Stirplate Parts List

[craiclad]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to put together a stir plate, and i'm getting kind of confused about how I should control the speed of the fan. Some people recommend buying a fan with build in speed control, but these don't seem to be widely available. So I guess I'm looking at a potentiometer/rheostat set up? Has anyone built one of these recently that might point me in the right direction?

[Leann ull]

Large 12v fan and one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0083S19YW/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1454330407&sr=8-3&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=variable+power+supply&dpPl=1&dpID=41s1vfDHclL&ref=plSrch

Steel adhesive strip for top of fan and allow you adjust magnet position and some powerful magnets and that's it

[craiclad]

Large 12v fan and one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0083S19YW/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1454330407&sr=8-3&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=variable+power+supply&dpPl=1&dpID=41s1vfDHclL&ref=plSrch

Steel adhesive strip for top of fan and allow you adjust magnet position and some powerful magnets and that's it

Looks good, thanks! I assume you rip the end of the adapter off, and solder positive and negative connections into the fan?

[robotmonkey]

Or you just hook up the fan to one of these in a project box

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/21-x-55mm-dc-socket-plastic-ft96e

That way you can keep the power adapter intact

[Leann ull]

These guys at top of pic on eBay either if you don't want to cut wires on transformer

[beerfly]

i got one of these for controlling the speed
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-40V-10A-Pulse-Width-Modulation-PWM-DC-Motor-Speed-Control-Switch-13KHz-DX-/271803656301

[Leann ull]

Would that not fry a 12v fan?

[Pheeel]

I bought a USB fan and added some magnets ripped from an old hard drive

[beerfly]

its fine for me, its rated for 12v - 40v but depending on the plugyou use you will only be supplying 12v max (actually have mine at 9v)

[Leann ull]

Sound

[Leann ull]

Wow costs of these thing has tanked here's one with a seperate switch and speed controller!!

[Vermelho]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to put together a stir plate, and i'm getting kind of confused about how I should control the speed of the fan. Some people recommend buying a fan with build in speed control, but these don't seem to be widely available. So I guess I'm looking at a potentiometer/rheostat set up? Has anyone built one of these recently that might point me in the right direction?

I know a project is a great thing but if you're on the fence at all I cannot recommend the following stirplate enough:

http://www.digitalhomebrew.com/digital-stirplate-v3

I think molc found it originally and honestly it's unbelievable.

[molc]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to put together a stir plate, and i'm getting kind of confused about how I should control the speed of the fan. Some people recommend buying a fan with build in speed control, but these don't seem to be widely available. So I guess I'm looking at a potentiometer/rheostat set up? Has anyone built one of these recently that might point me in the right direction?

I know a project is a great thing but if you're on the fence at all I cannot recommend the following stirplate enough:

http://www.digitalhomebrew.com/digital-stirplate-v3

I think molc found it originally and honestly it's unbelievable.

This. Get it and never think about your stir plate again. Sometimes it's just worth paying the money for the lack of hassle.

Think it was Jacob that put me into it originally.

[Greg2013]

Wow costs of these thing has tanked here's one with a seperate switch and speed controller!!

Looks perfect for the job,all you would need is a project box large enough to accept an old PC fan underneath top plate and you are sorted.

[BrewDorg]

I just completed my stir plate build and I'm very happy with how it went. Still waiting on my erlenmeyer flask before I can put it to proper use though.

Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR9pjS6nQMQ

Parts list:

• Project Box - €4.30
• 12v DC fan - €1.70
• PWM with digital display - €6.35
• Rare earth magnets - €3
• Nuts & bolts for mounting - €3
• 19v laptop charger (!!!) - salvaged

Less than €20 on parts but did spend around another €10 for shipping. It'd be possible to get a cheaper PWM and salvage a hard drive magnet if you really wanted to do this on the cheap but I'm happy with what I've spent.

Only snag I ran into was using a mobile phone charger to power it. I had it all wired up, assuming the charger was 12v. However, only after hot gluing it in place and firing it up, I realised it was only 5v and barely got the smallest bar to move. So, since my PWM was rated for 24v, I thought why not use my 19v laptop charger and just reduce the speed so as not to burn out my fan. The digital display comes in really handy for controlling the speed accurately and I think I'll appreciate the extra length of the laptop cord when leaving it somewhere to stir.

Just a note on the video. I'm using the medium sized bar and it doesn't spin until I crank it up to ~35, but the small bar spins fine at lower speeds. The big bar spins nicely too, even at high speeds.

Fire away with any questions, happy to help if I can.