FOUR E'S SCIENTIFIC 5 Inch Magnetic Stirrer Hot Plate Max Temp 280℃/536°F | Max 5L Stirring Capacity | 100-1500RPM | 110V | Laboratory Hot Plate with Temp Probe Sensor & Stir Bar (Not Include Stand）

Like most of the sciences, observation and comparing against known data (or expectation if you have no reliable data) is key when evaluating equipment (everything?). I have a centrifuge that I almost returned because it sits at around 20 RPM for almost a minute before ramping up to the programmed speed. Turns out it needs to get a bearing to optimal temperature before spinning things into oblivion, as I need it to do.This device is similar...I've used the hotplate portion of it only a couple times, and only up to 160C for about an hour. No problems there. Would have been nice if they had included the stand for the probe, but I've got stands galore so not really a loss; but if you're buying one of these you're either a veteran in the lab or you're just starting and on a tight budget...so it's fair to say a non-trivial portion of your purchasing demographic could use the stand to make sure that set temperature is accurate.The stirring takes some getting used to. It starts off with a fairly aggressive torque curve at first and tapers off pretty quickly. That's not unusual for magnetic stirrers, but this one is a little more gradual than I'm accustomed to. That said, with a little prep and a small tweak to work flow, I've stirred content which cools to the consistency of heavy whipping cream at 800 RPM for hours at a time while the precipitate cooled. It takes a little bit to get there, but I appreciate that it does get there and it holds its rotational speed quite well.

The media could not be loaded. This one rocks. Get it.Never thought I'd like a hot plate so much, but here we are.Great quality, holds temperature accurately, stirs well at low speed and high speed, very reliable.We've had this running almost daily at 50C in the lab, off and on for 300 hours and it works perfectly.I have purchased multiple other "cheap" hot plate stirrers, and they've all died.

UPDATE: After posting the original review, the company Project Manager contacted me with a very nice email offering to make this right to my satisfaction. We explored 3 options and they chose to send a new replacement. I very much appreciate this and am changing the review to 4-stars, only to reflect the entire situation. Come to find out, this was a know issue of machines of the era I purchased. I wish we could have gotten to that point sooner, but it all worked out in the end. They did communicate all the way through and finally it reached the right person. My advice to anyone who has a unit die is to ask up-front to escalate your case to a Project Manager and skip the back-and-forth with the front-line reps. I always liked this unit and am glad to have another one on my bench. Thank you to the person who made this happen. I appreciate it very much.Original Situation -This was a great unit until it wasn't. Here was my use: 3-4 times per year. One day per use. Total time heating/stirring per day of use, no more than 6 hours. If you do that math (16 days x 6 hrs) that's about 100 hours of use. I was using it for only the 3rd time in 2024 and about 5 minutes after turning it on, it died. It literally went out while warming up, as if the power went out. Just died and would not come back on after several days of trying. Obviously a failure, probably in the power circuit. Probably a fairly easy fix.I reached out to Four Es and found that I was corresponding with China directly. It would take 3-6 days to receive replies (in the middle of the night so you can't dialogue with them same-day). They said the warranty period was 2 years and the unit could not be repaired, so they offered me a $50 coupon after sending proof of purchasing a new one. So be aware, you're getting a unit that could fail and, after two years, you could end up throwing it away like I did. To me, their offer is like a coupon from a restaurant that just took an hour to deliver cold, burnt food. Yeah, I'm comin' back for some more of this! NOT!!I bought the SH-3ABE digital magnetic stirrer at $139.99, which I see is higher now, but it works OK. It's cheaper than the Four Es even with their concession, so if I end up throwing it away, at least it's below $150.One star for several reasons. It sounded (to me) like they're a domestic company. They aren't. Apparently there is no office in the US for repairs. If this is a 100-hour unit, they should knock the price down to the $150 range because with a lot of this stuff, you're basically risking buying a disposable item. One star for product longevity (quality), perceptions, delayed communication, and not enough concession to make up for the inability to repair.

For the price, the stirring is a bit weak and the heat output is a bit disappointing, but its temperature control is nothing to complain about. If you need a lot of heat or very strong stirring look elsewhere but if you just need to hold something a certain temperature and swirl it a bit this should be perfect. Apparently the stirring goes up to 1500 rpm but I wouldn't know anything about that because all my stir bars lose their minds above 700.Update: About a week after posting this review I was personally contacted by the seller, saying they've asked their engineers to look into improving things and to offer me a full refund or replacement. I've gone with the refund and must say, very impressive customer service. This review was originally 3/5 stars but now that I know the company is solid I will definitely be getting the 7" hot plate/stirrer model as I just wasn't quite able to push this one far enough to meet my needs. To sum up, the heat and stirring are a tab underpowered, but the temperature regulation functions great and I've discovered the customer service is top tier.

Purchased two based on good reviews. These are horrible. I had to remove part way through the project and change to my old origional hotplate as they would not bring solution to boil. Used once and tossed in the trash where they belong.. Don't buy.