Due to the continuous efforts of many domestic enterprises, magnetic stirrers have become a common laboratory instrument with a wide variety of varieties and low prices, which enables our laboratory to have the ability and conditions to choose the magnetic stirrers we need. How should we choose from the wide variety and varying prices of magnetic stirrers on the market? Below, based on my own usage experience and understanding of this market, I will briefly discuss some selection principles for your reference.
1. Principle of Requirement
Analyze your own application requirements, such as:
1) For applications that only require room temperature stirring, choose a simple magnetic stirrer with only stirring function;
2) For applications that require both stirring and heating, and do not have strict temperature requirements, a standard heating magnetic stirrer should be selected;
3) If real-time temperature display is still required during the working process, choose a digital temperature heating magnetic stirrer;
4) If you still need to set working hours and stop working when the time is up, you can choose a timed magnetic stirrer;
5) If strict temperature control is required for heating, a water bath collection type magnetic stirrer should be chosen. The water bath collection type magnetic stirrer is equivalent to a standard heating type magnetic stirrer with a water bath integrated on the chassis. As we all know, water bath heating has the characteristics of uniform heat transfer, precise temperature control, and safe heating. Therefore, the water bath collection type magnetic stirrer is particularly suitable for applications with strict temperature control requirements and uneven container bottoms (such as flasks) that are difficult to heat from the heating chassis;
6) If real-time speed display is still required during the work process, choose a digital speed heating magnetic stirrer. However, having this speed display function will significantly increase the price of the instrument. It is recommended to use it in demanding research grade occasions;
7) If there is a large volume of liquid to be stirred, a large capacity magnetic stirrer should be selected. The stirring capacity of a conventional magnetic stirrer is generally below 2000mL;
8) If conventional electric stirring is required while magnetic stirring, an electric+magnetic composite stirrer can be chosen;
9) If there are complex requirements for the stirring characteristics, such as rotating and stopping for a while, rotating forward and backward for a while, heating and holding for a certain period of time, cooling for a certain period of time, low speed for a certain period of time, high speed for a certain period of time, etc., it is necessary to customize an intelligent program controlled magnetic stirrer. However, integrating so many complex functions will cause the price of the instrument to rise sharply. It is only recommended to choose to use it in extremely demanding research grade occasions.
2. Principle of sufficiency
Choose the appropriate type for your own application platform, and avoid being greedy for large images, which may result in idle and wasteful use of certain functions.
3. Economic principle
We can also see many imported magnetic stirrers in the market, and a significant feature of them is that they are relatively expensive. Does the higher the price, the better the quality? The answer is usually self-evident, but the question is whether these magnetic stirrers, which can easily cost thousands or tens of thousands (domestic ones usually cost hundreds or thousands), are suitable for us? As we all know, with the increasing role of China as the "world factory", the domestic magnetic stirrer market has developed rapidly in recent years. Through the tireless efforts of many enterprises, magnetic stirring technology has gradually become popular, and the variety of magnetic stirrers is constantly diversifying, but the prices are becoming increasingly affordable. Although the price of domestically produced magnetic stirrers is only a fraction or even a fraction of that of imported ones, their functionality is sufficient to meet the vast majority of our application scenarios.
Therefore, the editor also suggests that, on the premise of meeting the needs and sufficiency, domestic magnetic stirrers with high cost-effectiveness should be prioritized. This not only saves our investment, but also promotes domestic enterprises to continuously improve their research and development capabilities and competitiveness.