DIY Magnetic Mixer

I'm still fairly amateurish when it comes to making my own juices, but I'd like to share my own small personal victory. My own personal DIY magnetic mixer. It looks a bit like a pig with makeup on and the vortex is wide due to using a makeshift stir rod but it definitely does the job. My proper stir rods should be coming next week. I'm hoping to significantly reduce my steeping times.

 

Hi mate, does your magnetic with heating function?

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Nice job, magnetic stirrer is one of the mixing tools that can speed things up, or so I've heard

In Thailand it's usually pretty hot outdoors, so dunno if one needs to heat the stirrer or not. Might be best to keep mixing that's open on top indoors to prevent ingress of insects or other undesirables into the beaker ... But I assume you can also magnetic mix in a sealed container too ?

I couldn't see in video what you used, presumably it's a PC fan with hard drive magnets glued to it ?

Also, be interested to find out where you bought the glass beaker, as I need one too ...

 

No built in heating function yet. I am thinking about how I might integrate that functionality. I don't have a fancy case yet to house it, so all options are open and suggestions are welcome. At the moment I am just slighting warming up the VG to about 50C to make it a bit more viscous.

**Updated**

When I'm mixing, I cover the beaker with plastic wrap to prevent any contaminants. I also add nic at the very end to prevent it from oxidizing too much. No problems with sealed containers.

I bought my beakers from the Thai Teacher's Supply store in Ekkamai. Suksa Pan or something like that. However, I heard that one caught fire and hasn't reopened yet. I think the next closest to the Sukhumvit area is near Imperial Sam Rong. Lots of neat science supplies there and very reasonable prices.

And exactly that, PC fan, old hard drive magnets, some corrugated cardboard for spacers, scotch tape. Total shopping cost at Panthip plaza was 80 baht for the fan and 50 baht for two old hard drive magnets.

 

TVM ... Usually best to leave nic to last minute, also in case the batch is crappy ... If you have an outdoor area, that's protected from rain, then the heating might be a moot point in Thailand with tropical temperatures currently in some parts 40 deg C plus ... Balcony, perhaps ...

Lab mag mixers sometimes have hot plate built in, but I guess you know that already.

Presumably you didn't answer about how it's made because that's going to be patented later

Do update us once you've mixed a few batches as to effectiveness of this technology, as others do use shaking/agitating, aeration, ultrasonics, heat and good old fashioned waiting to achieve desired result, mileage is said to vary ...

 

@Scuba Vaper I missed the build question in my first reply and I've edited my original post. Please forgive my omission.

I have a nice berry cheesecake mixing up right now that usually takes about 2 months to fully steep. I'm going to let it mix overnight and see how it is by morning. I didn't want to fully invest in to a mag mixer with a hot plate yet until I perfected a few more recipes. I've just started mixing in 100ml batches instead of 10 or 30ml.

I'm stepping in to it one level at a time. If this works out well, I'll probably purchase a proper mag mixer. I've already got two units in mind that are reasonably priced. I was really wanting to get a homogenizer but I'm finding it difficult to justify the price difference of 20,000 baht between that and a decent mag mixer.

 

no worries, was teasing hence the

I looked into mag stirrer DIY, so hence the interest. IKA seems to come up as a brand for pro mag stirrers.

Homogenizers I don't know anything about, seems like a fancy whisk really on close glance. There must also be professional agitators, aka shaking, like they use for paint, I guess ...

Hopefully what you've made will speed up mixing, enough to warrant purchasing a pro one, smart move to try it out first though.

Fingers crossed then on the cheeseberrycake

 

There have been some interesting results through various modification of this project and I just thought I would share in case anyone else has a desire to make one.

1. Viscosity matters. In my video using water, I was able to get a nice vortex using a makeshift stir rod. Once I upped it to 100ml @ 70vg/30pg, no vortex. The liquid was definitely mixing, albeit at a much slower rate than expected. Warming it improved the mixing, but this becomes a chore without a constant source of regulated heat. I let this mix overnight and in the morning it seemed fairly well mixed. I placed it in a cool dark place for one day. The next day, I took it out and there was separation occurring. I put it back on the mixer.

2. Stir rods matter. My teflon coated magnetic stir rods arrived and after freshly cleaning and sterilizing them, they are a significant improvement over my makeshift one. Using a 20mm stir rod, I was able to achieve a much greater mixing effect, but still no vortex. I let this mix overnight and by morning, the liquid was crystal clear, giving the appearance of being homogenized. I let it continue to mix for the day and I've got it slow steeping now.

2.1 Bigger is not always better. Using a 12mm stir rod on a 60ml mix I was able to get a micro vortex going with significant aeration.

At this point, I think the biggest limitation is the fan speed and the viscosity. I need to find another higher speed fan and/or a regulated heating source that I can add safely.

Overall, taking a beaker that has just had everything added with no manual mixing, placing it on the mixer, and turning it on, appears to be significantly better than shaking. Once I get some more bottles, I'll mix two batches at the same time, one on the mixer and one without and take notes on how they compare over time.

 

Thanks for update, looks like you're making good progress

Wasn't 100% sure why vortex matters or not, but sure you know better than I do ...

 

The vortex is a visual indication of the strength of flow. The greater the vortex, the greater the flow.

 

Makes sense. What about using a dilutant in with the VG, I suggest because there is VG and also aqueous VG which contains a percentage of water and is therefore less viscous ?

 

Absolutely. Anything to reduce the viscosity would be helpful. Reducing the mix from my 70VG/30PG to something like 50VG/50PG would make a significant enough difference that you might be able to just get by with normal VG.

As an attempt to approach it from another angle, I'm going to look at purchasing some of the taller/narrower beakers when I get around to finding them. I suspect that these may be more effective.

 

If you have a local Amorn they have a selection of fans, I dunno if a 240v one might spin faster. I got a 120mm one for about 200THB

I was also able to pick up a 12v centrifugal server fan from there, although haven't actually used it yet, because it sounds like an airplane taking off. Does seem to have PWM control, so might be able to make it run slower in normal operation. For now it's in the spares bin, until I get around to doing something with it ... Perhaps a mag stirrer or if my water cooling breaks on my desktop PC.

Oh, and before you spend many baht on a pro mag stirrer, might be worth at least investigating ultrasonic cleaner, Amorn have those too ... If nothing else all your jewellery will be clean !

 

I have made one upgrade on this mixer that has significantly improved the mixing capability.

Forget the old hard drive magnets. They simply aren't strong enough for high viscosity fluids. I purchased some magnets of various sizes, and it seems that 10mmx5mm N52 magnets work the best for my setup.

I use two of them spaced equally apart for balance. Be sure to secure them very well. I may have had an accident or two due to them not being secured well enough (they are surprisingly strong for their size). Make sure that the both magnets are secured with the same polarity facing up. If you end up securing them with opposite polarities, you will find that your stir rod doesn't do much stirring, it just bounces around a lot.

And with that, short of a fancy case, I have a mixer that is able to power through a 70vg/30pg mix with a tight central vortex that extends from the surface to the stir bar.

 

Just made it today.
Let see how it works...


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