I'm working with the Bells Brewery stir plate and their 2L flask. I bought one of their stir bars and it all seems to make a lot more noise than other stir plates I've been around. I typically re-position the flask about 10 to 15 times throughout a typical three day stir. I've done this obsessively for about six starters now. Any ideas or tips to quiet this little guy down?
I don't have that one, but what does the bottom of the flask look like? I would think an en-even bottom could account for noise. Can't imagine that it's the stirplate itself, if the noise changes when you reposition the flask.
Mine makes noise when I have it on full. I turn it down until I can't hear it. I still get a vortex even on a lower speed.
I have found certain stir bars can be louder than others. I believe the one I have with the notch in the middle was the loudest.
I have several flask and some make more noise than others. I also don't have it up on full blast as well, and that keeps the clankin and noise down to the point I don't know if it's on. I have the same stir starter.
I, too, have that stir plate. It is louder when running at a higher rpm, but I've also noticed that after the yeast start propagating it quiets down considerably.
I have just put my stir plate out of the way so I don't have to listen to it except when I am pouring beer from the fridge in the same room as the starter. I built mine and don't have a way to turn down the RPM on the fan, but I only really get the noise with my stir bars that have the ring on them and hexagon shaped.
I run mine at about half speed, or maybe a third. The noise varies. The box does not make noise on its own, but when a flask and 1200 ml wort are on top the box makes a rattling noise and the bar sounds like it's clickity-clacking its way through the bottom of the flask. I put a thin stack of paper in between the box and the flask. This has helped significantly. I'm usually not one of aesthetics in brewing, but I'd like to find a better way. Maybe a thin stack of Post-Its, (because they're more expensive and colorful ).
Possible that the magnet is hitting the underside of the "lid" of the stir plate. I would take apart the bottom and look inside to see if it that might be the case? Could be that the way it is designed that it all free spins when not loaded up, but putting the weight on there causes them to touch. That could cause the flask to rattle around enough from the jumpy-ness that it exaggerates the noise, while the paper acts as a buffer so you don't have glass to plastic/metal/wood, which could just be muffling it.
I have two stir bars, one of which I don't use anymore because of the noise. The noisey one has a ridge around the centre and I think it clinks from side to side. The non-noisey bar is flat.
It's a lager yeast I used in June. It takes a day to wake up, and two more days until I don't see any more activity. With fresh yeast, I still probably give it two to two and a half days.
