Fans!

[Gregr]

Tonight was my first 2 roasts on the Huky with a dimmer. I had a lot of trouble fine tuning the fans. In fact, at one point I bumped the fan up too high and actually sucked the neck full of beans!!! Thats a pretty undesirable thing to have happen. I think its Variac time for me. I'm a huge numbers nerd, so the more control, the better!

Wow! I never had that happen even with my dimmer set at 100%.

[boss99er]

Wow! I never had that happen even with my dimmer set at 100%.

Really?!? Well what the heck......

[Gregr]

Maybe my setup has more air leaks- I have the vented bowl with flexible duct running up about 3 feet to the range  hood fan opening. I only turn the range fan on when first crack starts though. Could also be that your roaster is new and has no oil build-up to offer a little resistance.

[boss99er]

Maybe my setup has more air leaks- I have the vented bowl with flexible duct running up about 3 feet to the range  hood fan opening. I only turn the range fan on when first crack starts though. Could also be that your roaster is new and has no oil build-up to offer a little resistance.

You could be right. I'm also going to check today to be absolutely sure all beans dump into the drum at charge. Maybe some were there and I just didn't noice. We'll see....

I still think a variac would be nice though. I feel like my dimmer goes 0%, 30%, 100% all within a fraction of an inch. Ha ha. Not exactly the precision I was hoping for. :-)

[Gregr]

Yeah that's not good- a dimmer with greater throw would be better, variac best. Regarding beans in the tube- after pouring the beans in I pick up the front of the roaster using the trier as a handle- tilt it back and give it a little shake just to make sure all the beans drop.

[SusanJoM]

I want a better exhaust fan for after the vent bowl.

It doesn't have to be stronger, but it needs a larger diameter so more of the surface of the sieve is being drawn through.

If anyone sees a good candidate, let me know please.

[boss99er]

Yeah that's not good- a dimmer with greater throw would be better, variac best. Regarding beans in the tube- after pouring the beans in I pick up the front of the roaster using the trier as a handle- tilt it back and give it a little shake just to make sure all the beans drop.

Cool, good idea. I'm gonna roast here in about an hour....I'll post my results.

[hankua]

Yeah that's not good- a dimmer with greater throw would be better, variac best. Regarding beans in the tube- after pouring the beans in I pick up the front of the roaster using the trier as a handle- tilt it back and give it a little shake just to make sure all the beans drop.

Cool, good idea. I'm gonna roast here in about an hour....I'll post my results.

I do the same thing, and after dumping the beans as well.

[SusanJoM]

Regarding beans in the tube- after pouring the beans in I pick up the front of the roaster using the trier as a handle- tilt it back and give it a little shake just to make sure all the beans drop.
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I knew someone would have a use for that bit of frou frou.....:-))))

[hankua]

I want a better exhaust fan for after the vent bowl.

It doesn't have to be stronger, but it needs a larger diameter so more of the surface of the sieve is being drawn through.

If anyone sees a good candidate, let me know please.

Susan, I've been looking at a 3" marine bilge blower that would work inline. Otherwise a small commercial 3" blower would work for an extended run. This would work if someone was running the vent under a garage door in the winter. For power an old computer power supply would work.

[boss99er]

Yeah that's not good- a dimmer with greater throw would be better, variac best. Regarding beans in the tube- after pouring the beans in I pick up the front of the roaster using the trier as a handle- tilt it back and give it a little shake just to make sure all the beans drop.

Ok...what the heck!?! Tonight I made absolutely sure there were no beans in the neck after charge. I roasted, pulsing the fans only to about 50% around dry, and then about 75% just momentarily toward the end of FC to remove chaff. When I dumped, I checked the neck and there were about 10 beans that looks barely roasted (like around dry stage). I know for sure there were none in there after charge, and since they were barely roasted at all, they had to have flown in there during the 15 second burst at around 50% I did right at the dry point. Its no huge deal, as I just dump my roasted beans, then rock the roaster to get them back in the drum and dump them out into another container....its just aggravating. Any ideas?

[SusanJoM]

Did you dump the beans out of the trier between roasts?

I've learned to leave the trier upside down so beans don't get stuck in it.  It's completely useless except as a periodic annoyance....

[boss99er]

Did you dump the beans out of the trier between roasts?

I've learned to leave the trier upside down so beans don't get stuck in it.  It's completely useless except as a periodic annoyance....

Tonight I only did one roast, but I haven't been using the trier at all. I leave it turned down at all times. Its just really mid boggling that after charge, all was good, but after a couple fairly low surges, there were beans stuck.

[edtbjon]

I also find that a few beans get trapped in the tryer during roasts, even when it's pointing down. So, I've made a habit of turning it now and then without pulling it out maybe some 6-8 times throughout the roast.
I use the fan at various percentages all through the roast, typically 10% during drying phase with a 40% surge at 150C/300F, back to 20% during ramp and just before 1Cs I go up to 40% and then control the roast by rising the fan even more in development. I do get a few beans in the exhaust too, but only a few.
So, I dump the beans into the sieve, turn the tryer again. I then close the dump chute and stop the fan to lift the exhaust pipe. I then puff into the exhaust and the few beans rattle down into the drum. As I don't want to forget them there to burn with the next roast, I take a piece of paper under the dump chute and dump these few beans on the paper. (The roast is still cooling.)
In total I have maybe 5-10 beans in the exhaust (most of them are broken or very small) and maybe 5 in the tryer. I wouldn't mind zero, but I can live with this.

[simcw76]

For fan control, can I use either one of these?:

http://m.aliexpress.com/item/682243747.html

http://www.dx.com/p/2000w-scr-voltage-regulator-module-dimming-motor-speed-controller-thermostat-142344#.VNim4MkZ7qA

Hard to find a variac in my Country. Need to find alternatives