Stir plate using buckyballs

[manicmethod]

Buckyballs (google it) are rare earth magenet spheres, they are extremely fun to play with.

I had actually been testing my stir plate with them before my stir bar came in the mail so I was disappointed to find the stir bar is not made from rare earth magnets and doesn't keep nearly as tight a hold as the buckyballs.

I looked around for stirbars that use rare earth magnets and they were pretty pricy ($50 where I found them)

So my question is, obviously these aren't PTFE coated or whatever, i doubt they are losing any particulates and are spherical without seems to they shouldn't get bacteria lodged on them. Do you guys think they are safe to use?

Here is a video of them on the stir plate running at 100%

 

[Reno_eNVy]

BUCKYBALLS!! AWESOME!

This is a great idea, unless there is some non-food-safe issue involved.

Cool video, nonetheless.

 

[manicmethod]

Updated video, I kept adding extra balls and the vortex just kept getting bigger... I hope these are safe to use in a real starter

 

[akthor]

Not to show my noobishness but I see "stirplate" threads all the time but have no idea what they are for??

 

[orangehero]

You don't need a vortex that intense, just enough to keep the starter moving, maybe 1 inch deep if not less.

 

[Duckfoot]

Not to show my noobishness but I see "stirplate" threads all the time but have no idea what they are for??

They are used to keep wort oxygenated and in suspension in a yeast starter...

 

[Catt22]

I'm thinking they may eventually damage the bottom of the flask judging by the sound. The noise would get on my nerves some, but maybe it's not as bad as is seems to be on the video. Anyone know what material they are made from? Looks like chrome plated steel maybe. Kinda pricey at nearly $36. I'm using a standard 2" lab type stir bar without problems, but the Buckyballs are an interesting alternative for sure.

 

[bolts]

Interesting alternative next time my stir bar keeps getting thrown.

Same as Catt22 -- I'd be concerned about any damage they might do on the bottom. Given the balls have polarity, are they actually rolling or just dragging along?

 

[MalReever]

I love the idea, but the chrome coating on buckyballs will definitely start to flake off eventually. There's buckyball "glitter" all over my coffee table to prove it.

 

[manicmethod]

You don't need a vortex that intense, just enough to keep the starter moving, maybe 1 inch deep if not less.

But as you can see it is pulling an amazing amount of air into the solution which would help, right?

 

[IrregularPulse]

My concern would be the grinding of the steel balls on the glass as well. That's didn't sound too good.

 

[Catt22]

But as you can see it is pulling an amazing amount of air into the solution which would help, right?

Not really. The gas exchange (CO2 out/Oxygen in) will max out with only gentle stirring and more vigorous stirring won't improve the exchange rate. Some claim that thrashing the yeast with high speed stirring subjects them to damaging shear forces. I don't know if any of this is true or not. Just some stuff I came across long ago supposedly posted by someone who knew what they were talking about. I suspect that fast stirring does no harm, but I doubt it improves anything either.

 

[SweetSounds]

What happens if one of those things goes rogue and launches into the side of the flask at mach 3?

 

[shushikiary]

Mal is right. The magnets are covered in chrome and it chips off eventually. The reason they are plated in this is to prevent small magnet particles from flowing out of them, once the chrome comes off they start leaking out of the magnet.

Not sure how good/bad the magnet particles will be for you or the yeast and what flavor they will have, but in our hard drives (I work at seagate) if the chrome plating comes off the magnets the particles are enough to destroy your hard drive by getting stuck under the head and scratching the disc (then again we only fly like 5nm off the disc).

 

[trigger]

Being a chemistry major I'm not really sure how a buckeyball is magnetic. It's entirely carbon. Is this something different than a fullerene?

 

[klyph]

Being a chemistry major I'm not really sure how a buckeyball is magnetic. It's entirely carbon. Is this something different than a fullerene?

They market these spherical rare earth magnets as "bucky balls" but they are not true bucky balls

 

[Berniep]

The company making them is just ripping off Buckminster Fuller(or the folks who named them after him). They are only called Bucky Balls because you can make a sort of model of the Buckminsterfullerene.

 

[bniesen]

I work with rare earth magnets. They are very brittle. Once the chrome plating comes off (which over time it will) the unprotected rare earth magnet will deteriate from the friction of the glass. I would not recommend using these, these are very strong magnets, if you ingested even small pieces they could attract to themselves while ingested thus pinching off your intestines (worst case scenario).

Just my .02
Brew-On