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Touchless Evacuator De-Chaffer Cooler Tub
DavidG
Top  #1 Print Post
Posted on 05/11/2012 1:09 PM
This is my current bean cooler. It works great. I am posting this description with pictures (i) to say thank you to all the HROs and coffee fora members who inspired me and offered their genius ideas for stealing, and (ii) to offer ideas to others for the good of the order.

Please note, their is no original inspiration here--just re-application of the ideas of those who did it first. So thank you!

Why I like this cooler: SAFETY, ease of use, cooling speed, chaff removal and containment. There is no dumping, no handling hot breadpans, no tipping hot poppers, etc.

Basic function:
When the beans are ready to leave the roaster, the vacuum hose sucks the beans out of the roast chamber onto a bucket with screen. A pound of hot beans can be sucked out of a BMHG roaster in less than 5 seconds. Then, you pop open the lid to the bucket. The beans are cooled with ambient air sucked through by the shop vac. The chaff is sucked into the shop vac or ends up in the bottom of the bucket.

Step-by-step:
1. Cleaned kitty litter bucket WITH lid.
2. Metal mesh screen mounted inside kitty litter bucket a few inches from the top.
3. Hole cut in the bottom side of kitty litter bucket sized for shop-vac hose.
4. Thrift store vacuum hose kit for Dirt-Devil style vacuum (any kind will do).
5. Thrift store vacuum hose mounted into LID of kitty litter bucket.
6. KEY FUNCTION: when the LID is CLOSED, you have a seal tight enough that the thrift vacuum hose has all the suction from the shop vac.

Use:
1. close lid. Turn on shop vac.
2. Vacuum beans out of roaster.
3. Open lid.
4. Smile and watch beans cool muy rapido!

Happy cooling.

Cheers,
David
europiccola | yama + coryrod | chemex | AP | clever
wbp1 | wepp1 | bm/hg | co hybrid (still coming soon...)
 
DavidG
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Posted on 05/11/2012 1:12 PM
Thought I attached the pics. Hmmmm.

For more pics, see my FB album here: http://www.facebo...amp;type=1
DavidG attached the following images:
cooler_open.jpg cooler_empty.jpg cooler_2.jpg
europiccola | yama + coryrod | chemex | AP | clever
wbp1 | wepp1 | bm/hg | co hybrid (still coming soon...)
 
JETROASTER
Top  #3 Print Post
Posted on 05/11/2012 2:34 PM
Very cool! <snare hit> -Scott
 
Lawnmowerman
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Posted on 05/12/2012 1:17 AM
I built a similar bean transfer adapter. It fits on top of my existing cooler, which is a steamer in another pot with a hole cut for an electrolux vacuum. These are great vacuums for bean coolers. They have a sele resetting thermal overload feature which saves the motor and 6 feet of hose really helps to keep the motor cool. The adapter was made from three items that didnt fit. They fit now. It worked about3 times. Then it developed a leak which i later discovered was the seal where the bean cooler fits together. I dont use it because it needs a metal bean nozzle and ive got no time for r and d. It was used for my bmhg roaster.
Lawnmowerman attached the following image:
0511122248b.jpg
Bad coffee prevails when good coffee roasters stand by and do nothing.
 
Lawnmowerman
Top  #5 Print Post
Posted on 05/12/2012 1:29 AM
Here is the cooler as it was built and is still used but without the vac hose on it. When i get the time im going to tear apart a bissel vac and put the motor right inside it and maybe a chaff filter like the dreamroast on the side of it. Then i wont need a separate vacuum cleaner. I could still use the adapter and additionally it could be used instead of the vacuum for cleanup.
Lawnmowerman attached the following image:
0511122248a.jpg
Bad coffee prevails when good coffee roasters stand by and do nothing.
 
Lawnmowerman
Top  #6 Print Post
Posted on 05/12/2012 1:43 AM
One more thing i could do with this cooler vessle. My double dog dare roaster that you personally inspired is a ten inch skillet that im currently engineering into a roaster. The cooler tray fits right inside the skillet so it could accept a stirring rod and be used to increase the rc volume. At end of roast just remove lid pick up tray place tray in cooler hit switch
Bad coffee prevails when good coffee roasters stand by and do nothing.
 
Lawnmowerman
Top  #7 Print Post
Posted on 05/12/2012 1:59 AM
Heres a pic of how it could be used with the roaster im working on.
Lawnmowerman attached the following image:
0511122351a.jpg
Bad coffee prevails when good coffee roasters stand by and do nothing.
 
Lawnmowerman
Top  #8 Print Post
Posted on 05/12/2012 2:05 AM
Here is the cooler with last nights 3/4 lb roast of png
Lawnmowerman attached the following image:
0510122254a.jpg
Bad coffee prevails when good coffee roasters stand by and do nothing.
 
Lawnmowerman
Top  #9 Print Post
Posted on 05/12/2012 2:11 AM
I think i misappropriated credit for inspiration for the roaster im building. My apologies.
Bad coffee prevails when good coffee roasters stand by and do nothing.
 
