Apera Instruments AI2801 Powerful Magnetic Lab Stirrer / Stir Plate, Speed Range: 0-2300 rpm, Max Stirring Capacity: 3000ml

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 content with the power and control of the unit. I would highly recommend to any brewer out there looking to replace a DIY project for a fairly priced, quality made stir plate. A+UPDATE: its been almost a year, and the stir plate is still going strong! Never throws a bar, has been left on for days on end with no issues. The small size is still a little concerning, but it doesn't affect the stirring capabilities, and it hasn't caused any issues. Also, the company itself is awesome and delivered as promised. I would totally buy this product again if I needed a second one!

I bought this for yeast starters (home brewing) --so I'm no lab technician -- and was thus hesitant to spend so much for a stir plate. But WOW, this is an amazing piece of hardware! Very strong magnet connection that works through thick glass beakers and jars. Very stable spinning at low and high speeds. And I love the small size and very solid feel, it exudes quality. This is leagues better than the "INTL Lab" stir plate I was using, so if you're considering this is recommend going for it -- it's well worth the money!

I received my stir bar mixer on Friday and started to us it on Saturday. It was easy to use and worked great out of the box. This unit is nice and small and takes up little space but appears to be robust enough to handle larger containers. The speed control worked perfectly not like another brand that I had to send back a week or two ago. This is a true variable speed unit from zero to high speed, controllable at any speed. I used it to titrate several tests for wine making. For the price, I would highly recommend it.

Works well in our small laboratory. We were looking to add some multi-position stir-only plates to complement our more expensive Corning heat/stir plates as sometimes on busy manufacturing days, we need to prepare as many as 8 different solutions simultaneously. Eight of these cost less than a more expensive 4-position stir only plate, and has a larger capacity and higher rpm.Only downside as mentioned is the plate diameter. They work great for us because we have larger heat/stir plates for our 1+ liter solutions and larger yet stir only plates for our 5-10L solutions, so we only use these for small applications--however, any beaker larger than 500 mL will have a larger diameter than this plate and hang off the edge, making it a bit precarious. I would like to see these at least comfortably fit a 1L beaker without hanging off the edge. As mentioned by another reviewer, Erlenmeyers hang off the edge even more.

This stirrer plate works awesome. I am using about a 32 oz container filled nearly to the brim and it gives it a significant whirl even when turning the dial only to the 1 or 2 o'clock position. It feels like a very sturdy unit and comes with 2 stirrers (a small rectangular rod and little larger hexagonal bar) The only issue I have is that the small stirring rod had a crack in the plastic - probably just a manufacturing error or it got damaged in shipping. I'm sure the company will take care of this problem for me, as they currently offer extra stirring rods when you post a review.

I loved this little setup. Perfect size for what I needed and worked wonderfully. Both the new and replacement units were used for mixing Cerakote (paint). The way Cerakote is made I had to pre-shake before putting on the mixer. Not a big deal, beats shaking by hand for 10 minutes. Instead, I just shake a few times then throw onto the mixer. Starting at low speed and accelerating up to 50-75% power. Mixed for no more than 10-12 minutes. Worked flawlessly. Then I add my Cerakote to a 50 mil graduated cylinder, using anywhere from 12-36 mils, then add recommended part B catalyst and mix for 10-15 minutes depending on amount mixed. Again, this worked flawlessly.Each unit worked for approximately 10 days without fail. Until, I would come out to the shop to work and BOOM! No power to the unit at all. This was so discouraging as I have problems with my elbows and shoulders especially when vigorously shaking an item over time.When the initial unit failed I went through the return process. This worked great and was very convenient and quick. Until the second unit failed. Then I only had the option to return the item and get a refund instead of an exchange. This bugged me. I would rather have exchanged the unit for a third time, I know, why exchange a third time, just move on to something else. But, I've heard good things about Aspera, and, that whole "third time's a charm" mess gives me hope too. So, I've waited for my refund to show on my credit card and here it is. Now to order one more time. Maybe I'll get a "loyalty bonus" from Aspera.