Programmable hotplate in Europe

[Mr Good Cat]

thinking about birthday gift for myself. the best option, I believe is a programmable hotplate.
what is the best option considering price/functionality for such device in the EU?
I don't think I will use it for some complicated synth. but show recrystallization - yeah!

 

[Loki12]

I would aim for IKA/Corning/VWR, Fischer is also an option, but lately the opinion circulates that it is the Walmart of the scientific brands. You can snag a used one for cheap, how beaten and for how long it will serve you will remain a question though. The size of the hotplate is also something to consider, will the plate fit the size of glass you are going to use (the heat will come from the center) or is the glass going to awkwardly hang off it and possibly get knocked over?

Another consideration is the magnetic stirring, I would assume for re-x you'd want that included. The stirring capacity of the motors that the manufacturers list applies to stirring H2O in best of conditions, if you are going to stir a 3L mixture that resembles a slurry, a 3L magnetic stirrer is not going to cut it.

The material - are you going to distill sulfuric acid on it? You might want the cheapest one then. If this is going to be a piece of equipment you wipe down after every use and put away, then you might as well go all out and buy glass covered with ceramic.

I learned all this as I went, if you'd like my personal opinion on the best priced source and model, feel free to PM me. I am not encouraging gate-keeping by saying this, just the reality is that links to specific websites pointing to specific models should not be shared, as they could easily become flagged (as was with the 20L(?) flask being put on the DEA watchlist in the height of meth manufacture guides coming out, they all recommended the same capacity).

 

[Osmosis Vanderwaal]

I've never even seen a programmable hotplate, they must be expensive. When I need that functionality I will probably just wire in a couple of PID controllers. I have a couple sitting around, they are really cheap like $25. You would need a thermostat but that pidgin would just have the probe and the relay would be in series with the heating element wire and you would turn the knob to high and let the pid run it. For recrystal you wouldn't stir, you just want to control the temp drop to 1-2°/hour right?

 

[Mr Good Cat]

Good idea. I need to re-call some of my knowledge in сircuit design.

I saw some used 2L hotplates around 150 EUR in internet, but all of them are from the US. Considering my situation it doesn't worth the efforts for clearance.

 

[OrgUnikum]

ou only need a good PID controller and you can turn any heatsource into a programmable one. The REX-C-100 were good and cheap in the past but they are now crap - avoid! If you need anything more then a thermostat. I have a Taiwanese "VERTEX" which is good, has all the ramp up/ramp down functions and much much more. There is also a Open Source PID controller available for like 50 bucks I think, this can do everything and it can be connected to a laptop too. That would be my choice nowadays.

 

[Osmosis Vanderwaal]

Yeah, all you really need is a tem0 p4obe and a relay and something to use as an interface to your computer or phone. This particular function would be easy to code