DavidG
Top  #10 Print Post
Posted on 05/14/2012 12:07 PM
No worries... looks like your inspiration might be, in part, from Koffee Kosmo's Turbo oven threads. I myself am working on a KK-inspired roaster, too.

One issue that might come up with the moving-the-roast-tray idea: your cooler would have to overcome the heat built-up in the steel tray and cool the tray down before getting the beans cooled. I am sure there is a better term than "thermal inertia", but that is what is coming to mind at the moment. One of the reasons I like the vacuum concept is because the beans instantly leave the roasting environment and enter an ambient temp environment with massive airflow. Only the beans are hot--nothing else. Just a random thought.

Cheers
David
europiccola | yama + coryrod | chemex | AP | clever
wbp1 | wepp1 | bm/hg | co hybrid (still coming soon...)
 
Lawnmowerman
Top  #11 Print Post
Posted on 05/15/2012 2:50 AM
I am building a kk inspired roaster but not the one pictured above. It was inspired by david y in a little tack on thread at the end of another where he double dog dared chad to try such and such shape for a roasting chamber, hence the name.i have also considered thermal inertia but its a pretty light weight perforated tray and it just happens to fit both so im going to try it and see.
Bad coffee prevails when good coffee roasters stand by and do nothing.
 
Lawnmowerman
Top  #12 Print Post
Posted on 05/15/2012 2:59 AM
Btw, if those beans seem too dark: they were!
Bad coffee prevails when good coffee roasters stand by and do nothing.
 
JackH
Top  #13 Print Post
Posted on 05/16/2012 7:01 PM
David, I like this idea. It would save me from lifting the roast chamber, removing the thermocouples and dumping like I do now (TurboCrazy roaster). I use a vac cooler now and it should be easy to convert.
 
JackH
Top  #14 Print Post
Posted on 05/31/2012 5:44 PM
Just built one with a 5 gal round bucket from Lowe's with a small shop Vac and it works great! You don't even need to fit the lid tight, just place it on top...the Vac holds it in place. Goes right into a SS mixing bowl I drilled out. The bowl fits perfectly in the tapered bucket.
 
DavidG
Top  #15 Print Post
Posted on 06/01/2012 12:51 AM
Jack,
Great to hear! A pic, perhaps?

I love how the tinkerers around HRO share ideas, and then add their own little twists and interpretations on the idea. Then, the next bean-burner takes that idea, and... well, you get the picture. What a great community we have here.

Cheers,
David
europiccola | yama + coryrod | chemex | AP | clever
wbp1 | wepp1 | bm/hg | co hybrid (still coming soon...)
 
JackH
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Posted on 06/01/2012 7:01 PM
Here is the setup. I used two shopvac adapters for the top and bottom.
JackH attached the following image:
coolerweb.jpg
 
JackH
Top  #17 Print Post
Posted on 06/01/2012 7:03 PM
A close of the top. and an inside view of the SS mixing bowl. The bucket is tapered so the SS bowl is a snug fit.
JackH attached the following images:
coolerinsideweb.jpg coolertopweb.jpg
 
troposcuba
Top  #18 Print Post
Posted on 06/01/2012 11:14 PM
Jack, that is a very slick setup. Mine is a bit more simplified, but I may have to step up to your version!
Sean
 
JackH
Top  #19 Print Post
Posted on 06/03/2012 5:55 PM
Thanks Sean, it really does work well for turbo roasters that have to be lifted and dumped for cooling.
 
troposcuba
Top  #20 Print Post
Posted on 06/04/2012 12:54 AM
Like I said, nice. I roast on a Gene Cafe, so I just use a bucket with a stainless wire strainer on top and a shop vac plumbed into the bucket through a PVC fitting. Works fine for me since I can just pull the drum and dump. I think it would be more difficult trying to vac the beans out of my drum using your cooler, but I still like it. Also chaff is not an issue in the GC since it all ends up in the chaff collector. But still, I really like your cooler.
Sean
 
Bob J
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Posted on 06/04/2012 7:45 AM
Very nice job on the cooler..... Might have to give this a try....ThumbsUp
 
Lawnmowerman
Top  #22 Print Post
Posted on 06/04/2012 4:59 PM
Ive got a question. The nozzle that picks up the beans. Does it have to extend down below the lid plane. Some of the pics arent that clear to me. Or would it work as well if the nozzle was simply attached to a tight fitting lid on the rc? Ive got some more parts and im very eager to improve my unload time and lessen the likelyhood of burning.
Bad coffee prevails when good coffee roasters stand by and do nothing.
 
JackH
Top  #23 Print Post
Posted on 06/05/2012 6:46 PM
I don't think it has to extend. The only reason would be to keep it securely attached to the lid. I don't even have to push the lid and lock it down. As soon as the vacuum is on, it pulls the lid and seals.

Once the beans are transported, I remove the lid and let the Vacuum run to cool since the lid would restrict air flow.
 
Lawnmowerman
Top  #24 Print Post
Posted on 06/06/2012 2:43 AM
Well,im going to have to do some more experimenting. Its something i would definitely like to perfect. Dont want to threadjack
Bad coffee prevails when good coffee roasters stand by and do nothing.
 
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