Homemade Magnetic Stirrer

After watching NurdRage's video about magnetic stirrers, I concluded that it would be quite easy to build. So, last weekend, I spent the rainy Sunday morning building one. Here, I give a tour of it, and show it at work, dissolving quite a bit of salt.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Magnetic
• stirrer
• stir
• bar
• rod
• vortex
• fan
• magnet
• rare
• earth
• computer
• box
• wood
• wiring
• simple
• circuit
• switch

[starshock01]

why does no one remove the fan blades? it would save a bunch of energy just blowing air in a circle...

[dbc616]

@starshock01 I'ts actually going too fast as it is, that's why I built a new one with a potentiometer

[fborcic]

put a potentiometer, to control the speed, that's way more important than a led

[dbc616]

@fborcic I made a new one with a potentiometer about 6 months ago, I just didn't make a video

[AWIERD1]

Great idea, but you should have clipped off the fans. It adds useless resistance to the motor.

Now that I think about it the fans could equalize the weight of the magnet on top, but I am not sure. What do you think?

[dbc616]

I don't think they equalize the weight, but I think they add stability to the motor.

[petezac1]

Without the fans blades you may get a balance issue, out of line spinning. You could use some thing as a counter weight. Just like balancing car tyres.

[Indygoguy]

You could make four of these and use them under a large tank of some kind to investigate magnetism. Magnets are dipoles. You could attach two of your stirrers side to side and make them spin in opposite directions. Attach them far enough apart so each vortex can exists nest to the other. Make two of those units and one can demonstrate what happens when two magnets are put next to each other in different pole configurations.

[gnevzmaja]

@starshock01 I wouldnt remove fan blades since fan is already rotating on high RPM compared to comercial stirers, so removing blades wold just make it faster...

[scorpionkeeper]

@starshock01 the blades also help balance it, if you broke or cut them off you would have to make sure you get them all the way down to the base, that plus you would need to make sure you're magnet is balanced in the middle of the fan. It's easier just to leave the blades on.

[idiottom351]

seeing how glass is quite easy to break you should try to find a peace of Plexiglas to replace the glass, just a thought i had

[MRGRAFSTROM]

@dbc616 What about PTFE coated stirrer?