it going. Now onward to the next challenge.

 

[ibrewmyown]

Stir plates are very simple and inexpensive DIY projects and add so much value to your brewing experience. Under pitching or using old yeast can ruin a beer. Remember a 3 month old yeast pack has lost half of its cells so doing a starter with a stir plate can get you back where you need to be.

 

[KatoBaggins]

You know it would actually be better to use one of these for speed control, the cost isnt much more, they come in various voltages:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009HKFAIQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Outstanding find! Thanks! Just what I need to make this trouble free. :rockin:

 

[MattyIce]

Just threw mine together today.

Ordinary Glock case?

No, no says I.

 

[mikerunsmountains]

That's the best stirplate case I've seen. Nicely done.

 

[jrowland74]

@MattyIce, How did you attach the fan? I see the wood... Is that glued in?