Hi all, any electricians around? My stir plate randomly stopped working after years of working fine. I have this model:
First thing I tried doing was replacing the fuse, but that didn’t do the truck and I think the existing fuse was probably fine.
Then I opened it up and the only thing that looks off to me are 2 wires coming out of the power supply side: one yellow and one gold/copper colored. They don’t seem to be attached to anything - the yellow has kind of a metal loop clamp looking thing at the end and the copper/gold is just kinda frayed and loose. Any ideas? Hopefully the pics help…
It looks like the brownish one broke off from the item mounted to the enclosure just to the right of where the line cord comes in. I can’t see from the photo, but it appears to be a fuse holder, and the solder terminal on the top looks like it matches the broken end of the brown/gold/copper wire. The yellow one appears to be a ground wire that was attached to the enclosure. It might have been attached via one of the screws that held the case together or held the feet on, and it came loose when you opened it up.
The brown power wire broke off from the fuse holder to the right of the power cord.
The yellow ground wire was attached to the metal case, likely the “110v/12v” transformer case screw.
The power cord looks twisted - suspect the power cord twisted and broke these connections.
Anchor the power cord well to prevent reoccurrence.
Easy fix.
Thanks - it’s still not clear to me where to attach the yellow grounding wire metal loop thing. The loop is too small for any of the screws that anchor the 110V/12V transformer case.
Okay, I ended up attaching the yellow grounding wire to the metal case via one of the rubber foot stand screws, which are smaller. I used some electrical tape to try and secure the brown wire to the fuse thingie. Still doesn’t work, any thoughts?
Nevermind, I was able to get it rockin & rollin after I used my wire strippers to remove some insulation on the brown wire, and then taped the actual wire to the fuse area. Worked like a charm!
Now, if only I could say the same about my starter of Imperial Harvest (L17) yeast… I started this 1.8L starter last night and had it going on my other, functional stir plate.
Still no signs of fermentation. I’m hoping the yeast didn’t get cooked during summer shipment from northern brewer. I started this starter in parallel with a 2.5L starter of WLP4030 Franconian dark lager that I had shipped directly from white labs (I’m in the San Diego area, so it didn’t have to travel as far), and that starter is already rockin at full krausen.
Anyone have any experience with the Imperial Harvest (L17) yeast? I believe it’s the Augustiner strain, so is likely equivalent enough to WLP860.
You can still use it but be aware that it can fixed a better way.
Don’t bounce it around too much and the connection will likely stay in place for a long time.
You really need to re-solder this connection so it does not break loose again and short out the stir plate. This could cause excessive overheating in the wire and power supply since it would no longer be attached to the fuse holder could possible result in a fire in the unit. Ask around where you live. If there is a ham radio operator near you, they can probably re-solder it for you. If you live near Akron, Ohio (or more precisely Wooster, Ohio), let me know and I can fix it for you.
If you can’t solder it right away, at least use a wire with an alligator clamp on both ends. Not that this is a great way to do it. You would need a nice sturdy wire that can carry some current without getting hot.
You need to expose a little bit of wire, like 1/4", and make sure the wire and whatever you’re soldering it to are shiny and clean. You can use a little piece of sandpaper if that’s all you have. Solder is cheap. I’m sure you can get an iron for almost nothing on Ebay or Amazon.
The tip of the soldering iron needs to be shiny when hot to suck up solder. You can rub it briefly on a damp sponge. Solder flows onto things on its own when they’re clean.
You don’t need the greatest joint ever made, but you want it to hold.
If you’re not happy with your ground, make sure the screw is making good contact with bare metal.
You can do this. If you can make beer, this will easy for you.
