Who hates stirring?

[blindreeper]

Upon making HMTD today and being informed that stirring for 3 hours increases the yeild drasticly I pondered on how this could be done with ease. I am to lazy to stirr with a rod for 3 hours so I cam up with this (http://www.geocities.com/blindreeper_chemistry/overhead_stirrer.html). I know this concept is used by painters to mix up paint but this is slightly different. Also it gives a use for broken thermometers which I know we all have :D

More improvised lab ware will be coming!

[ALENGOSVIG1]

Hate stirring? Buy one of these! Mmmm IKA's are yummy.

http://www.ika.net/ika/owa/catalog.showBrowse?iProcess=&iGroup=188&iBrowse=1&iButton=magicon.gif

Heres a nice overhead stirrer article:
http://www.rhodium.ws/chemistry/equipment/overhead.html

[Rat Bastard]

Heheh, I raised my HMTD yield with THIS!!
http://krimzonpyro.com/rat/boardimage/stirr.jpg
:D

I left it for 3 hours, and it worked great. hehe, I love having old lego kicking around.

[yt2095]

oh wow! :D

i love it! rat bastard that is so cool! i want one! i thought my electric screwdriver and mains adaptor version was good, but yours takes the cake and then some. it`s a 10 outa 10 score in my book anyday :)

i`ve been sitting here miserable with a broken leg, and your pic has just made my day, thnx :)

[Kerrupt]

I love my stirring hotplate :)

[blindreeper]

I love it when people post useful stuff! I have taken pictures of my little device so you can have a look here (http://www.geocities.com/blindreeper_chemistry/overhead_stirrer.html)

[Isotoxin]

I just place the flask on my hot plate and turn the left knob a little and walk away. :D

[priapo]

What about using a magnetic stirrer? They are quite cheap and easy to use.

[blindreeper]

Right, magnetic stirrer cheap :rolleyes:

[Dave Angel]

Very nifty idea blindreeper, a classic example of simple and effective.

The cheapest new magnetic stirrer I've seen is about £70 and the price shoots right up (£200+) if you want a hotplate function. I'm fortunate enough to have come across a hotplate stirrer second hand, and it makes me wonder how I managed without it.

I have thought about combining an old R/C car motor, permanent or electro- bar magnet and a variable resistor to build the basis of an improvised magnetic stirrer, but I gave up on that idea once I got the second hand one.

[blindreeper]

This method also alows one to use a cheapo hotplate from a cheap store or whatever while using the stirrer :) All at minimal cost!

[Microtek]

I may have mentioned this before, but I think its a good idea so...
I use an old CPU cooling fan with a bar magnet attached using a little blue-tack. The fan is powered by an ordinary 12V transformer with variable current.
These fans are designed to run for hours or days on end, they are small and noiseless and they are flat so they can be placed directly on a table.
You can then just attach the magnet and place an inverted bowl of some kind over the fan and you're ready to go.

[0EZ0]

Thats quite an interesting method for improvising a magnetic stirring apparatus, Microtek. What strength/type bar magnet do you use? Or what would you recommend?

Neodymium magnets may well be too strongly attracted to the metallic parts of the CPU fan and disrupt the rotation of the blade. I know they are predominately made of plastic but the electric motor and fan shaft are most certainly metallic. Would the weight be too much of a load on the fan also?

I'm not very electronics minded but it should be possible to attach a light dimmer to adjust the speed of the rotating fan.

[Microtek]

I use a VERY powerful bar magnet weighing about 100 grams. It does indeed slow the fan down a bit but that is an advantage, as the fan speed is a little high otherwise.
There doesn't seem to be any appreciable interference by the magnetic field.
I usually need to turn the power all the way up in order to get it going, but once it has started spinning, I turn it down to a more appropriate level.