koolkuna
Well-Known Member
I want to buy a stir plate which one should I buy I live in Melbourne do I need a heated stir plate or not?? Please advise
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Stir plate
- Thread starter koolkuna
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Mardoo
Noob What Craps On A Bit
1. You should buy one of the Digital Homebrew DIY plates, regular stirplate, or heated stirplate. Why? Because their service and followup on warranty issues is among the best in the business. They are solid, solid plates to start with, but DH bends over backwards to make sure your plate continues to be that solid.
2. You do not need a heated one as long as you do your starters indoors. That said, a heated plate is among the items I most want.
3. There are plenty of threads on here about building your own stirplate from a computer fan. Looks damn easy. Haven't done it.
There will absolutely be other opinions too.
2. You do not need a heated one as long as you do your starters indoors. That said, a heated plate is among the items I most want.
3. There are plenty of threads on here about building your own stirplate from a computer fan. Looks damn easy. Haven't done it.
There will absolutely be other opinions too.
koolkuna
Well-Known Member
Yeah I looked at the KK stir plate which is heated but no thermostat or thermometer so how does that work? That would just kill the yeast. The Digital Home Brew model looks great. A bit pricey but quality I guess
koolkuna
Well-Known Member
So are you suggesting that you don't need the heating at all
I have the YeastForge and use it indoors in Sydney. In winter, the ambient temperature tends to fluctuate between 10C and 20C. The controlled heating is very, very handy. I can set the temperature to 22C and be confident that it will remain constant. I suspect you would benefit just as much in Melbourne.
koolkuna
Well-Known Member
Yeah that's what I'm leaning towards as Mardoo suggested in the previous post. You just set and forget
koolkuna
Well-Known Member
I wonder whether you can plug the KK stir plate which is full on heating or off into the KK temperature controller to regulate the heating? Has anyone tried that?
koolkuna
Well-Known Member
Maybe a bulk buy
koolkuna
Well-Known Member
Yeah you're correct I never thought of that
And you want gentle heating, so relatively low power, with solid state switching and preferably a PID algorithm or at least a thermostat with small hysteresis.
All-in-all, the YeastForge is good value. Sure, you can buy parts to do a similar job for less, but the amount of stuffing about is hardly worth it.
All-in-all, the YeastForge is good value. Sure, you can buy parts to do a similar job for less, but the amount of stuffing about is hardly worth it.
koolkuna
Well-Known Member
Well the YeastForge sounds like it will do the job I'll email them and ask for the best price
Thanks guys [emoji106]
Thanks guys [emoji106]
Coalminer
Well-Known Member
There is a new Yeast Forge in development but things are slow. It was supposed to be available by now but is still not ready
Even the discussion thread is closed for comments, don't know why.
I am ready to buy 2 of them but slowly losing interest
Even the discussion thread is closed for comments, don't know why.
I am ready to buy 2 of them but slowly losing interest
Nullnvoid
Well-Known Member
Looks like they had problems with the PCB board and that has slowed things down.
https://www.facebook.com/DigitalHomebrew/
https://www.facebook.com/DigitalHomebrew/
lost at sea
Well-Known Member
Any update on the yeast forge? are they ever going to be re-produced?
lost at sea
Well-Known Member
if no one has any updates on the yeast forge, then can you recommend a decent quality stir plate.
I can recommend against getting a Hanna Instruments stir plate. Their support is very poor given the price point. I would speculate the support is poor for a home brewer because they’re not set up to support individuals (even individuals foolish enough to spend over $1,000 on pH meters, probes, buffers and other solutions, stir plates and thermometers).
I purchased their stir plate for just over $200, a little over two years ago. A month ago, less than three months out of their two-year warranty, having only done about a dozen starters over the two years, it became defective. Long story short Hanna refused to replace or repair free of charge, and instead recommended I simply buy another stir plate from them for $220.
I’ve gone with the new Kegland one instead, for a fraction of the price, and will share my initial impressions here when I’ve done a starter on it (this weekend assuming it arrives on Friday). This model does not have the heater function, but as others have said, heating is not necessary if you are able to keep the starter inside your house and the temperature is not crazy cold.
I purchased their stir plate for just over $200, a little over two years ago. A month ago, less than three months out of their two-year warranty, having only done about a dozen starters over the two years, it became defective. Long story short Hanna refused to replace or repair free of charge, and instead recommended I simply buy another stir plate from them for $220.
I’ve gone with the new Kegland one instead, for a fraction of the price, and will share my initial impressions here when I’ve done a starter on it (this weekend assuming it arrives on Friday). This model does not have the heater function, but as others have said, heating is not necessary if you are able to keep the starter inside your house and the temperature is not crazy cold.
bevan
Well-Known Member
I made my own heated stir plate. It used the diy version from digital Homebrew
http://www.digitalhomebrew.com/diy-magnetic-stirplate-kit-v2
I then added a little temp controller and had it switching a motor bike handle warmer on and off.
I posted the build on here a year or so ago. I’ll see if I can find the post and link it
Works a treat!
http://www.digitalhomebrew.com/diy-magnetic-stirplate-kit-v2
I then added a little temp controller and had it switching a motor bike handle warmer on and off.
I posted the build on here a year or so ago. I’ll see if I can find the post and link it
Works a treat!
bevan
Well-Known Member
It’s been over a month but I finally got around to putting the $33 Kegland stir plate through its paces this week.
As I mentioned above, previously I’d used a rather expensive Hanna magnetic stirrer. The Hanna unit obviously wasn’t designed to stir 2+ litres in Erlenmeyer flaks, because it couldn’t even get a proper whirlpool in a two litre starter (I assume it was meant for sitting 300ml solutions in beakers for pH measurements.
The Kegland unit on the other hand is nice and powerful, gets the whirlpool going in 2 litres easily and feels really sturdy and well built - metal casing and feels like it is well held together.
Obviously time will tell if it is durable, but even if it only lasts two years like the Hanna, at $33 to replace I won’t be complaining.
As I mentioned above, previously I’d used a rather expensive Hanna magnetic stirrer. The Hanna unit obviously wasn’t designed to stir 2+ litres in Erlenmeyer flaks, because it couldn’t even get a proper whirlpool in a two litre starter (I assume it was meant for sitting 300ml solutions in beakers for pH measurements.
The Kegland unit on the other hand is nice and powerful, gets the whirlpool going in 2 litres easily and feels really sturdy and well built - metal casing and feels like it is well held together.
Obviously time will tell if it is durable, but even if it only lasts two years like the Hanna, at $33 to replace I won’t be complaining.
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