Well that really really sux. Was hopping for something better
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Just a guess but I suspect that the availability problem is because of it being a POS they know they will likely get returned. Iām sorry to hear this. Iām working on something but can not post anything until I am certain that I donāt have any bugs in it for people to contend with. It will be 100% DIY, easy, with off the shelf parts and zero hype.
After I started posting I found the specs. I think if you check the heating ability it will be as useless as the āmotor.ā
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Iām going to go ahead and post a little but had planned on starting a thread comparing my use of mag stirrers and an overhead stirrer. Basically, the delay Iām having is all too familiar to everyone-I ordered parts claiming to be āUS Stockā and have now been waiting for shipment from China. Grrrrrrrr.
Hereās my take and experience with mag stirrers; they work great for small quantities up to about 100 ml. Purchasing rare earth spin-bars can help but they are (1) pricey and (2) still are not going to work for say 500 ml or a liter. Regardless of the size or power of the motor, magnetic coupling is the function. Overcoming the _mass_of 500 ml of VG takes a hell of lot of magnetic force.
Iāve read a lot of sales literature, both old and new, and two recurrent words are used repeatedly: "test samples. " These devices were not designed or intended to mix large quantities. People are rightly disappointed, and I think most or many are, by claims that I donāt believe any mag stirrer will deliver unless huge magnets are used. Below is my hotplate/stirrer along with an overhead stirrer which I have been mentioning.
Direct drive instead of magnetic coupling. The motor is 1/80 Hp 1550 RPM with enough torque to stir/mix 5 gallons of water yet it is small and efficient.
However, overhead stirring has its own problem or for me it does. I do not want to stir in open air or an open container. While my home is certainly clean, it is not a clean room. To solve this I made a simple device made with a 1 Liter canning jar. The components are below:
The white "lid is made from UHMW (ultra high molecular weight) poly which is a machinable plastic most often called plastic millstock. It is .125 thick and allows the metal lid to lock down. It is approved for food usage and is in fact more chemically resistant than nearly all other plastics including Teflon.
The metal part is a stainless bearing housing I made on a metal lathe and is where I am having difficulty finding an affordable off the shelf product. However, I think I have that part worked out. IT uses 2 flange bearings which can be purchased nearly everywhere. Edit: I intend to use UHMW for this also.
And of course the paddle stirrer. I have a machine shop and and working it out where these can be made DIY. This particular one retails in the excess of $100.00 US. (Crazy) I intend (have) to use UHMW and a .250 stainless rod. A little time and a couple of bucks. Edit: I am experimenting with different types and sizes.
The main project is a high torque dc motor and speed control. Clearly, a cheap PWM will easily work. Finding the correct motor at a good price is another matter. On the slow boat from China so weāll see.
I hope this helps and is my way of trying to give back to the community. (My recipes suck)
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So, did they allow you to return it?
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Iāve been buzzin away with my little Apera 601 for half of forever with a couple of rare earth magnets and for up to 120ml itās doin great. No wiz-bang āfeaturesā. On/off and a speed pot. Thatās it. Itās in back of me buzzing away on some raspberry cheesecake right now. Smells good!
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Yeah 99% of the time Iām using my mag stirrers and they work just fine. Bring the VG temp up to about 105 degrees thins VG considerably which can be helpful. I add nic after stirring and cooling. I just thought that I would show the overhead options and benefits. I also thought this might be beneficial to people into making oils, lotions, soaps etc. There seems to be quite a few here on ELR into those things as well.
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Absolutely! For bigger volumes Iām sure the overhead is the ticket. So far Iāve been doing fine with either 60 or 120 ml batches depending on how much I vape of the mix obviously. After reading what Ozo (if I remember correctly) wrote Iām in the camp of let the mixer bring the temp up and be happy. I also give my mixes a bath in the USC with no heat applied and Iāve been happy as a clam with my vapes.
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Nope. Iāve not even discussed a return. Maybe if it was a $250 item I might, but for the $70 + shipping I paid, itās not worth it to me for all the hassle and cost on my end to send it back to China.
Lesson learned. Iām going to tinker with it a bit to see if I can make any use out of it. If not, perhaps redesign something that makes more sense. Regardless, I stand by my advice to NOT purchase the NFF01 max stirrer. The extent to which this thing sucks is epic in proportion. If they were free they would still cost too much. Rather than leave it here, I want to give my pros/cons. Cons firstā¦
CONS
-
Unbalanced. This thing wobbles like the town drunk. Well, itās not that bad, but itās enough that it visibly shakes the container youāre using.
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Cheap, thin plastic construction of the body.
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Weak motor
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Not user friendly controls. The supplied owner manual is vague and assumes the reader knows things specific to the device such as modes of operation
PROS
- None that Iām aware of
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Thanks for the heads you!
I was going to pull the trigger on this but decided to await further reviews.
Now I will look at getting a good magnetic stirrer with heat plate.
