Stir plate starter question

[eagle83]

I made a stir plate, and was excited to try it out. I made a 2.5 L starter put it in a 1/2 gallon glass jug. Started it up, and after a couple minutes it threw the stir bar (curved bottom/no speed control). My question is do any of you see using a Stainless steel cooking pot causing a problem? I tried it with plain water and it worked fine. Will the SS put too much load on my computer fan DIY stir plate? I plan on just putting the lid on it instead of aluminum foil. Should that be fine? Thanks for the help.

 

[brettg20]

I always use foil so air can get in for the yeast. My stir bar sometimes gets thrown to the side within 5 minutes after putting the flask on the stir plate but I am always able to correct it by taking the flask off the stir plate and starting over.

 

[maida7]

You should wire in a speed control. There are plans on the web for how to add the speed control. You can pick up the parts at radio shack for under 5.00

I can't imagine it will be very user friendly without the speed control.

 

[Wolfy]

Home made stir-plates can often be a bit hit-and-miss and are hard to control.
It's usually a balance between speed of the fan, the magnets and distance between the magnets and stir-bar.
Without a speed controller it will be just that much more difficult to control and fine-tune.

You may like to try changing the distance between the magnets/stir bar as that might help you get more stability.

 

[Brew-boy]

A+ on speed control you will need it.