Show us your DIY stir plate!

[Frazeart]

My repurposed mac mini. Turbocharged.

 

[n240sxguy]

My repurposed mac mini. Turbocharged.

That's gotta be the most expensive stir plate ever.

 

[IronLion409]

First prototype ....

 

[Westermans]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1420514568.853969.jpg

Just finished today.

 

[Westermans]

Finished product View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1420861903.208353.jpg

 

[zgreenside]

Never wanted to spend the $45-100 on a stir plate when I could just use a growler and shake it every few hours or when I could, but you guys have inspired me!

Parts list:
Cigar Box - $1
PC Fan - Free (Perks of working in IT)
Magnet - Free (Again )
AC/DC Adapter - $9 (didn't know a cell phone charger would work...probably could've saved a few bucks)
Super glue - $4
Bolts #6-32 + nuts and washers - $2

I need to get some more pictures of it, but here it is:

I think I'm going to make another one soon, this time pay more attention and properly line up the fan to be dead center, and use a cell phone charger instead so that I can save the extra $9 for another yeast pack.

 

[MI_Dogman]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421361407.845786.jpg

Cigar box!

 

[govner1]

Another cigar box. Parts totaled about $10.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421364733.486982.jpg

 

[Browningbuck]

Trying a few different magnets

 

[rowan57]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421572434.075408.jpg

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421572459.731457.jpg

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421572533.436405.jpg


http://youtu.be/dkctBl9maj8

Very happy with this, I'm far from electrically inclined so it was a learning curve. Still need to solder the connections.

 

[ibrewmyown]

My neighbor and I brew together so we brew 24 gallons at a time. Many times we will do two different - 12 gallon batches into 4 - 6 gallon carboys and use two different yeasts in each batch to compare flavors. Even if we use the same yeast I need 4 stir plates for starters so I built a 4 place stir plate to do them all at once. The body I bent out of some aluminum and the top and bottom are stainless steel kick plates from a door. The stainless steel is a good quality so it does not effect the stir bar it any way. Here's a "Night Mode" picture as well as a video clip.

View attachment 2015-02-28 01.14.33.mov

 

[CGish]

Very Nice! Are those 2 liter flasks?

 

[ibrewmyown]

Very Nice! Are those 2 liter flasks?

Yes, they are all 2000 ml flasks. Sorry, I only had a video so I did a screen shot on my phone for this. The size is 8" x 28" x 2 1/2". I used a few old hard drives for the magnets, 4 computer fans and one power supply from an old phone I believe. The other parts were basic radio shack stuff (rheostat, switch and knob for each one)

 

[DNKDUKE]

My neighbor and I brew together so we brew 24 gallons at a time. Many times we will do two different - 12 gallon batches into 4 - 6 gallon carboys and use two different yeasts in each batch to compare flavors. Even if we use the same yeast I need 4 stir plates for starters so I built a 4 place stir plate to do them all at once. The body I bent out of some aluminum and the top and bottom are stainless steel kick plates from a door. The stainless steel is a good quality so it does not effect the stir bar it any way. Here's a "Night Mode" picture as well as a video clip.

SA-WEET!:rockin:

 

[Frazeart]

Fun repurposing.

View attachment Video Nov 02, 2 53 20 PM.mov

 

[SteelManCM]

From this:

To this:

See the build steps here.
http://imperialhops.blogspot.mx/2015/04/dual-stir-plate.html

 

[1fast636]

My neighbor and I brew together so we brew 24 gallons at a time. Many times we will do two different - 12 gallon batches into 4 - 6 gallon carboys and use two different yeasts in each batch to compare flavors. Even if we use the same yeast I need 4 stir plates for starters so I built a 4 place stir plate to do them all at once. The body I bent out of some aluminum and the top and bottom are stainless steel kick plates from a door. The stainless steel is a good quality so it does not effect the stir bar it any way. Here's a "Night Mode" picture as well as a video clip.

That's a thing of beauty great work man love the stainless alum look lol

 

[KatoBaggins]

Here's mine. I completed it today. The wood was scrap that was laying around. Works pretty well. Thanks for all the help everyone. This thread made it fairly easy.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1428636723.194670.jpg

 

[FlyBoyKnight]

My stir plate. Old PC fan with its own 3 place speed control switch. Old cellphone charger, spare washer, + pack of magnets from Lowes ($3).

The fan mount from the tower I took it out of houses the fan nicely while providing a platform to place the starter flask on (I removed the center covering to expose the magnets better.)

PS: The blue "underglow" (as I call it) adds a nice bit of flare to the device lol

 

[Browningbuck]

I found I hated moving my stir plate system around, so I integrated it into my brew table! $25 and now have 4 + a mobile. Works great for getting the yeast going right before my pitch




Can even do 4 gallon growlers at once(only two pictured )

 

[jfrank85]

Going to be my newest stir plate addition, it's cool to be envious.

View attachment 1430323669505.jpg

View attachment 1430323684984.jpg

 

[EJay]

Here's mine - nothing special, though i did use a PWM controller and it works awesome.

I'm in it about $13:

$3 box - thrift store
$3 fan - thrift store
$5 PWM controller (Amazon)
Free - 12V power supply (had it on hand)
Free - button magnets (had on hand)
$2 - nuts and bolts - hardware store.

 

[EcuPirate07]

My DIY Stir Plate, using a 9V power supply ($3), used cooling fan ($3), Radio Shack Rheostat and Switch ($10) the magnetic back off my nametag ($0) and a cigar box ($0). The stir bar was the most expensive single item, 1 7/8 octagon bar, $4.99 shipped off of eBay.

Life is Good!
David

Holy hell you sir are a genius! I was pissed that I threw away an old computer tower a month ago that I could have used to salvage a magnet from for my build. Then I came across this post just looking for ideas of builds, I have tons of those name badge magnets for my business. I know this post was 4 yrs ago but thanks!

 

[1fast636]

Variable speed, thermoelectric temp controlled and air.

Fixed speed, temp controlled and air.

I was looking back threw some of these and this thing is killer

 

[EcuPirate07]

Going to be my newest stir plate addition, it's cool to be envious.

Actually picked up the same one tonight. Easiest $2.50 I ever spent. I noticed the top is pretty thick wood. Have you turned it into a stir plate yet? Trying to figure out if it will work through the wood or if I'll have to cut a hole in the top.

 

[alphaomega]

This is probably the fifth attempt I made at building a DIY stir plate, but the first that I'm actually happy with.
A few WiFi routers were upgraded at work and I thought the old ones had dimensions that seemed promising. Turns out this was a really excellent box for building a stir plate. It is just the right size and stiff enough not to flex too much.
This time I also used slightly better magnets (I've had trouble with previous versions throwing the bar). Also, I glued a large washer to the fan and just stuck the magnets to it. It made centering them a whole lot easier.

 

[SteelManCM]

Winning!

 

[BaylessBrewer]

Just finished this today. Took a little adjusting the magnets to get the stir bar to stay put but I got it .
Only thing is it won't pull a full vortex wit the flask full to the 2000ml line. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1434925795.200078.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1434925812.295172.jpg

 

[Biscuits]

Winning!

I LOL'ed! I might have to turn my Cisco Router into something brew related now.

 

[SteelManCM]

I had a few Cisco Switches sitting around. You can get one on eBay for about $30. I have a 5L flask that was just too big for my other plates. This is a 48-Port Cisco Catalyst 2950. It's a 10/100 switch, so it's out dated. $7000 when they first came out. Funny how technology can cause a price to crash so far.

I just posted the full build here:

http://imperialhops.blogspot.com/2015/06/stir-plate-for-5l-flask.html