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Modifying the Poppery 1
Bob J
Top  #41 Print Post
Posted on 06/12/2013 10:08 AM

Quote

shsesc wrote:

I didn't see any text about where to get the glass chimney and fan controller and booster. I read the whole OP, but I think I'm missing it. Also, what was the reason for cutting down the housing? Does that eliminate the bakelite roasting chamber?

Can anyone help me out?


I got my fan controller off ebay and bought the step up transformer from a supply house that unfortunately is no longer in business.... My glass chimney is a pyrex "bake a round" that I found on ebay.... Be aware that you want the small one that comes in a pack of two.... Nice to have a second for a spare as they have become hard to find.... It fits directly in the cast aluminum base.... Hopefully this helps a little....
 
shsesc
Top  #42 Print Post
Posted on 06/13/2013 2:10 PM

Quote

Bob J wrote:



I got my fan controller off ebay and bought the step up transformer from a supply house that unfortunately is no longer in business.... My glass chimney is a pyrex "bake a round" that I found on ebay.... Be aware that you want the small one that comes in a pack of two.... Nice to have a second for a spare as they have become hard to find.... It fits directly in the cast aluminum base.... Hopefully this helps a little....


Thanks, that does help.

What specs must I look for in a fan controller and a step up transformer?
 
Bob J
Top  #43 Print Post
Posted on 06/14/2013 6:50 AM

Quote

What specs must I look for in a fan controller and a step up transformer?


Fan controller was a small thyristor circuit I got off ebay..... 2K watt IIRC... Originally got two so I could use the second one to control heat but it died on my first roast so now am using a harbor freight controller for that..... The step up transformer was rated 120V in and 140V out IIRC...
Edited by ginny on 08/05/2013 11:40 AM
 
snwcmpr
Top  #44 Print Post
Posted on 06/14/2013 7:56 AM
Is the glass chimney (Pyrex Bake-A-Round, set of 2) the ones that are 14 inches long?

Thanks,
Ken in NC
--------------
Backwoods Roaster
"I wish I could taste as well as I wish I could roast."

As Abraham Lincoln said "Do not trust everything you read on the internet".
 
Bob J
Top  #45 Print Post
Posted on 06/14/2013 9:56 AM

Quote

snwcmpr wrote:

Is the glass chimney (Pyrex Bake-A-Round, set of 2) the ones that are 14 inches long?

Thanks,
Ken in NC


That sounds right..... Just be sure to get the ones with the smaller diameter that comes 2 to a set and you should be fine....
 
valkuan
Top  #46 Print Post
Posted on 08/03/2013 6:18 PM
Hello, my P1 worked for good 6 mths and produced consistently good coffee until it didn't work, I.e. not heating up. So I opened up and disabled the thermostat by way of method 2 because I wouldn't get everything apart and modified the on off button as well. Still not working, fan is on just not heating up. Can someone tell me if the P1 should RIP or there is an easy fix? if i should get a replacement, I research French roast has mixed review, I don't know which roaster to replace my P1 .... 3 weeks without home roast coffee! Please recommend. Thanks, Valerie
 
Lawnmowerman
Top  #47 Print Post
Posted on 08/04/2013 2:03 AM
Ive never had a p1. Can you measure it for ohms? The heater? If it needs replacement I highly recommend the breadmaker heatgun combo.
Bad coffee prevails when good coffee roasters stand by and do nothing.
 
Bob J
Top  #48 Print Post
Posted on 08/05/2013 7:01 AM

Quote

Lawnmowerman wrote:

Ive never had a p1. Can you measure it for ohms? The heater? If it needs replacement I highly recommend the breadmaker heatgun combo.


Agree with this..... Sounds like the heater burned out..... If you can find the open you might be able to jumper it with a heavy gage bare copper wire....
 
JackH
Top  #49 Print Post
Posted on 08/05/2013 8:34 AM
Another thing I see with dead poppers and grinders is a blown thermal fuse. Usually mounted on the grinder's motor for fire protection. For Poppers, it is usually mounted on the heater "plate". I have replaced several on dead iRoast machines and griders in the past. I think poppers have them too. You need to look up the part number printed on the fuse to get the correct type and rating. They are usually soldered or crimped in place and not easy to replace.

