Please, Make Your Own Stir Plate

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bernerbrau

bernerbrau

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I went and bought one for the premium price tag. It didn't even work. So I cracked it open. All it was was a computer fan, a magnet, a couple wires, an adjustment knob, an indicator LED, DC input jack, and a PCB with a couple resistors, capacitors, and an op-amp chip. It's basically an exact copy of the PWM circuits I built in EE class back in college. Maybe $20 worth of parts. Anyway the magnet had fallen off the fan. I glued it back, and then discovered that the fan body was warping under pressure and the blades were preventing it from moving. So I snapped off the blades and now it spins freely, except I can't get a good vortex in large amounts (5L) of liquid, and in small amounts (1-2L) of liquid the stir bar keeps getting flung free of the magnet.

So basically I paid $100 for a piece of crap that I could have built myself for cheaper and higher quality. That's what I get for being lazy.

There's a bunch of DIY stir plate threads on this board. If you're planning on getting one, do yourself a favor and put in what little amount of extra time you need, buy the parts, and make it yourself.

I think I'm going to see if the LHBS will take it back. Is it ethical to return hardware once you've modified it?
 
Ethical? No. Not after you have snapped off the fan blades.

But I wouldn't let that stop you unless you don;t have the blades anymore.
 
I've pretty much figure this out with every simple piece of electronic equipment I own. I bought a high dollar tumbler for reloading. It cleaned brass really well for about 2 months. The motor somehow de-magnetized. Poof, 80 dollars out the window. I took it apart to look at it. Found out I could order the same motor for about 10 bucks. With some old Tupperware and left over parts in the garage. Poof, a tumbler twice its size at 1/8 the cost. Still running strong 4 years later!!

The minute it stopped working I would have taken it back. Which is what I did with my tumber. I looked inside to see if I could fix the problem and save the gas and time returning it. It turned out I couldn't fix it and I had to waist time, gas, and shipping cost returning it. Retailer wouldn't take it back so I had to ship it at my dime back to the manufacturer. Which ticked me off even more. They sent me a new one so, I sold it. I got about 1/2 of what I had invested in it.
 
Nope. Tossed the blades. Thing is, they had no functional purpose in the stir plate. The reason a fan is used is because it's a cheap DC motor.

Unless the blades provide some sort of rotational stability? I'm thinking the torque from the magnets would make that insignificant.
 
bernerbrau said:
I went and bought one for the premium price tag. It didn't even work. So I cracked it open. All it was was a computer fan, a magnet, a couple wires, an adjustment knob, an indicator LED, DC input jack, and a PCB with a couple resistors, capacitors, and an op-amp chip. It's basically an exact copy of the PWM circuits I built in EE class back in college. Maybe $20 worth of parts. Anyway the magnet had fallen off the fan. I glued it back, and then discovered that the fan body was warping under pressure and the blades were preventing it from moving. So I snapped off the blades and now it spins freely, except I can't get a good vortex in large amounts (5L) of liquid, and in small amounts (1-2L) of liquid the stir bar keeps getting flung free of the magnet.

So basically I paid $100 for a piece of crap that I could have built myself for cheaper and higher quality. That's what I get for being lazy.

There's a bunch of DIY stir plate threads on this board. If you're planning on getting one, do yourself a favor and put in what little amount of extra time you need, buy the parts, and make it yourself.

I think I'm going to see if the LHBS will take it back. Is it ethical to return hardware once you've modified it?
Click to expand...


I'd button it back up and take it back. Can I ask though? Is it the NorthernBrewer one? Or is it one your LHBS is constructing and selling? If you don't want to build your own (they can be tricky getting the magnets lined up still) check out stirstarters.com. His are $42 and he offers a lifetime warranty.
 
IrregularPulse said:
I'd button it back up and take it back. Can I ask though? Is it the NorthernBrewer one? Or is it one your LHBS is constructing and selling? If you don't want to build your own (they can be tricky getting the magnets lined up still) check out stirstarters.com. His are $42 and he offers a lifetime warranty.
Click to expand...

lol... Having a little Tap Room Reunion in here...

It's called a "Stir-Plate 2000". There's no branding anywhere on it.
 
IrregularPulse said:
check out stirstarters.com. His are $42 and he offers a lifetime warranty.
Click to expand...

+1 - love my stir plate from Dan.

Or if you're a DIY'er (I am not), Dan even has the schematic for his stir plate so you can acquire the supplies elsewhere and build one yourself (likely for cheaper).
 
bernerbrau said:
Nope. Tossed the blades. Thing is, they had no functional purpose in the stir plate. The reason a fan is used is because it's a cheap DC motor.

Unless the blades provide some sort of rotational stability? I'm thinking the torque from the magnets would make that insignificant.
Click to expand...

Only referencing because then they could construe that you had actually vandelized the plate. If they opt to look inside. If you had the blades I would have suggested you chuck them inside and complain that it rattles. :D
 
AZ_IPA said:
+1 - love my stir plate from Dan.

Or if you're a DIY'er (I am not), Dan even has the schematic for his stir plate so you can acquire the supplies elsewhere and build one yourself (likely for cheaper).
Click to expand...

This is what I did. He gives you the parts list and schematic for HIS product on the webiste. Then I just bought 2 stir bars from him for $8 shipped. If it craps out on me or gives me trouble (only used it once, so far so good) I'll buy one from him.
 
bernerbrau said:
Nope. Tossed the blades. Thing is, they had no functional purpose in the stir plate. The reason a fan is used is because it's a cheap DC motor.

Unless the blades provide some sort of rotational stability? I'm thinking the torque from the magnets would make that insignificant.
Click to expand...