Has anyone any good recommendations?
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The older stuff found on ebay were made for professional use and had to pass some very stringent standardsā¦especially when government funds were used. While there are several brand names, most were made by Henry Troemer and one or two other manufacturers. My hotplate stirrer is branded VWR and is built like a tank. My other is a Magna Stir (no hotplate). Both were mfg by Troemer In New Jersey.
I checked ebay and there are many right now and some at very good prices. No one is buying this stuff primarily because of the Holidays. For example/I purchased the overhead stirrer pictured for $12.60 + 10.05 shipping. I have bought other lab equipment at unbelievably cheap prices.
If you like send me a link to anything you find and Iāll be happy to give you my opinion. Look for University or government labeled equipment. While most are rightly leery of used equipment, I can only advise that the build quality is far beyond anything being produced unless they are in the several hundred dollar range. While I donāt want to go into my occupational background, I am knowledgeable about equipment such as these items-old and new.
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Thank you @mrpipes much appreciated.
Iām in the UK though so the American market is out due to postage costs etcā¦ But Iām sure there will be US equipment here in the UK on eBay.
Will have a look and post for opinions if I find anything.
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Being in the UK you may be able to find Heidolph or other German lab equipment, This is generally very, very good equipment. Price may be an obstacle though. In any case, I equate using a Chinese hotplate with playing Russian roulette. Iām glad to advise if I can.
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Thatās disappointing. I was hoping it would be good. Oh well my DIY mag mixer works fine. I can do up to 480ml batches without a problem. Was really liking the sound of a timer and heating. Maybe it will light a fire under another company to do it right.
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I know I said I wouldnāt post other photos, but I thought better and decided you folks shouldnāt just take my word for it that this thing doesnāt perform as advertised.
I started the container with 60ml. Let the warmer heat the juice for over an hour. Then started pouring out till it would show a visible sign that it was working. As you can see, that was 30ml. Even at thatā¦not hittin on much!
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First, I think that you are providing a lot of people a necessary service. The more info and truth, the better and it is commendable.
In looking at your pictures I see several probable causes.
(a) The magnets appear to me to be far too close to the motor. On top of that this is a little DC motor and in all likelihood a permanent magnet motor. In any caseā¦AC,DC, and all their many variations can all be adversely affected by magnetism. Notice my pic at post 36 and how the magnet rotor is far away from the motor. Edit: Even the people who use computer fans for DIY stirrers (they work) have found that their magnets need to be as far away as possible.
(B) there is a metal plate under your magnet rotor. If it is aluminum, it does essentially nothing. If it is steel it is placing the magnetism even closer to the motor windings.
Ā© there is a U shaped bracket that goes above the magnet rotor. If aluminum It will slightly disperse magnetism but if that is what they were attempting, it should be as wide as the mag rotor is long. It isnāt. While spinning, you may be experiencing dropouts in mag strength. This could possibly be removed and the magnets raised closer to the stirring surface, but then it may very well affect the resistance of the heating element which is obviously underpowered. Heat is an enemy of magnetism.
Edit 2:
(d) There is also a likelihood that using the heat function is pulling so much current that the motor is starved for power.
Such poor engineering is fucking shameful. Thanks for posting the pics.
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I get better results from my cheap 30.00 amazon mixer
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I donāt think all is lost for you. I understand these pics are for performance illustration but with a mag stirrer you really donāt want to create that vortex. If you were to use @ozo flashlight trick you would see an extremely over aerated mixture that will mute your juice. Just like mixing flavors its hard to learn that less can be more! (best analogy I can come up with). So although I would never recommend this unit, it may still service you.
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Please explain your logic here. Because when I used to use mechanical mixing help I used a Dremel with a small brush bit. At 5000 rpm that would turn my juice into complete froth. I would then run through a few cycles on the USC which would disperse all the air. Then I would add my nic. I feel the biggest concern when it comes to mechanical mixing aids is using too much heat (or generating too much) and over-oxygenation of nic. Since Iām not trying to do either, I fail to see how aeration has any negative effect.
I canāt say anyone is wrong or right. But there was a random YouTube review of this mixer and a guy put some pg/ vg in a container and placed some food dye. The performance to me seemed lackluster.
That and since I mix About 15 smaller bottles every two weeks didnāt see the point of switching from the sawzall method. Mix everything in the bottle including nic. Short warm water bath (5 mine) then a super fast shake. Done. Everything goes into the steep drawer and overflow and sits untouched for 4 weeks. Rarely do I find separation with the exception of lemon cake inw, orange shisha, and a few others.
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Even though you donāt hear much from me here I want you to know I like you Robert and I have respect for you. My post was an attempt to try and make you feel a little better about the money spent. I do understand your thinking within those defined parameters but I would also point out the number of past tenses you use in that paragraph. And now your going down the stirrer routeā¦ I know you like to experiment so just remember me and try it my way at some point.
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