Show us your DIY stir plate!

[GodsStepBrother]

Gears of War is one of my favorites simply because the designers made it impossible to bunny-hop around while getting shot at.

My stir plate is Norse mythology themed centered around the mead of poetry story.

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very cool man, what do the runes say?

 

[kevink]

It gets good at about 0:35!

 

[BareKnuckleBrew]

Gears of War is one of my favorites simply because the designers made it impossible to bunny-hop around while getting shot at.

My stir plate is Norse mythology themed centered around the mead of poetry story.

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AWESOME stir plate! if there was a stir plate contest you'd win the "bad ass stir plate" catagory!

 

[TaylorInOK]

Thanks guys!

very cool man, what do the runes say?

The runes spell out Big Ts Brew House.

 

[Chia]

Made one for a friend today. instead of a hobby box he gave me a cigar box. the switch has an LED that lights up when the power is on! I might have to make a new one for me and sell my other one on e-bay :rockin:

 

[bellam87]

Total cost...$6.

 

[FirstStateBrewer]

My stir plate worked great last week. But yesterday it kept throwing the stir bar!

 

[Stephonovich]

Just finished getting mine working today; built from member rocketman768's plans: Simple PWM Stirplate Controller. Big thanks to him for the troubleshooting he did via PM.

I added in an LED and power switch. P/S is a 12v wallwart from an old external HD case. It'll spin a 2L flask no problem, as well.



Right now I have a log pot in there, hence the fiddling with the knob to get it to settle down. I ran it up to full speed to show the vortex ('cause why not), and then it settles down a bit below 1/2, dead silent. I might order a linear pot and fix that, along with a MOSFET - currently using a TIP31 transistor which gets a little warm.

I'm using a shortie stir bar, as I have two rare earth magnets mounted fairly close to each other on a 120mm fan, and any bigger of a stirbar just gets thrown.

 

[CGVT]

First time using mine...

 

[TimpanogosSlim]

Here's mine, next to my sleek (but limited to 800ml) solid state plate:

Just an old panaflo 120mm fan from a server i stripped down in the 90's, the grate it came with, a 12v wall wart, a zalman fan speed control i haven't used in ages, a big steel washer, and two little neodymium discs.

 

[notcreative]

My stir plate goes to 11!

1000 nerd points, sir.

 

[beau_cephus]

Cost around $15. Had to replace a 12v power supply with a 5v.

 

[beau_cephus]

My stir plate worked great last week. But yesterday it kept throwing the stir bar!

May want to step down the voltage on the power supply.

 

[TimpanogosSlim]

May want to step down the voltage on the power supply.

Yeah, that would slow down the motor.

Also, make sure the magnets are well centered across the motor axis

(I used a panaflo because I know it's a low-rpm fan, and strong as a bear)

 

[KevinWagner]

Built with parts already laying around. Works with a bit of finesse.

Magnets aren't really strong enough -- throws the stir-bar if it starts too quickly, and occasionally thereafter.

Will use lessons learned to build a version 2!

-K

 

[socalboomer]

Old power supply box (friend had spilled beer on it - crap beer so thank goodness nothing of worth was lost - and he let the factory smoke out. . .) - ripped the fried guts out. Fan was still good, so. . .
Power supply fan (12vdc) with LEDs on it so pretty light! WOO
old 12vdc power supply with removable cord - epoxy'd the lump part and cut out a small bit of the box so I could plug in the cord.
Couple of screws and nuts (from my father-in-laws expansive collection. . .)
variable resistor and knob (from Rad Shack - $7 or so)
stir bar ($10 from homebrew store. . . )

Works great!

 

[Hang Glider]

like that ^ !

here's mine:

 

[Magialisk]

Here's mine. I finally finished it off this morning. The circuit is a simple modification of Rocketman's PWM design: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/simple-pwm-stirplate-controller-219121/. I subbed in a 556 dual timer instead of his 555 and basically built two copies into one box.