The blades might have provided mass to keep the fan spinning. Snapping the blades off might be the reason why it tosses the bar at low volume (spins too fast without resistance) and doesn't vortex at high volume.
 
bernerbrau said:
Had not thought of that. I suppose I could just be honest.
Click to expand...

I'd take it back, tell 'em that their product is crap and you tried to make it not-crap. You now know it's complete crap and either want a new unit that works, or store credit.

I doubt you'll get a refund for tinkering with it....

And if they don't agree - mention that Dan has stir-plates with a lifetime warranty for $42, and that AHS has free shipping on all orders over $100 and you'll gladly take your business elsewhere.

Honesty + thug tactics. ;)
 
Also, my DIY stir plate would fling the bar too if the vessle bottom was convex. A simple dip tube o-ring placed and centered on the bar created a pivot that kept the bar coupled to the magnets.
 
There is also the $45 stirplates from Brewers Hardware (I think it used used to be stirplates.com...not to be confused with stir-plates.com). I've had several blowoffs get wort all over it but it's very easy to clean and it keeps going.

You could build for less than these ~$40+ models but after sourcing everything and putting it all together...my time is worth more to me than the few dollars I'd save. But some people enjoy building brewing stuff so...options for everybody.
 
mmb said:
The blades might have provided mass to keep the fan spinning. Snapping the blades off might be the reason why it tosses the bar at low volume (spins too fast without resistance) and doesn't vortex at high volume.
Click to expand...

Jesus, is the tap room closed today or what?

In any case I doubt it is the reason I'm not getting a good vortex. While debugging I was able to stop the fan deforming by pressing the sides in and I still didn't get great performance. It spins nice and fast without the stir bar but as soon as it has that load it slows way down.
 
Sawdustguy said:
I would be honest if I were in your shoes. How would you feel if someone tried to screw you over????
Click to expand...

I question whether I'm screwing anyone over. I got a non-working piece of hardware and I made it work, but only by modifying the hardware. I'd be returning it in a better condition than I got it in. The question is whether the absence of the fan blades renders the equipment "destroyed".
 
dataz722 said:
Now the topic at hand...

Dishonest? Yeah, probably. Would I do it though? Yeah, probably.
Click to expand...

I called 'em up and told them what I did. They said they'd have to call the manufacturer and ask about the warranty terms.

... So, on the plus side, I've got most of the parts I need to mod this thing for not too much more money.
 
AZ_IPA said:
And if they don't agree - mention that Dan has stir-plates with a lifetime warranty for $42, and that AHS has free shipping on all orders over $100 and you'll gladly take your business elsewhere.

Honesty + thug tactics. ;)
Click to expand...
Jeebus. Any chance to jump on a set of Austin Grown Nuts!
 
An electrical engineer gettin ripped off on a cheesy electrical circuit....Now that is just sad. What would your professors think!
 
gunner65 said:
An electrical engineer gettin ripped off on a cheesy electrical circuit....Now that is just sad. What would your professors think!
Click to expand...

I have a degree in computer engineering and I bought a stir starter, too.

When I was at school I had access to thousands of dollars in lab equipment and got all the small parts like resistors, caps, op amps, etc. for free. I don't even have a place where I can do electronics work in my house, except on the living room table which sucks for that kind of stuff and my wife would kill me if I damage it.
 
LHBS agreed to swap it out at no charge. No refund. :mad:

OK, well, I'm going to look for a 12 volt DC adapter and find some better rare earth magnets. If that burns out the controller circuit, I can always build my own replacement circuit.
 
bernerbrau said:
I went and bought one for the premium price tag. It didn't even work. So I cracked it open. All it was was a computer fan, a magnet, a couple wires, an adjustment knob, an indicator LED, DC input jack, and a PCB with a couple resistors, capacitors, and an op-amp chip. It's basically an exact copy of the PWM circuits I built in EE class back in college. Maybe $20 worth of parts. Anyway the magnet had fallen off the fan. I glued it back, and then discovered that the fan body was warping under pressure and the blades were preventing it from moving. So I snapped off the blades and now it spins freely, except I can't get a good vortex in large amounts (5L) of liquid, and in small amounts (1-2L) of liquid the stir bar keeps getting flung free of the magnet.

So basically I paid $100 for a piece of crap that I could have built myself for cheaper and higher quality. That's what I get for being lazy.

There's a bunch of DIY stir plate threads on this board. If you're planning on getting one, do yourself a favor and put in what little amount of extra time you need, buy the parts, and make it yourself.

I think I'm going to see if the LHBS will take it back. Is it ethical to return hardware once you've modified it?
Click to expand...

This is Tom and I own the company that built the "piece of crap" Stir-Plate 2000 you are complaining about. These are low cost units but hardly crap - but they aren't high end products either. If they were then they would cost $300 or more & not the $90 or so you paid for your unit. The PWM circuit is not a common design nor is it the cheap LM317 based design others are building stir plates from. Our PWM design does not stall at low speed like the cheap LM317 based design do. Also, we use high strength neodynium magnets in our design.

It's obvious from what happened that your stir plate failed and all of our products are covered with a 1 year warranty. I would like the opportunity to replace your failed stir plate with the next model up - one of our Stir-Plate 3000 models.

You can contact me through the stir-plate.com web site for a return authorization and I'll ship out a replacement as soon as your defective one comes in.

Thanks, Tom
NON VENDOR LINK REMOVED
 
Wow, Tom. I will certainly take you up on your offer. Hope I didn't offend by speaking out of frustration. Thanks for being so understanding!
 

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