Best stirplates for your buck

Hello everyone.

I'm looking into buying a stirplate. What's a good deal for something that will last? I don't want to buy anything cheap that breaks down after a few brews.

This looked pretty good, is it overkill though?
http://www.amazon.com/Hanna-Instruments-HI300N-1-Speedsafe-Magnetic-Stirrer/dp/B006MLHNIS/ref=sr_1_18?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1396890915&sr=1-18&keywords=magnetic+stirrer

Thanks!

For that price you could buy 2 or 3 used ones from amazon....I have 3 professional thermolyne nuova II plates (used) and they haven't faltered yet after many hours...

for the price of the one on amazon you could buy a hot stir plate http://www.marshallscientific.com/Thermolyne-Nuova-II-Hot-Plate-Stirrer-p/th-nuhps.htm

I have this one! Sure, it's pricey, but it's a serious laboratory unit  - built to last. Is this needed for the homebrew scale? Probably not. As dazed pointed out; you could buy a much cheaper one that would fit the bill nicely, keep looking around, but if you settle on this one, you won't be disapointed, just a little lighter in the wallet!

One note; it did take a while to get it - the factory had to make it for me (apparently they didn't have any in stock... maybe you'll get lucky) Also, the stainless top surface does get a bit warm after a while, and this will transfer to your starter - I use a thin piece of styrofoam on the top to better insulate my flask a bit - just something to consider.

dazed said:

For that price you could buy 2 or 3 used ones from amazon....I have 3 professional thermolyne nuova II plates (used) and they haven't faltered yet after many hours...

for the price of the one on amazon you could buy a hot stir plate http://www.marshallscientific.com/Thermolyne-Nuova-II-Hot-Plate-Stirrer-p/th-nuhps.htm

Click to expand...

Is it useful to have a warming plate? What temperature is best for the yeast?

You would not need it to warm yeast...unless you want them dead...

you would use the hot part for an all in one starter/vessel/sanitizing solution....including the stir bar.


...and if you do buy one, do yourself a favor and buy some extra stir bars and find a rare earth magnet to stick to the bottom of vessel when transferring liquid to the hold bar...

We built one out of a computer fan. Works great and cost about 30 bucks I believe. Go to our blog and look in the archives. I am pretty sure it is in there. www.freakbrothershomebrew.blogspot.com
Go to our posts from 2009 and scroll down until you see the post called "The Stir Plate is Complete". I found it for you. Check these pics out.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PWtA-rGctI8/SXPNYJevHII/AAAAAAAAAFs/sOlFQGasPJg/s320/stirplate1.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PWtA-rGctI8/SXPNYW1xXqI/AAAAAAAAAF0/HrlEquqPZg4/s320/stirplate2.jpg

You gotta go to the blog to see the video of it in action.

It is a plastic box, a computer fan, 2 rare earth magnets, some wires and a couple of switches. Had to get a beaker and a stir bar as well. Works great.

My stir plate is the same as Freak's. I had a old wore out computer, remove one of the fans and broke open the hard drive and remove the magnet. They are several video's on the internet how to DIY them. My cost was about 40 dollars. I have never had any problem with it. I think if you were to open any stir plate, all that you will find is a motor spinning a earth magnet and some way of controlling RPM, excluding a heater. Heaters would not be used for yeast.

Yep. Good stuff. Ignore the noise of the haters.

I know this is an old thread, but hey, I found it!  I wanted to throw this into the ring for anyone who might stumble upon this thread:

https://www.laboratorycontrols.com/shop/hot-plates-stirrers/barnstead-thermolyne-model-s72835-mirak-stirrer/

I've used and had a lot of success with this Thermolyne stirrer I bought above for a song.