Sciencemadness Discussion Board - best magnetic stirrer hot plate for 150$

best magnetic stirrer hot plate for 150$

nimbus8 - 17-6-2013 at 11:11

What is the best magnetic stirrer hot plate for 150 or under, i also prefer is to have a digital readout of the exact temperature the plate is at.

Variscite - 17-6-2013 at 11:19

I think your best bet would be trying to find a high quality used une on Ebay, If you dont mind buying used, you can find some gems there sometimes.

ParadoxChem126 - 18-6-2013 at 15:38

This works well for me.
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/lab-hot-plate-with-magnetic...

To know the temperature, use a water/oil bath and stick a digital thermometer in it.

[Edited on 18-6-2013 by ParadoxChem126]

radagast - 18-6-2013 at 16:39

I'm a big fan of Corning's PC-351. Used models go anywhere from $100 to 200 USD, depending on condition.

See, e.g. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Corning-Glass-Works-PC-351-Stirrer-S...

jamit - 19-6-2013 at 14:16

The best magnetic hotplate is made by Corning. The one mentioned my radagast, PC 351 is a good choice. But an even better one is PC420 or PC620.

As for a digital hotplate stirrer... You won't get precise temperature control unless you spend a lot of money. The cheaper ones are way off, even the one by Corning.
I have used all name brand of digital and analog magnetic hotplate stirrer such as VWR, Barnstead Thermolyne, Corning, IKA, Fisher Scientific, Cimerac, etc.
If I had to choose one for accurate digital temperature control where the actual plate temp is closest to the set temperature, I would choose, VWR Professional 800 series - approx. 600-800.00. I use it at home and it's very accurate to about + or - 5degrees celsius. Check eBay for corning pc420, you won't regret it. Good luck.

[Edited on 19-6-2013 by jamit]

Mailinmypocket - 19-6-2013 at 14:55

I was able to get a used Corning PC-420D on eBay for about 250$. It's all digital, LCD for the temperatures and RPM of the stirring (plus it has "intelligent" stirring that can sense viscosity and adjust itself accordingly) also there is an input to connect an optional sensor probe that allows you to set the target temperature of the substance being heated as opposed to the temp of the plate itself. Quite expensive new but eBay has some good deals. Well worth the investment if you ask me!

[Edited on 19-6-2013 by Mailinmypocket]

nimbus8 - 19-6-2013 at 19:49

Wow that looks really nice, thank you all for your input i really appreciate it.

jamit - 19-6-2013 at 21:01

Quote: Originally posted by Mailinmypocket

I was able to get a used Corning PC-420D on eBay for about 250$. It's all digital, LCD for the temperatures and RPM of the stirring (plus it has "intelligent" stirring that can sense viscosity and adjust itself accordingly) also there is an input to connect an optional sensor probe that allows you to set the target temperature of the substance being heated as opposed to the temp of the plate itself. Quite expensive new but eBay has some good deals. Well worth the investment if you ask me!

[Edited on 19-6-2013 by Mailinmypocket]

Corning PC420D is an excellent hotplate/stirrer, but I fail to see the difference between that and the analog version, PC420. According to Corning the surface temp. never reaches the actual digital max temperature setting of 550C. The surface temp is between 440C-460C. This leads me to conclude that there is little advantage to having the digital control if you can't set it accurately.

Yes, you can add a temperature probe so that the liquid you are heating reaches the set temp but in terms of the surface of the hotplate you can never get close to the actual temperature especially at higher temperatures (above 250C).

I have the temperature probe too and have worked with both PC420D and PC620D and its the same issue. The digital control looks "cool" but the surface temp is never the set temperature. So if you set to about 200C, the surface temperature is about 150C. You can't boil a liter of water until the surface temperature reaches at least 300C.

For about 150.00 you can definitely buy a used Corning PC-420 (non-digital) hotplate stirrer on ebay. Good luck!

[Edited on 20-6-2013 by jamit]

[Edited on 20-6-2013 by jamit]

jamit - 19-6-2013 at 21:10

Quote: Originally posted by ParadoxChem126

This works well for me.
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/lab-hot-plate-with-magnetic...

To know the temperature, use a water/oil bath and stick a digital thermometer in it.

[Edited on 18-6-2013 by ParadoxChem126]

When I started home chemistry, I had one of these. While the aluminum surface heats up real fast, the max temperature for these unit is about 350C. However, all aluminum hotplates suffers from corrosion and gets stained and dirty really fast. Mine suffered from major oxidation problem.

