How to Make a Cheap, Portable Magnetic Stirrer

I needed a magnetic stirrer to keep some cells agitated for cell culture, but didn't want to spend the thirty or so dollars needed to buy one. This magnetic stirrer uses an old computer fan and some cheap neodymium magnets with a moldable plastic stir bar.

The parts are:
- computer fan
- small magnets: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/super-strong-rare-earth-re-magnets-8mm-20-pack-4248 (free shipping)
- moldable plastic (polymorph, instamorph, shapelock)
- lexan
-batteries
-superglue (cyanoacrylate)

Step 1: Glue the Magnets to the Fan

Prepare and clean the fan for use. Your fan may have two wires (red for positive and black for negative). If it has three wires, the white wire is a tachometer and is not needed. Glue the magnets on opposite sides of the fan head. The magnets in the fan's motor may push the magnets around a bit, so arrange accordingly. I arranged the magnets to have opposite polarities facing up.

Comments

[Austringer]

Normally, you don't want to use a stir bar with cells since the action of the stir bar and the bottom of the beaker will lyse them. Roller bottles are the common way this sort of thing is done at bench scale.

[bufalloo]

then that will be my next instructable xD

[tnmann10]

a cheap multi tier cell roller would be awesome!!!

[tnmann10]

ignore

[rish113113]

Where will you put the stir bar?? Please reply .

[[Bartimaeus]]

Awesome build, I was able to make my own with great success. I found a 4 pin fan and a library for Arduino to control the speed with a potentiometer, works well. Want to try again sometime with a fan with LED lighting for effect.

[limpport]

Are the fan blades necessary to keep attached? It would spin faster without them, unless it makes it spin too fast....

(Then you'll need a resistor or potentiometer!)

[Jimmy Proton]

If you raise the fain up off the surface it'll run more efficiently by allowing the air to flow through.

[7_Volts]

didnt understnd yet wht was the use of stir bar and where did u put it ????

[EhBmicrobio]

Great! Very useful to me.

If you change the batteries by a solar panel, you can enter it into the Green Tech Contest.

[cameron and blake]

well you could get get into the green tech contest anyway becouse it is used with water and rare earth magnets

[Krayzi99]

Would you be able to use hot glue for the stir bar instead?

[foxworrior]

i don't see why you cannot use hot glue instead of polymorph, or you could always make one of each.

[drdan152]

Great idea !!!! Very cultured haha ..... I'm totally gonna make one of these

[foxworrior]

i don't see why you cannot use hot glue instead of polymorph, or you could always make one of each.

[foxworrior]

lol i replied to the wrong person, i meant to reply to pblanscet.

[foxworrior]

Hello, i have made this but i have made an "improvement", i connected the ground and the positive wires of the fan to a 3.5" mono socket and the positive and ground of a USB cable to the 3.5" mono plugs, and i did the same with a 9v battery clip so i can use either a 9v battery or power from a usb port if i am near a computer.

That is just something to think about if you want to remake it.

[ultrabob]

Looks like a great idea for yeast starters for homebrewing! Nice instructable!

[bulwynkl]

the stirrer does not have to be a magnet ofcourse - just magnetic - a piece of steel ( magnetic stainless?) would do the trick. Magnetic would couple better but it's not absolutely needed.

alternatively you can buy Heamatite bars that have been magnetised - these would make an excellent stirrer - Ceramic clean, hard, food safe

random google search shows for example...
http://www.e-magnet.cn/images/YXAM1001.jpg
or
http://www.e-magnet.cn/images/YXAM1011.jpg

(WRT stainless - someone is bound to point out that stainless steel is not magnetic - well that depends on how much Cr versus Ni is in it. Ferrite (body centered cubic crystal structure) is magnetic. Austenite (face centered cubic) is not magnetic. In stainless steels, Ni is a ferrite promoter and Cr is a austenite promoter. High Ni stainless steels are ferritic - this is what stainless steel knives and razors are made of)

[bulwynkl]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rustproof_iron

Oops - I got that the wrong way around - Cr is the ferrite promoter, Ni is the Austenite promoter - ferritic CRES has very low Ni.

[absolutekold]

The only issue i have with ceramics is that some to be properly fired get into the heat range that would effect the strength of the magnets in the stirrer. So i would more be shopping for something that is a food safe polymer resin for general use.. If you're using this for crazy science then be sure it will stand up to what you're doing or consider forming glass. As another aside hacking the fan blades off would help as you are totally restricting air flow and any extra drag is power not going to stirring.. all in all a near concept.

[kirkb150]

Make sure that thermo-plastic is food grade if you plan to use it where consumables are involved. (like for home brew "yeast" starter). Just sayin'.

[imuhachev]

Video, please!)

[powerfool]

I didn't get how you place the magnets. To form one bigger magnet? So, S-N-space-S-N?

[0_Nvd_0]

Let magnets decide. ;)

Yes, S-N-S-N and So oN.

[Spokehedz]

Very nice! Couple of cheap (or free) additions would make this even better:

A PWM circuit so that you could control the rate of stir. These are cheap online at various auction sites that rhyme with fleabay.

Removal of the blades so that the rate of spin would be increased dramatically and also give more control when the PWM is installed.

Otherwise, great job!

[0_Nvd_0]

If the fan sits on a table, air flow is stopped and the fan speeds up considerably. Will not gain that much by breaking the wings.

If the fan is not that much big, a potentiometer will do a fine job of a speed controller.

[killbox]

Yes, removal of the blades is easy you can usually just break them off one by one, the plastic is kinda brittle. these are brushless motors, so they may not work well with all pwm speed controls, but there are plenty of fan speed controls sold at your local PC repair shop.

[polerix]

Sculpey / Fimo works well, onced baked, they are just plastic.

[ksexton1]

sculpy/fimo are porous and even water absorbs to a point in them. real stirrer magnets are going to be more durable, and not lose particles in your solution, and are cheap compared to the stirrer that the fan+magnets are replacing.

[greyyguy]

It has been a while since I used it, but I'm pretty sure Sculpey say it is not food safe. I thought it was due to the plasticizers in it, which would mean Fimo is probably not food safe either.

[DeusXMachina]

Baking most magnets (ferrite, neodymium) would render them non-magnetic (I think SmCo have higher Curie temperatures).

[mgalyean]

There are all kinds of "plastic". Not all plastic is as tough or inert as the teflon based stuff used in lab magnetic stirrers.

[kthrun]

Made out of PURE AWESOME! Been looking for something to use to stir yeast cultures for homebrewed beer. Thanks!

[Pfarmkid]

never thought of using this for homemade beer

[snateraar]

Couldn't you perhaps entirely saw off the fan blades and have a variable resistor to control the speeds?

[Misac-kun]

You could use a usb for power supply since it draws 5v so you could use a potentiometer to regulate the speed based on the source voltage! Now that i saied that i'm going todo one myself now!

[Misac-kun]

Done! Gonna buy/found/scrap a potentiometer for me later today. Going to up load it later too, damn 3G!

[Yakster]

Cool project, I may have to try this for making coffee (with the appropriate stir bar) in a french press.

[kelseymh]

Very nice, inexpensive project! Is Sugru sufficiently inert to use for this, or does it have the same "soften on heating" problem? What about using silicone epoxy (like a tube of sealant)?