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Skywalker, the ALM chinese one pound roaster
billsey
Top  #251 Print Post
Posted on 06/01/2024 12:30 PM
Looks like it's a branded version, that's not the ITOP logo on the front. I'd guess it's otherwise identical.
 
kazozero
Top  #252 Print Post
Posted on 06/01/2024 11:53 PM

Quote

billsey wrote:

Looks like it's a branded version, that's not the ITOP logo on the front. I'd guess it's otherwise identical.


Ya. Seem like another company took the oem and rebranding in white colour. Too bad, they still don’t package with artisan or ‘artisan like’ features

Now I’m trying to get Arduino to make my own. Try to follow the guide in this forum.
 
renatoa
Top  #253 Print Post
Posted on 06/02/2024 8:17 AM
ITOP does not mean genuine, is just one of the sellers, they are more quoted than other as first on Alibaba with this machine.
Later having claims they will issue their own improved version, but there is no evidence they are equipment manufacturers.
 
billsey
Top  #254 Print Post
Posted on 06/08/2024 6:13 PM
So I got low enough on coffee that today was the day to roast a new batch so I could have some for next week. Rolled the ITOP into the kitchen, plugged it in and the display shows an E1 code. :( I've sent the ITOP store a message and will do one more batch with the Behmor. I'm not going to open it up until I hear from them, I expect there is a wire loose rather than a bad sensor, but I've been wrong before...
 
renatoa
Top  #255 Print Post
Posted on 06/10/2024 8:10 AM
A somewhat new model popped up in searches on Aliexpress, exhibiting some notable news/changes:
- first time clear info about manufacturer:

Quote

Richy (Foshan) Industries and Investments Co., Ltd established in 2007 with 16 years experience in coffee and water related products.
Foshan Akimita Household Appliances Co.,Ltd belong to Richy's OEM/ODM manufacturer of coffee equipments.


- patents claims... but without evidence, just some certificate pictures small enough to be illegible.

- a redesigned, more streamlined beans loading chute, but still without the ability to accommodate a full load, like a hopper.

- a CGI of power board, without any evidence of an improvement of the main issue we all know.

- a drawing showing a back to back production style roasting that seems very strange for me... claiming that you can preheat machine for next roast, while cooling the actual roasted batch... crazy !
See attached image.

... and a lot of pictures from inside the manufacturing facility.

https://vi.aliexp...49408.html
~~~
renatoa attached the following image:
image_2024-06-10_160907218.png
 
billsey
Top  #256 Print Post
Posted on 06/10/2024 3:52 PM
That link shows up for me as "no longer available" and at over $600 with shipping to the USA.
 
renatoa
Top  #257 Print Post
Posted on 06/11/2024 1:28 AM
Big Brother... Shock

For my area, eastern EU, shipping is about $100, could be a regional warehouse, not mainland.
 
Dan N
Top  #258 Print Post
Posted on 08/11/2024 2:00 PM
Last week's roast didn't have the usual 1 completely charred bean that got stuck somewhere.. I thought that was a good thing, maybe it doesn't always happen. WRONG, it's a very bad thing!

This week after dumping the roast I had 1 bean ON FIRE in the cooling tray. I used the metal scoop to toss it onto the concrete floor and it broke open. It was glowing bright red all the way through like a piece of charcoal. I think that bean got stuck last week and turned into charcoal, then this week it was still stuck and caught on fire.

I'd really like to know where these beans keep getting stuck and fix it before causing major damage.
 
billsey
Top  #259 Print Post
Posted on 08/11/2024 5:38 PM
I've had a couple of roasts with a small handful of very blackened beans in each. I haven't tried taking things apart to remove stuck beans yet, but IIRC there were posts about issues with the clearance between the drum and the front of the roaster that could cause beans to get stuck. Someone was doing some shimming on the bearing to hold it fully forward, I believe.
 
HarryDog
Top  #260 Print Post
Posted on 08/11/2024 5:51 PM
I think we have a few issues.
1. One person showed a pic of a bean on fire atop the lamp.
I think a wider slightly higher peak lamp cover could stop that.

2. Beans are allowed to pool in the front of the roaster, about 1/2 inch space on 2 fins one is slightly closer.
Not sure if all this space is required?

3. I have seen beans stay on the front panel, I think this is causing facing issues.
Would a couple of vertical bumps stop this?

Some beans get stuck in the Drum, not so many to worry about?
 
renatoa
Top  #261 Print Post
Posted on 08/12/2024 4:20 AM
Those who did the bean chute opening mod from this post: https://homeroast...post_78302
...have noticed how much area is the lamp in the path of the beans loading flow... almost half of the beans flows on top of the lamp.
The attached image tells the whole story.

My take on this issue would be to build a baffle, from a small piece of tin, to force the entire stream of beans to flow to the left side, bypassing the lamp.
The simplest way to do this is to make a copy of the loading door piece, from tin or cardboard plated with Alu tape, that has an opening only on the left half side.
~~~
renatoa attached the following image:
img-3494.jpg
 
billsey
Top  #262 Print Post
Posted on 08/12/2024 2:05 PM
Might be better to put a V baffle in to split the beans to both right and left, so you still get close to the same total bean flow. I don't seem to have any issue with the stock opening at 12oz of beans.
 
renatoa
Top  #263 Print Post
Posted on 08/12/2024 2:33 PM
Not even one charcoal bean every roast ?
 
billsey
Top  #264 Print Post
Posted on 08/13/2024 2:23 PM
I do get a few charcoal, though not every roast. I assume they get stuck on the edge of the drum. I thought the issue with the chute was not being able to get beans in fast enough without overflowing...
 
