For crying out loud-why wont my damn stirplate work right

[Crut]

sounds like there may be too far a gap between the magnet and bar/ maybe?

[Test_Engineer]

Some of you that are having problems, how big of a stirbar are you using? The 1 inch ones are more than enough. We are not looking to send Dorthy back to Kansas... just a little motion in the ocean is good enough, maybe a 3/4 to 1 in vortex is plenty!

[hotrod38]

I would check a few things...Use a wood spacer(paint stick) between the hub and the magnet. make sure the magnet and the wood spacer are centered properly. Make sure the magnet is approximately 1/4 from the top of the box.
Make sure your using the correct power supply. I have found that a 6vdc 400ma cell phone charger to work the best.

I also use a couple of different stir bars. Both are 2" One is a square stock bar and the other has the ring around the center of it. Both work well.

A couple of tips that have worked for me...I like to start the plate on high speed and swirl the flask around in the direction the magnet is spinning. I will then turn off the plate and let the magnet catch itself in the center. I will turn the plate back on, at the same time I will lower the speed adjustment until the bar catches. I have to do this a couple of times. It can be frustrating in the beginning. Once you get the hang of it, it will be easy to operate.

You also don't need a vortex like a tornado. Just enough to swirl the wort around, without throwing the bar is all you need.

[Brandt]

Mein gott! What a nightmare of troubleshooting this has turned out to be. I am now really glad I just bought a lab stir plate. It works perfectly every time. I am continuing to follow everyone's projects hoping they turn out for the best...

[pus rocket]

I used a wood cigar box, with a 1/8" or so spacer between the fan and the box lid. I glued the magnet to the hub of the fan itself, centered but with no spacer. Why do I need a spacer between the fan hub and the magnet??

I'm using a 2" cylindrical stir bar that has the ridge around the center point. It starts responding to the magnet when it is being lowered to the box lid, probably 6" away.

When I turn on the fan, the stir bar doesn't spin, it moves laterally around the flask bottom a bit, then wobbles and vibrates. Starting the fan at different speeds or switching it on and off doesn't seem to help. I've made the mistake of gluing everything, so I'll have to rip it all apart to make any adjustments.

To clarify, there is no vortex here at all.

Thanks for the help.

[linuxelf]

I had to put a spacer between my fan hub and my magnet because my magnet is so strong that, if I stuck it right on the hub, it'd prevent the fan from spinning. I just used a Peso as a spacer since it was worth less than a small piece of scrap wood.

My stirplate works pretty well, but I think I'd be better off with two magnets, one on either side, rather than the one oddly shaped magnet balanced in the middle of the fan. I find it is incredibly easy to throw the stirbar, and there's a slight, but noticeable, shaking while the fan is spinning. I can get a decent vortex going with 1l in my 2l flask. I raised it up to 1.2l in there last time, and it was very difficult to get a vortex. I was able to keep the starter moving really well, but I don't know how well it oxygenated.

Also, I've noticed that I don't get krausen on my starters since I started using my stirplate. When I was just making the starters without the stirplate, I'd get krausen like crazy, usually would push up to the airlock. Now I'm using the stirplate and a sanitized piece of foil over the neck, and I get maybe 1/8" of krausen at most. Is this just because it's kept moving the whole time, or should I be seeing more? I'm getting great fermentations out of these things, just don't know if I should be getting better.

[Mylo]

The constant stirring pushes the CO2 out and the O2 in. The highest krausen you will get might be a little 1/8" ring of foam around the outside, or inside the vortex.


Mylo

[Crut]

I wondered that too. I found if i slow the vortex down to almost no movement i get a bit more, but normally hardly anything. What I've done a couple times is leave it on the stirplate for the night, take it off for a few hours, the put it back on the stirplate for a bit more to boost it a bit more. Always had good results. I do that if I have time, otherwise I just leave it on.
-Crut