Ceramic hotplates does not transfer heat as well as aluminum but it makes up for it by being able to reach higher temperature and its a lot easily to clean up.

So I wouldn't recommend the one by hometraining tool... but that's my opinion.

[Edited on 20-6-2013 by jamit]

[Edited on 20-6-2013 by jamit]

adamsium - 20-6-2013 at 04:55

After a lot of patience, I got extremely lucky with ebay and scored this brand new IKA RET control visc hotplate, with a temperature probe, for $350, shipped. These would have cost more than $2,000 at US pricing and probably more like $3,000 (likely more) in Australia. It's a very, very nice hotplate.

Moral of the story: don't rush - be patient and you'll find what you want. I also agree with the advice to go for a good quality used hotplate (I was unbelievably lucky scoring a new one for that price) over a cheap new one. Prior to this, I bought a cheap Chinese one, even though I thought it probably wasn't a good idea. It turned out I was right; it was a terrible idea.

Edit: For $150, you'll be unlikely to find a decent digital hotplate. You'd actually be unlikely to find any digital hotplate for that price. I'm pretty sure that even the Chinese one that I bought was more than that, and it was a disaster. You'll certainly be able to find a nice used analogue one, though.

[Edited on 20-6-2013 by adamsium]

roXefeller - 30-12-2013 at 16:06

I second the opinion not to buy new, inexpensive hotplates of unknown manufacture. In past purchases that was all I knew to get, but they burned out, the heating element in both. If I had taken the not insignificant money of those two and plowed it to a better, albeit used plate, I'd be better off now. But at least I have stirring plates I can use for no-heat reactions.

Mr_Magnesium - 30-12-2013 at 16:41

i got this for 110 USD

took me months to find one and this was the best i got, works completely fine.

However if you live in Australia try and get the cable for it as soon as you can because the cable that is needed for my hotplate/stirrer wasn't sold in normal retail areas. I had to order one online and it took over a month :\

Zephyr - 30-12-2013 at 19:22

I recently purchased a lightly used nuova Thermolyne stirrer/hotplate for $132, these sell for >$700 new.

HeYBrO - 30-12-2013 at 20:08

Mr_Mg, Did you have to get a voltage adapter? Great find.

Mr_Magnesium - 30-12-2013 at 20:42

Got it a from a company in Denmark so the voltage is the same, i just had to order a certain type of power cable which had the Australian adapter.

He sent me the Denmark cable but i just bought a Australian one instead.

HeYBrO - 30-12-2013 at 20:58

Nice, All the stirrer hotplates in AUS are horrendously priced, and they're like re-marketed china hotplate stirrers! Same goes for glassware really.

nanobot-dnp - 30-12-2013 at 23:35

If I had my shit together I would put one together... My idea is for a mag stirrer / oil bath. That way you could use heat insulation to prevent the magnet from getting hot and losing strenth.

Baisically its a simply magnettic stirrer on an aluminum platform.
The oil bath has a heat coil submerged to heat the oil. The expensive part would be the knob to control the heat.

Mr_Magnesium - 31-12-2013 at 00:14

I agree with the fact that Australia is probably not the best place to practice amateur home chemistry because of the difficulty to obtain equipment and chems. But if you put in enough effort its not that bad, however the shipping Internationally is absolutely dreadful.

If you look on eBay theres usually pretty good deals once every while, i saw a Corning 420D for 120USD in mint condition but i didn't have my paypal set up

HeYBrO - 31-12-2013 at 00:49

Perhaps we should rather continue this discussion in U2U as to not annoy other members.

If you are still looking....

Floydle - 13-5-2015 at 19:29

If anyone is still looking for a cheapish magnetic stirrer with a display, we have a great range that is available in Australia:

http://www.labfriend.com.au/magnetic-stirrers-rh-basic-digit...

Any other lab supplies you might need for home chemistry and set ups, visit

www.labfriend.com.au

diddi - 13-5-2015 at 20:38

thought you said cheap. they are $800+ I think you are spamming us here

Cheaper option

Floydle - 13-5-2015 at 20:57

Sorry! we also have this one:

http://www.labfriend.com.au/llg-magnetrhrer-unistirrer-3-127...

It is $350 but has a display. without display options are a lot cheaper,

SimpleChemist-238 - 17-5-2015 at 13:34

I bought a HST stir/hot plate. Stopped heating up with in the fist month so I got a second same thing.

blargish - 17-5-2015 at 16:09

I also got the HST hot plate stirrer, and it has lasted me the past two years with no issues whatsoever... However, based on others' experience it seems to be pretty hit and miss.