Cleaning the Huky Fan

[hankua]

Have you had a good look at the Huky fan lately? Is it covered in dust and coffee goo? Time to clean her up. I checked with Mr. Li about this and it's a CIP process (clean in place)

Your going to need a metric Allen wrench set, 7mm open end wrench, de-greaser, disposable rags, and gloves. The squirrel cage has two Allen machine screws holding a screen and cover plate, take them off. Then flip it over and remove the vent bowl and cut the tywrap.

Now you can access the fan blades and housing for a deep clean session. The fan is heat resistant in an aluminum housing, pretty nice model. I found some Orange Glow in the garage, otherwise would have used Simple Green. Don't spray the fan, put your cleaning solution on a disposable rag just to be on the safe side.

When you put the bowl back on, the screws can go in upside down, if that helps. Put a new tywrap on and it's good to go. The 7mm wrench is not absolutely necessary provided you have the 2.5mm Allen wrench.

Now you have a clean fan assembly, ready to get down and dirty roasting coffee. 

[Gregr]

That's great Hank- thanks! Putting this right in the Resources section then downstairs to clean my fan.

[SusanJoM]

That's great Hank- thanks! Putting this right in the Resources section then downstairs to clean my fan.

Wanna clean mine too?
I HATE cleaning....
 

[Slayton]

Whoa!  Just cleaned mine.  There was a crazy amount of gunk in there.

[murphroast]

What do you guys think of using something more substantial than the included sieve on top of the fan to catch more of the gunk? Would be nice to clean or throw away a filter and not have to worry about the fan as often.

It reminds me of a PC fan, and they have filters now on the intake side to catch most of the dust. It doesn't limit the airflow too much. I'm sure they're not heat resistant, but maybe there are some other options.

[jyalpert]

i suppose cutting a chunk of furnace air filter material would fit the bill?  fastening it to the fan might be a chore, though.

[Slayton]

I'll look into other options.  I haven't done a true tally of how many roasts and how many pounds I put through my Huky before cleaning the fan and vent bowl but it's probably over 80 batches. Until I find a better option I think I'll just make sure to thoroughly clean it after every 25 or so.   

[SusanJoM]

Yuck and Yuck again.
Today when I was roasting there was a lot of smoke coming out of the seam where I have the fan and sieve and exhaust bowl all taped together.
No wonder.
Time to clean....or maybe I need a new roaster  ?

[SusanJoM]

Simple Green to the rescue

[Wayneg1]

Simple Green to the rescue

spiffy.  no residual smell from the simple green?

[SusanJoM]

Has anyone put their fan back together and left that grille part off?  Seems to me its only function is finger protection and that without it the parts fit together better and just might let me get away without taping....Or rather, I am going to go without taping anyway, so maximizing the other variables will be to my advantage.

[edtbjon]

Has anyone put their fan back together and left that grille part off?  Seems to me its only function is finger protection and that without it the parts fit together better and just might let me get away without taping....Or rather, I am going to go without taping anyway, so maximizing the other variables will be to my advantage.

As part (or rather "aftermath") of my documentation on dismantling the Huky, I did a somewhat "thorough" clean of the fans, including a good scrub with soap and water, which was good enough...
It struck me that there's a 2mm (1/16")  opening 'tween the stainless top piece and the fan grill. I was indeed thinking of giving the "grills" a rest and having only the stainless steel circles for the sieves to rest on. (It would indeed make for a tighter airflow path.) I'll try it out for sure, as I havn't gotten to fully assemble the roaster for roasting quite yet. :O)
As the roaster is assembled, I can make a trial run with my airfrow meter and compare it to after removing the grill(s). I'll report back tomorrow.
//Björn

[SusanJoM]

[ I was indeed thinking of giving the "grills" a rest and having only the stainless steel circles for the sieves to rest on.

Exactly what I was thinking to do.
Thanks