Apera Instruments AI2801 Magnetic Lab Stirrer: Powerful Stir Plate for Mixing Solutions

matthew brengman: The product feels sturdy. It works well with the included stir bars. I use it for thin liquids. the control is fine enough for my purposed. I'm trying to prevent cavitation. Big bonus is the silicone cover to keep my Flasks from slipping on the surface. A version with a timer would be awesome

United States on Jan 29, 2023

KH: Expensive but quality is top notch.

Canada on Aug 12, 2020

ZymurgistZymurgist: I've always been a DIY guy, and for the most part my projects have been spot on. When it came to stir plates for homebrewing, I was always hit or miss. Some plates came out ok, most not so great. I was sick of trying to get the stir bar to line up with the magnets on the base of my DIY projects, and my bases throwing the stir bars every 5 minutes. I decided to invest in a professionally made stir plate, and I chose this one. When I first received the package I thought, "wow, this is much smaller than I imagined". And upon unboxing it, it WAS much smaller than anything I had built. My standard 2000mL flasks overhang on the unit, but I don't consider this a big deal. After plugging it in and testing it out with a full 2000mL flask, I was sold. The stir bar immediately found the base and had a very decent whirlpool at only a quarter of the way on the speed control. The rheostat is very responsive, and very powerful. Anything close to full power will throw the bar in plain water or a standard 1.042 starter wort, but if you are working with a highly flocculant yeast or a thicker solution, this should come in handy. Overall, I'm happy with the smaller footprint in my "beer lab" and very...

United States on Jan 07, 2017

JeffreyJeffrey: I'm a DIY kinda guy and I've build a few home made stir plates from computer fans and cigar boxes. While fun to make they had problems. They'd through the bar, it was hard to find the correct potentiometers for the power supplies, etc. So after the fan broke while making my last starter I broke down and bought a this stirrer.

I like:
1. Comes with two bars, each of which is capable of moving my 2000ml yeast starters
2. Rubber feet prevent it from noisily rattling on my counter top. It's silent.
3. Light weight but doesn't feel cheep. The switch has a green LED to let you know its on. The knob used to adjust the speed isn't too tight or loose, making it easy to adjust.
4.Power supply is separate from the plate itself, making it easy to clean and pack away.
5. Price. When pricing components for my DIY plates the cost was usually about $40. But then I'd buy the wrong part, or wire the potentiometer wrong and burn it out. I defiantly spent much more that the $59 I spent on this plate.

I don't like so much:

1. Diameter. The product description says it has a 3000ml capacity. I think they had cylindrical containers in mind when they wrote that spec. I...

United States on Oct 21, 2016

Musto: My quest was to find a reasonably priced ($100-150) appliance to improve a specific and demanding process--creaming previously weighed baby formula powder into "liquid gold." Requirements were stiff:
* Materials and build quality characteristic of something for a commercial kitchen.
* Consistent, dependable, and safe operation, even if inadvertently left running for hours.
* Powerful enough to mix at least 1L of homogeneous formula with speed and without bubbles.

After looking through hundreds of alternative stirrers, I chose this one. When it arrived, it laughed at my requirements and revealed itself to be a superbly designed and finished instrument. Within a week I'd concluded that if my stirrer were to go missing after the price had doubled, I wouldn't bat an eye at purchasing a replacement.

A few observations:
* Very compact, short, stable, and easily moved around since it runs on low voltage from a wall adapter.
* No smell, no steel casing to rust, and no paint to flake. Looks like it could survive significant splatter and spills, even from adjacent sources.
* Whisper silent and cold to the touch. Can spin tiny to large bars.
* The plastic...

United States on Sep 22, 2016