The laboratory hotplate with magnetic stirrer was designed for a fried. He asked me to design a cheap and easy-to-build solution for mixing „e-Liquids“ for his electronic cigarette.
The liquids are mixed from the base ingrediends:
– Vegetable Glycerin
– Polyethylene Glycol
– Food Flavouring
– Nicotine Solution
Since the highly viscous glycerin makes up the mayority of the liquid, the solution needs to be heated to lower the viscosity and allow for a thorough mixing of the ingrediends.
My design uses
– a small PCB heating element designed for small 3D printers
– a geared brushed motor
-a 12V brushed motor speed controller
-a cheap, bang-bang-type temperature controller
-two 3D printed shells made from ABS polymer.
The hotplate can be run up to 100°C without affecting the plastic shell. When printed from PLA, the shell needs to be cooled by a fan, this drastically decreases the efficiency of the heater.
An external fan can be connected to the main unit. This fan can be used to speed up the process when using the hot plate to make extracts, e.g. when evaporating alcohol.