Might not be worth it although the Poppery I is a nice unit and hard to find now. There may also be a another reason it failed. with grinders it is usually a jam.

With my poppery II roaster, I usually cut heater power and run with full fan for a while, cooling it off. I think suddenly shutting off the popper while hot can cause problems and result in heater failure. I do this with my heat guns and have no problems.

Jack
Edited by JackH on 08/05/2013 8:46 AM
---Jack

KKTO Roaster.
 
valkuan
Top  #50 Print Post
Posted on 08/05/2013 10:00 AM
Thanks to Lawnmowerman, Bob J and JackH for your suggestion and ideas. I am not very technical neither is my husband. I think it is time for a new roaster. Do you guys know if anyone build the bread and heat gun combo for sale? Thanks again!
 
brennn
Top  #51 Print Post
Posted on 09/15/2013 8:37 PM
Is there any documentation on this forum of the Arduino TC4 used with the West Bend Poppery?
 
JackH
Top  #52 Print Post
Posted on 09/16/2013 7:55 AM

Quote

brennn wrote:

Is there any documentation on this forum of the Arduino TC4 used with the West Bend Poppery?


No documentation yet, but there should be some posts of probe placement for Bean Temp and Environment Temp on poppers in general that might help.

There is a good discussion in the dataloggers forum about poppers and control in general:
http://forum.home...ad_id=3293

Jack
Edited by JackH on 09/16/2013 8:01 AM
---Jack

KKTO Roaster.
 
brennn
Top  #53 Print Post
Posted on 09/19/2013 9:42 PM

Quote



No documentation yet, but there should be some posts of probe placement for Bean Temp and Environment Temp on poppers in general that might help.

There is a good discussion in the dataloggers forum about poppers and control in general:
http://forum.home...ad_id=3293

Jack


Thanks for the link, Jack! It is very helpful.
 
brennn
Top  #54 Print Post
Posted on 12/05/2013 7:31 PM
What is the name of the clamp shown in Image "P1 3 5 1"? I was looking in Lowe's today, and could only find the hose clamps. I'm looking for the one with the screw holes that are perpendicular to the clamp.
brennn attached the following image:
p1_3_5_1.jpg
Edited by JackH on 12/05/2013 8:46 PM
 
Airhan
Top  #55 Print Post
Posted on 12/05/2013 9:11 PM
I think that may have been fabricated by mike, not something he bought in a store, I'm sure there is something similar to it however
Aaron
"Grind it like it did you some great injustice!"D.L.Clark
 
mlynsk
Top  #56 Print Post
Posted on 12/08/2013 12:47 PM
I'm new to the forum and have some questions, too. I'm modifying a 1400 watt Pumper, which I understand contains roughly the same inner workings as the Poppery I. I have split the heater and fan circuits, and have a few questions about grounding and also what type of cord to use.

I'm not an electrical expert but understand a little. The original popper has a 2-wire plug (ungrounded). I'm not sure if the metal parts of the popper are connected in any way to either lead of the power cord or just "floating" (I'll have to test with my multimeter), but the original cord has no "prong" to orient it in the outlet, so either wire could be hot or neutral.

It seems like a good idea to ground the metail housing, but maybe not run ground wires (3 prong cords) on both the heater and fan cords (separate cords), because you could create a "ground loop" (would be providing two separate paths to ground). Is this correct, or am I thinking of this the wrong way? I decided to just use a 3-prong cord on the heater and two-prong on the fan. So, the fan circuit would still be "floating", but if any wires, or whatever, come in contact with the metal housing, there would be the one path to ground through the heater cord. Is this the right way to go about this? I also haven't found a good way to connect the ground wire to the metal underside of the heater assembly. It's mostly smooth metal with no screws or tabs to connect to, so for now I'm not using the ground wire yet.

I sourced a cord for the heater circuit by cutting a household extension cord (16 guage, rated for 15a). I thought about using a heavier cord or one made for appliances, since they might be more heat resistant, but the regular extension cord looked similar in size to what was on there originally. The cord insulation is "rubber like", but after a couple of roasts doesn't show any signs of melting or discoloration and the cords don't appear to be getting hot. Is it safe to use this type of cord (all connection are on the underside of the heater, which is presumably cooler)? I used a similar 2-prong cord for the fan circuit, since re-using the original cord would have been potentially dangerous, because of the lack of orienting "prong", so the two circuits could have potentially been "flipped" in polarity.

