Made my water tests more enjoyable

[nstiesi]

Hey everyone,

I have been away from RC for a while, just kinda stuck in a general reefing rut.....but one of the things my brother and I have been working on is a homebrew magnetic stirring table. Just got the last bits in today and built it up. Certainly takes some of the leaky test tube flipping annoyance away from a titration test:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vc9h6Xx3H5c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

(cranked the speed up at the end, just to show off the power, haha.)

 

[tommy tomato]

thats awesome

add 1 drop and mix 15 secs x5 gets old quick!

 

[ktg113]

Sweet

 

[mrx66699]

does it do jack and coke lol were can I get one

 

[ek9vboi]

Lol how much and where do I buy! Must have!!!

 

[Biggar]

Thats nice, good job

 

[kg221]

I want one! This is so cool.

+1 to mrx lol "the ultimate drink mixer" perfect alcohol ratio every time. Get it down to a science lol

 

[flfireman1]

Haha, I like it! Thats the premise behind my home made kalkwasser top off. Its basically a lab grade stirrer and I have it hooked up to a timer which goes on for about 1 min 4 times a day and mixes the kalkwasser with the RO water. The stirrer sits underneath an acrylic cylinder which holds the RO water and the little pill which mixes the kalk at the bottom.

 

[geoplane2]

Wait for me !!! I will take one .

 

[ek9vboi]

Group buy?!

 

[billsreef]

I've got one I use for culturing yeast starters for brewing

 

[nstiesi]

Wow everyone, thanks for all the kind response. We have some supplies for a second one that we are gonna build for my brother. If enough people wanted one, I could probably order some nice circuit boards (rather than radioshack project boards) and some more metal through my work. No idea about price, since that really depends on quantity.....

 

[jdantunes]

What did you use as a mixing bead? or did it come with the small container?

 

[ek9vboi]

What did you use as a mixing bead? or did it come with the small container?

It's actually a mixing bar. They sell for a few bucks on eBay. It's basically a piece of metal encapsulated in plastic.


I was doing some research on this and it's pretty simple to do. The cheaper route would be to use a PC fan and mount a hard drive magnet to the center of the fan. Apply power and you have a magnetic stirrer. It happens that I have all of these parts sitting around and they have no use!

 

[nstiesi]

Yes, I got the stirring bar from a Lab Supply, as well as the tiny beakers.

It's actually a mixing bar. They sell for a few bucks on eBay. It's basically a piece of metal encapsulated in plastic.


I was doing some research on this and it's pretty simple to do. The cheaper route would be to use a PC fan and mount a hard drive magnet to the center of the fan. Apply power and you have a magnetic stirrer. It happens that I have all of these parts sitting around and they have no use!

 

[tommy tomato]

If you could come up with a ballpark price I may be interested

 

[ek9vboi]

Yes, I got the stirring bar from a Lab Supply, as well as the tiny beakers.

How big is the beaker and stir bar? I was thinking of making one for water testing but realized that there isn't much water involved when testing. Some test are like 2ml, which is nothing.

Also, could you tell us a little bit more on the DIY? Like was a fan used? Etc...

 

[liquidcowboy]

if you could come up with a ballpark price i may be interested

+1

 

[nstiesi]

I'll work up some numbers tonight.

 

[nstiesi]

How big is the beaker and stir bar? I was thinking of making one for water testing but realized that there isn't much water involved when testing. Some test are like 2ml, which is nothing.

Also, could you tell us a little bit more on the DIY? Like was a fan used? Etc...

Those beakers are 10ml, smallest I could find. The stir rods are 1/2 inch long. I use API test kits, which are 5ml, so they fill the beaker up half way, which gives a decent water column for viewing. Using this with different test kits is just a matter of container and stir rod selection. Plus, this will work on larger tests like pool testing. Ive tested it up to 250ml with an 1.5" rod.