Stir Plate Help

[Duff]

I'm going to try to build a stir plate. We have an old PC which I have pulled apart and there are two fans inside of it. But I have read on a number of threads both here and on Brewboard that people have used magnets from the hard drive.

Where do I find these? I can't post a pic because my digital camera doesn't want to work :angry: but I've had a look over all of the components and can't seem to see them. Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers.

 

[Shunty]

The magnets are in the hard drive itself. take the hard drive out of the tower, and gently smash it open with a sledge hammer . the magnets are held either side of the silver disk in a wee cradle thingy, either unscrew it, or pry them out with a flathead

 

[homebrewworld.com]

Oatley Electronics ( Sydney ) has a variety of shapes and sizes for a couple of bucks each ( rare earth magnets ). Much much cheaper than the big boys eg,Dick Smith etc
Im sure they have a website..

 

[sosman]

I haven't used the HD magnets myself, instead I splashed out 75 cents each for two rare earth magnets at the local magnet shop.

 

[Joel]

I bought ten 15mm round rare earth magnets from an ebay shop. can't remember exactly how much, but they were fairly cheap. Bloody strong too. I've done a similar thing to the picture above... I put a washer under each magnet to shield them from the motor (it won't turn otherwise).

One tip. Get a proper stir bar before you glue the magnets in place. Put the magnets together with the stir bar (one rare earth magnet on each end of the stir bar) to get the optimal spacing for the magnets, then stick the magnets onto the fan.

If you're in Adelaide go to Aims Scientific for stir bars and conical vessels. No affiliation, just a satisfied customer.

 

[nonicman]

I smashed up an old dead IBM Deskstar HD for the magnets, but they turned out to be fairly weak, couldn't see them working in a stir plate. I guess not all harddrives are suitable.

 

[Lindsay Dive]

Nonicman, Try Jaycar for your magnets.

Gold Coast
2474 Gold Coast Highway
Mermaid Beach 4218
Ph: 07 5526 6722
Fax: 07 5526 6733


Regards,
Lindsay.

 

[Duff]

Thanks all. Oatley Electronics looks like the way to go, rare earth magnets for 55 cents. I was thinking of a dual stirrer in the one box so I can run two at the same time, but with seperate variable control speed for each. Am definately going to get a couple of new fans, when SWMBO got home and saw the old PC in bits, I thought I was going to lose my bits for a minute especially when I suggested that we bust open the hard drive :blink:

Cheers.

 

[crozdog]

Duff,

I'm in the process of producing a stir plate as well. I picked up my rare earth magnets from AMF Magnetics here in Sydney. 12mm x 5mm disks were about $2 each.

Link to AMF Magnetics


I also found a list of aussie magnet suppliers here

Hope that helps. Checkout brewiki for more clues - consider building a pulse width modulator (PWM) speed controller as they are more efficient than a simple pot or adjistable voltage regulator.

hope that helps a bit.

Cheers

:beer:

crozdog

 

[tangent]

are you stirring a starter or a fermenter or what?

thanks for all the great contacts and suppliers details fellas - appreciated!
if you think they're worthy, add them to the links section with some details.

 

[crozdog]

tangent,
I'm making the stir plate for stirring starters.

I found a couple of nice metal boxes complete with 12v DA power supplies built in that work was chucking out, grabbed them as well as an old fan tray assembly from some networking gear. I think the boxes were originally part of an alarm system.

Thank you beer gods! I now have the guts of a dual stir plate system - just need to knock up a speed controller & it's away - well after cutting out the lid & attaching a piece of perspex, mounting the fans etc etc.......

Hopefully sometime over the new years break I'll get it together & be able to post some pics.

Crozdog

 

[tangent]

so you're just not happy shaking a coke bottle eh?
be interested to see how it comes out.
cheers