So I am in search or a REAL STIR BAR! We purchased… NO, one of my bosses purchased a Lab Society 12 L still. Long story short we got a shitty one they no longer make SWEET! Its a double ended ding-dong that’s meant to run 2 cows but as I’m sure we all know its tough to do that setup with with only one pump and chiller because the distance of tubing becomes too much for the pump…
Anyways, I just run one side. I run some pretty crude crude and I need a stir bar that can keep up!
We got some fancy ass expensive rare earth ones. They suck
I have ordered every size from LS. They all shit the bed hard.
So now I’m considering spending the $75 on this from Eliot and his band of misfits…
I have learned the pretty quick that lab equipment is not the same as lab equipment designed specifically for cannabis. However that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be price gouged either. This community is a very resourceful group of individuals, and I was hoping someone may have some input.
Why don’t you run a prop? Then you don’t have to worry about magnets, you can clean it, and you can ramp the speed up/down as viscosity/resistance of the crude changes.
You have the 12L from LS? Is it the three-neck or two-neck variety? If you have the three-neck variety - you could put a prop in through the 34/45 connection. Assuming you are doing the same kind of work that I am - you’d just need the shaft adaptor for the 34/45 connection so you can maintain vacuum and then just get a normal 316SS shaft with prop that fits inside your 34/45 connection. I have a smaller kit from LS - and they actually make banana props to fit inside my glassware almost perfect. I say almost perfect, cause I always had to go undersized, since they are off to the side and not directly overhead. There are other props out there that fit inside the adapter, if you didn’t like the banana style. Sometimes I worry about using teflon… but most of these things are made of teflon or coated in it, so I just make sure its not pitted and stuff and keep on trucking.
I’m even thinking of trying one that is supposed to help bring material up and down instead of creating a vortex.
Anyone else using props for this instead of stir bars?
Alright. This might not be a stirbar issue. I had the same thing with ls 5l setup and i eventually figured out that the mantle wasn’t actually seated properly over the magnet causing the stirbar to keep flying off path. I had the same thing happen to a 20l zncl when the heating mantle got moved a bit and went from a steady 2000rpm down to being thrown off path at 500-600 rpm. I managed to correct it by moving it back over the stirrer until it started spinning at 2000 rpm again. I went through the same deal as you trying to get the “right” stirbar until i figured this out.
I’m not sure the ls and be corrected the same way the zncl was, I’m pretty sure that’s your issue though. Just look and see if it looks like it’s perfect over the stirrer. My other 10l glass col stirrer was spinning at 100 without issues and that one was cleary seated as it should when you looked down at it.
Lets make a deal… 25 bucks!!! Just kidding. I’m wondering where the hell the one good stirbar we do have came from… I wasn’t in charge of purchasing equipment then like I am now. I guess I already spent more on that rare earth green thing that didn’t work. so, what’s another 75 bucks? Ill call one in now…
There is one… ONLY ONE that works. IDK why but I will be sure to check each of the points addressed here to ensure that I didn’t simply overlook an obvious solution.
And while that one looks similar to the LS stirbars its different. I spoke with MJ and ordered 5 of their biggest stir bars that he claimed are typically paired with their 12 and 20 L units. But you can tell the magnetic tie in the one stir bar that does work is far strong and superior to its competitors…
The LS and Green ones everyone suggested simply cannot keep up with the one good stir bar I do have. The good one is spinning full speed now (100) and the others can only do 20 30 MAX… Sadly, the good one’s on its last leg and I am going to retire it ASAP.
I’m gonna call summit and order one of theirs just to compare.
But again thank you all for you input and I will check back in soon with my findings and opinions…
The big magnet you sell crushes the rare earth in terms of performance.
But tbh I also caved and bought a Glas-Col mantle because I couldn’t stand all the mantles failing mid-run. With Summit’s big ass stir bar and my 20L Glas-Col I can hit 1000 RPMs without issue.
Ive got cheapo ptfe Amazon stir bars up to 2k rpm a couple times, hold at 1500 no problems, I just can’t spend the 75 bucks for a summit stir bar lol but im probably going to here soon to see if I can get it to do 2500 rpm
I had to modify a mantle and make my own stirrer using the same motor Glas col uses to solve some of the same issues. I increased the magnet size and put it closer to the bottom of the flask. Glas col stir mantles are way over priced for what u get.
I say almost perfect, cause I always had to go undersized, since they are off to the side and not directly overhead. There are other props out there that fit inside the adapter, if you didn’t like the banana style. Sometimes I worry about using teflon… but most of these things are made of teflon or coated in it, so I just make sure its not pitted and stuff and keep on trucking.
