diy stir plate

[Dave-Leeds]

Hi all

I am looking around to gather some parts for a stir plate.does the link look ok for the speed control?, if not does any1 have a link for 1 as their are so many of them

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 40&alt=web

cheers

[AFewTooMany]

Plenty of people use potentiometers with no problems but they aren't designed for the current required by a fan.

Better to use a circuit like this:
http://m.ebay.com/itm/331280958905?_mwBanner=1

Really easy to fit, fan cables in one side, power on the other

[Dave-Leeds]

Great thanks. Will have a good look at that before i decide the build design

cheers

[vacant]

I've been using a Zalman Fanmate 2 for a couple of years (£4.16 delivered). The cheap ones on eBay are out of stock but this Gelid controller look the same for £3.95

[Dave-Leeds]

That looks a better option cheers vacant.

do i put power to the little unit or is a on/off switch still needed?

cheers

[vacant]

These little controllers just get plugged in line i.e. power source (e.g. phone charger) connects to one controller lead, other controller lead plugs in to fan.

I use two paper clips insulated with tape, one stuffed into the phone charger, the other bent around. Other ends are then inserted into one of the controller plugs.

Computer fans can take eight screws - one in each corner on either side. My minimalist stir plate sits on four screws and the flask sits on the other four.

[Dave-Leeds]

I carnt picture the diagram how that would look.think iv had a few 2 many 2day

cheers

[vacant]

Four pictures must be worth 4,000 words.

[BenB]

Love the hot-wired plug! Not sure I'd trust that long term though consider how long stir plates are normally running for. Must admit to doing that occasionally when testing new low voltage equipment...

It's worth considering adding a spacer between the fan and the magnet to prevent the magnet effecting the coils in the fan. I laminated a couple of layers of 1cm balsa and then stuck it in place and turned the fan on, put a biro in place on top of the balsa to draw a circle, cut it roughly to shape with a scalpel then sanded it smooth(ish). Now perhaps it doesn't make a difference and perhaps if I was looking at longevity I would have bought a BB fan rather than a sleeve bearing fan. But the fan runs cool whereas I know some fans working as stir plates run very hot. Ironic really considering they're fans!

[Dave-Leeds]

That makes sense cheers vacant.

would i be able to snip the end off power supply and other lead to twist wires together instead of using a paper clip

Thanks

[vacant]

Many phone charger wires a quite thin and delicate, take care. I had a fan for my first kegorator and just taped completely around the phone charger/paper clip/fan plug. That seemed robust enough.

[Dave-Leeds]

just ordered a few bits off ebay so hopefully get chance to knock this up soon

[BenB]

I'd still consider sticking it in a box

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=69292

balancing it on screw heads with a hot wired plug might well work but I'd sleep better knowing it's on a big arse non-slip surface with some banana plugs from a regulated 12v supply.... My setup will happily accomodate large flasks without a problem...

I've actually installed 12v banana sockets in my temp controlled fermentation chamber so I can control my starter temperature...

[Dave-Leeds]

I am going to put the fan in some sort of box. got a adjustable voltage regulator power supply with speed control and going to use a power source which I can choose the voltage up to 12v.and all the wires can be housed in the terminal blocks of the voltage regulator.so everything will be nice and tidy

cheers

[DethApostle]

My stirplate build is here if you want another walkthrough to compare against?
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=70655

(couldn't get the url thing to work for some reason!)

DA