The upper right section in the box is a storage cubby for the DC supply, stir bars, and an extra stirring block (2" in this case). The blocks attach to the fans with industrial strength velcro so they can be swapped on and off, and the two you see attached in the pictures are for 1" bars. For aesthetic reasons I didn't want to drill/screw through the spine of the book or either front or bottom covers, so the extra wood blocks (top mid and bottom left) are to wedge the fans in place to hold them still. The fans sit on standoffs to lift them off the bottom, but those standoffs are not attached to the bottom of the book.

The action shot shows a 1" bar stirring a 1L flask while a 2" bar stirs a 2L flask, using only a 5V supply instead of the 12V shown in the photo. The book/box is sized to be just large enough to hold two 2L flasks should I ever want to do that. I'm quite happy with it, and it looks great sitting inconspicuously on my bookcase .

 

[nextgenxx]

$3 dollar cigar box, free fan, and rest stuff from radio shack! Cool DIY!!

 

[GreenDragon]

I did mine with a cell phone charger, a magnet from a hard drive, a computer case fan, some screws, and a sheet of plexiglass. Total cost was free but it would be around $7 if you're not a computer nerd with tons of spare parts laying all around.

My guide on how to build one is here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/homemade-stir-plate-guide-pics-232000/

 

[ThatGeekGuy]

Have most of the parts, minus a PWM controller and stir bar. Ordered those from Amazon today, $5 PWM and $4 stir bar, both free shipping. Going to gut the controller and build into a box, but it already comes in it's own little box if you wanted to go real barebones.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003L4KKF2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ACM0O6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[fatherbigfoot]

After taking the picture I could not get my stir bar to spin correct I believe the magnet was shorter than the stir bar. I went to Home Depot and got a pack of three rare earth magnets for 3.89 hot glued them on the piece of wood and the stir bar spun like a champ


Off




On



Finished product these are the moments that make you proud to build it yourself instead of buying pre made



Nice little vortex started at the top can get a tin vortex all the way to the stir bar (1") but it usually throws the stir bar shortly after that. That is a 3000ml flask

 

[nauticalias]

old stuff...Free
waiting for not free stir bars.
power works led is burnt out.

 

[fatherbigfoot]

old stuff...Free
waiting for not free stir bars.
power works led is burnt out.

It would be even cooler if you could still play super Mario on it. Nice build

 

[nauticalias]

Was looking for the power source. When it struck me. Make not working nintendo work again.

 

[cookstownbrewer]

old stuff...Free
waiting for not free stir bars.
power works led is burnt out.

Holy crap that's awesome!

 

[nickw85]

Old power supply box (friend had spilled beer on it - crap beer so thank goodness nothing of worth was lost - and he let the factory smoke out. . .) - ripped the fried guts out. Fan was still good, so. . .
Power supply fan (12vdc) with LEDs on it so pretty light! WOO
old 12vdc power supply with removable cord - epoxy'd the lump part and cut out a small bit of the box so I could plug in the cord.
Couple of screws and nuts (from my father-in-laws expansive collection. . .)
variable resistor and knob (from Rad Shack - $7 or so)
stir bar ($10 from homebrew store. . . )

Works great!

This is kinda Epic. Very nice.

 

[jaz5833]

And link to the original build thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/easy-stir-plate-362308/#post4515959

 

[1fast636]

ok this might be a dumb question but since i'm all new to all this figured i would just ask. what is the reasoning of a stir plate i'm guessing adding yeast but that is a guess. getting all my ducks in a line and figureing out this wonderful world of home brewing befor i start

 

[fatherbigfoot]

Stir plates are used on starters to get oxygen into solution for the yeast to use. In a starter when you are trying to build yeast populations oxygen is used to improve the health of the yeast cell wall. This allows for better growth during fermentation and the reduction of off flavored or aromas being used. Health yeast will also ferment beer faster which will inhibit the spas of any contamination that might have gotten into your beer during transfer.