Dan N
Top  #265 Print Post
Posted on 09/21/2024 10:30 AM
Noooooooooo! My roaster died today. One small bit of luck is it died during preheat and didn't ruin my Costa Rica Tarrazu La Minita.
It's done 30 roasts over 9 months.

The drum, fans, and lamp were on during preheat using Artisan. Around 300F there was a glitch where everything stopped for just a fraction of a second. I thought it was our utility power. 20 seconds later, everything went dead. I unplugged it for 30 seconds, plugged it back in and everything came back on. Then 15 seconds later everything died again and now won't come back on. Only sign of life is there is still 5V power on the USB connector. I'll try the factory controller and if still dead I'll take it apart and inspect the circuit boards later today.

I had to remember how to roast with my old diy roaster and what parts it needed (different extension cord, timer, etc.). Manual roasting is such an unpleasant experience after using Artisan/Skywalker.
 
renatoa
Top  #266 Print Post
Posted on 09/21/2024 11:09 AM
Shock
Fortunatelly, the mainboard is available as spare part: https://www.aliex...37970.html
 
Dan N
Top  #267 Print Post
Posted on 09/21/2024 1:07 PM
Now everything works again with both Arduino and factory controller. Maybe the Arduino had a bad usb connection. Tomorrow I'll try a couple of full preheat/cooldown cycles to make sure it won't fail at higher temps.
 
HarryDog
Top  #268 Print Post
Posted on 09/21/2024 8:33 PM

Quote

Dan N wrote:

Now everything works again with both Arduino and factory controller. Maybe the Arduino had a bad usb connection. Tomorrow I'll try a couple of full preheat/cooldown cycles to make sure it won't fail at higher temps.


Hi Dan N, some of the code has a MaxTemp 300? if using F some people see the roaster shut down.
This is the eStop. Sounds like the issue, edit the 300 to what you want in F. save and re flash your Arduino. So this was in some code that even I used so.... Change the 300 to a safe fahrenheit number.

//Failsafe variables
const int maxTemp = 300;
unsigned long lastEventTime = 0;
unsigned long lastEventTimeout = 10000000;
bool failedToReadRoaster = false;
int roasterReadAttempts = 0;
Edited by HarryDog on 09/21/2024 8:47 PM
 
renatoa
Top  #269 Print Post
Posted on 09/22/2024 2:38 AM
Reread carefully and noticed the "...using Artisan" part.
Would be a good habit to try the roaster as is from the factory, if something bad happens using Artisan control.
Not using Artisan control, sticking with spy functions only, brings much confidence for me, after experiencing many machine sudden stops using Arduino control packets.
Not sure if the control protocol was completely understood and reproduced.
 
Dan N
Top  #270 Print Post
Posted on 09/22/2024 11:07 AM
Today I preheated to 400F then cooled down under Artisan control with no shutdowns or glitches.

My issue was most likely the USB connector or cable. My Arduino Nano clone has a USB-C connector which is a known weak point. I didn't see any broken solder or looseness so just plugged everything back in and ran it. I'll add some strain relief before the next roast.

My Artisan/Arduino-SkyCommand control has never had a shutdown or even glitch before.
 
HarryDog
Top  #271 Print Post
Posted on 09/22/2024 12:04 PM
Strange coincidence maybe.
 
Dan N
Top  #272 Print Post
Posted on 09/22/2024 5:09 PM

Quote

HarryDog wrote:

Hi Dan N, some of the code has a MaxTemp 300? if using F some people see the roaster shut down.

Kind of funny but for 9 months I've been using Josh's original Skycommand with renatoa's 1-line fix: Serial.readStringUntil('\n');
None of that new fangled MaxTemp stuff.

There's been a whole bunch of Skycommand changes on github but nobody included the 1-line fix that made it stable.
 
HarryDog
Top  #273 Print Post
Posted on 09/22/2024 6:28 PM
That was odd, I posted and was logged out, looks like the post is gone. I like that more is getting done as I think the code can be improved. I'm learning and working on it myself.
 
renatoa
Top  #274 Print Post
Posted on 09/23/2024 2:30 AM
Anyone is allowed to fork a github project and publish his improvements.

Unfortunately... for josh... his work is not protected by any GPL like statement, so anyone can steal his code and use in a commercial product.
 
HarryDog
Top  #275 Print Post
Posted on 09/23/2024 7:38 AM
I don't see his presence on the web much, hope he is well and well off. Thanks to all that put such effort into these projects to help others out. I'm enjoying a good cup of coffee right now that is a direct result of so many!
 
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