One final question: I have used the modified popper now (with router control in the heater circuit) a couple of times with no issues, other than a GFCI tripping (after the roast was complete - maybe when I turned off or unplugged machine?). I've read that some of these types of AC motors can trip GFCI outlets during normal operation, especially when starting out, etc. Is this normal, or should I be looking for some wiring issue? Everything looks fine in there...

Thanks in advance for your help!

-Michael
 
James211
Top  #57 Print Post
Posted on 01/31/2014 6:42 AM
With regards to controlling heat and fan speed, could you use a router speed controller to do that instead of a variac controller?

http://www.harbor...43060.html
Edited by JackH on 01/31/2014 10:48 AM
 
Airhan
Top  #58 Print Post
Posted on 01/31/2014 10:47 AM
Yes, a router speed controller would work just as well.
Aaron
"Grind it like it did you some great injustice!"D.L.Clark
 
Bob J
Top  #59 Print Post
Posted on 02/03/2014 7:03 AM

Quote

James211 wrote:

With regards to controlling heat and fan speed, could you use a router speed controller to do that instead of a variac controller?

http://www.harbor...43060.html


Agree with Airhan that you can use the router for each but it is really overkill for the fan circuit..... Not much current load there so a smaller rated potentiometer should work fine.... I am using a small triac I got off ebay for that.....

For the heat you really need something like the router speed control to be able to handle the load.... I tried using a 2kw controller off of ebay for that but it didn't survive the first roast so now am using the router controller and it has worked fine.....
 
brennn
Top  #60 Print Post
Posted on 02/03/2014 1:36 PM
Question: I've forgotten which wire to/from the switch connected to the line and to the neutral. Should the line wire connect to the OFF switch lead, or should the line wire connect to the ON switch lead?
 
Airhan
Top  #61 Print Post
Posted on 02/03/2014 2:26 PM
Brennn, it probably doesn't matter... but I'm also not sure which wires you're talking about. Are you talking about the two leads to the popperys power switch?
Aaron
"Grind it like it did you some great injustice!"D.L.Clark
 
brennn
Top  #62 Print Post
Posted on 02/03/2014 4:15 PM
Hey Airhan. Yes, I am referring to the two wires coming from the ON/OFF Switch on the Poppery I. Should Line be connected to the lead coming from the OFF side, or should the Line be connected to the lead coming from the ON side.

I'm asking because I just don't want everything to be turned on, when it's in the OFF position, and OFF when the switch is in the ON position.

ALSO - When I have everything hooked up, does anyone have any recommendations on a test plan for the first roast? I don't really want to just turn on the popper and hope for the best... Perhaps I can use a Variac in between the outlet and the popper to slowly control the voltage going into the popper?
 
Airhan
Top  #63 Print Post
Posted on 02/03/2014 5:01 PM
The switch is just a single pole, single throw so when it indicates "off" the contacts inside are disconnected and to current can pass though the circuit. When the switch is in the "on" position the contacts inside the switch touch and the circuit is complete, therefore with this switch it doesn't matter which side line goes in to, there are no diodes as far as I know. Just make sure the output from the switch goes where it needs to.

ALSO - I recommend you start a thread just about your poppery and the changes you've made to it (clearly you had it apart to do something, perhaps just separating the fan from the heater?). It would be nice to know more about your roaster before giving you advice on how to use it.

I hope you can be roasting soon greenman
Aaron
"Grind it like it did you some great injustice!"D.L.Clark
 
Bob J
Top  #64 Print Post
Posted on 02/04/2014 7:49 AM
Mine is set up with the switch still functioning as an off switch for the entire machine..... After the switch I have separate feeds (and controls) to the heat and fan so I can control each one separately....
 
brennn
Top  #65 Print Post
Posted on 02/04/2014 7:52 AM
Bob J, that is how I plan on using my switch. My switch is in line with the wall outlet, and the other side of the switch feeds my two SSRs and ZCD.
 
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