Magnetic stirring for the unfamiliar

I have thought about something like that, rubbermaid makes a shelf liner that is pretty thin and non slip! Used to line the drawers in my tool chest with it. Was much more economical that the stuff they designed for it!

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When i first got started all i did was small batches so shakin was good. Moved into making larger batches because sometimes, time to sit and mix is very limited. I can put a 250ml batch on the mixer and let it mix while i mix the next batch! I still have and use the little norpro for small mixes in the bottle and it works well.
I have been reading some info on homogenizing eliquids and from what I can tell, a little heat and magnetic stirring or the ultra expensive ultrasonic stirring are the way to go. But who really knows?
Its like i like 10% Strawberry and others like 2%. :grinning:

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I am finding that my mixing setup is not creating the heat that your referring to! Played with a straight 30ml vg beaker and temps started at 76 and rose to 83 but never increased past the 83 degree mark. I checked the liquid temp every 15 mins with a digital instant read thermometer and let it run for 2 hours. I was bummed as I really wanted a bit of heat as i am stirring a mix.
Any ideas?
Edit: Made 120ml of one of my favorites today and the temp never went past the 85 degree mark. Used a larger stir barr as I was using a 250ml beaker. Left it on the mixer for nearly an hour before i was satisfied with the look of the bubbles. Bottled it up and into the cabinet it went.

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images

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Agreed, if I was doing anything over 100 ml, magnetic stirring would be my preferred solution. Even from 50ml in beakers it makes sense ( but in bottles it probably would not) How the lab manufacturers justify the prices they do for a motor with a coupled magnet is past me though.

Regarding ultrasonic mixing, I would need to experiment but I would be surprised if a Dremel with a smooth shaft did not get there at a fraction of the cost. I have seen commercial entry level units that look a lot like a Dremel and a smooth shaft :slight_smile:

Even went so far as to price components for a handheld ultrasonic mixer and it was not too bad, for a one off doable around 20usd with cheap RC motor/controller/battery

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Would love to know your results! I am thinking there is more to that unit that looks like a dremel tool than meets the eye.

Thought about using ultrasonic mixing, looked at transponders and they were too dear, looked at the cheaper ones, thought of a knurled bit in Dremel, found someone had done with a smooth bit ( https://www.planetofthevapes.co.uk/forums/advanced-pv-mod-making-and-diy-discussion/mixology/threads/cheap-dremel-mixer.71608/ ), saw what looks a lot like cavitation, am convinced that it is pretty spot on.

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Nice, appears to be mixing that sample pretty good. For a straight piece of stock i wouldnā€™t have thought you would get that reaction. Will need to do some playing around with this.

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Also stumbled on this which might be of interests of the stirrers involved in this thread
https://proscientific.com/the-field-of-homogenizing

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I think the appeal of ā€œmagnetic stirringā€ is the notion that itā€™s a gentle homogenization (minimal froth). Anecdotal reports say yes, and it is a lab technique. Many of us just rely on a hearty shake and wait, which also has positive anecdotal reports. But consider Milk, the watery parts and the fatty parts are homogenized and that milk can sit in your fridge until it goes bad and there is no separation ā€¦true homogenization.

To what degree our DIY projects are truly homogenized, and whether that cuts steeping time is the debate. I mean weā€™re not mixing oil and water (milk), but if we employed commercial techniques would we get better (true-r) homogenization? Would Custards steep faster? Is there a better ghetto-cheap-@ss technique we can safely do at home? ā€¦Iā€™m still considering running 500ml of Grantā€™s Custard through my WhipItĀ® (makes whipped cream from cream via a pressurized (NO2) bottle).

Hey? Vape FoamsĀ® ā€¦have your people call my people. Actually I thought I could shoot it into my Ultrasonic and degass ā€¦but thatā€™s another thread.

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I absolutely agree. The subject is about as speculative as taste! Without doing testing on a molecular level and observing the transformation, I think itā€™s a guessing game. I personally like the stirrer for convenience. Mix it up and drop the stir bar in and let it go for an hour.
I have done two batches of the same juice and stirred one and shook one repeatedly. Observing the color change of the mix over time and from what I can see both are very close.
From what I have read and understand, the high dollar commercial homogenizers use a process of high pressures and shearing on a molecular level. Actually breaking the individual molecules down to similar sizes which creates an environment for the individuals to bond with each other. I am a simple DIYā€™er and have no issues mixing and stashing it away for a period of time for all the goodness to show itself!

Let us know how this works out! Would love some lemon tart whipped to go on top of my lemon tart! :joy:

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Well that may be a number one reason to employ a mag mixer. Easier is always better. Especially if youā€™re mixing larger quantities. A boost in your efficiency at that level just means more juice at the end of a mix sessionā€¦ it can be mixing itself while you whip up some more for the queue

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If I had the money, Iā€™ll be switching over to Homogenizers, till then the stirrer will do :wink:

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When I use the ā€˜mag-mixā€™ [30yr old] it takes about 35-40 minutes.
No heater, but it has a large bar (rod) magnet.
I use different stir bars, but mostly about a 1" octagonal w/center spin nub,
and generally in a 250ml beaker and 115ml mix.

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I have thin silicone shelf liner, use it all over for things.
Sent one 3" x 3" to @Rob62 just like I use.

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I like those octagonal ones as well and have been trying the egg shaped ones of late and i think they do a great job as well! Thanks

The egg-shape [ones I use] also have 8 sides.

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Hello, Just wanted to share my very dirty very little setup with the lithium batteries. I hope to receive reviews and criticism though.

!

Rest of the album here: https://imgur.com/a/ULP8Htm

Fan is a cheapo $8 portable 3-level fan cooling fan with 18650 battery. It kinda can work on usb plug too.
Magnets are also the strongest magnets of its size at the cheapest chinese prices.
The thing sits on top of the fan is some made-up old phone cases.
The jar is an Ikea 500ml jar. I have two of them. To clean, I do stirring with only tap water, let it dry like a kitchenware.

In the pic the batch is small, but I usually blend 500mls of batches in a week or two weeks with this setup and consume it for a month or two. I donā€™t really switch too much flavours. 70/30 vg/pg with around 9mg concentration of nic. with %5 - %10 aroma.

I donā€™t do put in a dark place thing ā€“ I sample some off the top, if I like it, I transfer the liquid to 100ml bottles. This gives me enough time to prepare a new batch when I hit the last bottle.

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Iā€™m not too sure of any of this. Iā€™m not convinced that vapers would prefer ā€œactual homogenizationā€ of juice. The primary benefit of homogenization is that everything in the solution is ground down to 4 to 5 microns. This is often tissue that is being ground e.g. milk. Homogenization, stirring, and ultrasonic blending are three very different techniques. Again, Iā€™m not convinced that vapers even know all of the attributes to the ā€œperfectly blendedā€ e-juice. Iā€™m not sure that over-blending may not detract from the vaping experience. I have all three of the devices and have been testing for about six months. I have no concrete results as of yet. The exercise has created more questions than answers.

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You have lab grade ultrasonic? Now I am curious.
Please share :slight_smile:

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