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Hottop design flaw or feature: Back wall bean entrance not fully covered
smico
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Posted on 09/25/2012 6:57 PM
Can anyone explain why bean chute on the back wall is not completely covered with the bean insertion chute cover? Obviously half inch space is left on purpose, but why? Bean chute now acts as a chimney.

I am playing with custom cover that works much better than the original, but still some fume escapes through. I am thinking of adding some silicone on the edges.

Has anyone sucesfully plugged the bean chute, and how?
smico attached the following image:
img-20120925-00320.jpg
Hottop B2 + HTC, Cremina 83, OE Pharos, Brewtus IIIR, Baratza Vario
 
snwcmpr
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Posted on 09/26/2012 6:31 AM
If the fan is on, which it is after the beans are dry, I don't have any fumes escape.
I do use a modified cover with a probe though.
Ken
--------------
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".
 
JimG
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Posted on 09/26/2012 8:14 AM
When I see smoke coming out around the edges of the bean chute cover, it is usually due to one of two things:

1) the small holes that lead back into the drum motor compartment are clogged, or

2) the fan speed needs to be increased.

Jim
 
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Randy G
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Posted on 09/26/2012 12:04 PM
Definition:

FEATURE (fee-chur) N. - some oddity, flaw, or unexplained design feature in a device, of which the factory or designer has no intention of changing or mitigating.

It was explained to me that there is no reason, one way or the other. As Jim stated, I have also used it as an indication that the fan speed needs to be adjusted. It is a good indicator of the condition of the main filter as well.

You can try bending it back to better fill the void. I use the flap to clear beans which hesitate in their trip into the roast chamber. Sealing the area should have no ill effect on the roaster's performance.

Life's too short to drink bad coffee.
 
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smico
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Posted on 09/26/2012 4:06 PM
Thanks all for the advices.
Kind of strange feature, even esthetically.

Reminds me when programmer (me) finds a bug, it instantly becomes a feature in own code, and bug in somebody else's code.

At the end of the day I will make back wall flush, and chute smokeless, just don't know how right now.

Hm...
I know, I will make my own chute that will be a bit smaller...
Or I remove current one all together, although I am afraid to impact air flow...

Additional nuisance is that chute gets dirty as every chimney does. I already improved that even with my primitive metal plate cap.

Yeah, I like this. Even make auto bean loader...
Hottop B2 + HTC, Cremina 83, OE Pharos, Brewtus IIIR, Baratza Vario
 
Randy G
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Posted on 09/26/2012 4:37 PM

Quote

smico wrote:Yeah, I like this. Even make auto bean loader...

That is a great Idea. Could be a combination seal and bean loader. made from a funnel with a gate like a hopper on a grinder. Maybe solenoid activated and wired to the Arduino controller.. OK.. now I am getting carried away!
:th-cof1.gif:

Life's too short to drink bad coffee.
 
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smico
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Posted on 09/26/2012 7:56 PM
I had exactly that in mind. We are like kids, so why not adding more bells and whistles to our toys?
It could be multi functional. Fire up heat gun and blow hot air through to speed up 300g rump up. Blow some air to equalise temperature among beans and make first crack fire up like firecrackers.
Hottop B2 + HTC, Cremina 83, OE Pharos, Brewtus IIIR, Baratza Vario
 
RAG
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Posted on 10/27/2013 11:15 PM
I use metal ducting tape to seal the back wall and electronics area along with firewall material. Soon I will add Ciel's RAF-1 mod.
 
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