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Extend Time to 1C with Air Crazy
IntrepidQ3
Top  #1 Print Post
Posted on 12/31/2013 8:50 PM
I am new to roasting and it has come to my attention that getting to 1C in ~3min is to quick.

I did take off the therm governor on the chamber.

I have been able to extend the roast about a 1 min, I use to get 1C ~2min. To do this I have tilted the popper a bit and stir the batch with a wooden spoon. I also leave the plastic air scoop off to allow the heat to escape.

Has anyone found an effective way to add cooler air into the chamber though the bottom of the unit? This is the only thing I can think of doing, besides for flipping the on/off switch though out the roast or tossing the beans back and forth from the popper to a colander (this is my last resort).

Any suggestions are welcome!

_ _ _

Additional information that may or may not be helpful.

I use 80g of green beans. I have used less 10g the roast extends only 30 seconds. If I go lower than that it take over 6 min to get to 1C, but than I only get enough beans to make 1 or 2 cups of coffee...

My last roast looked like this, time are very close for any bean I have roasted:

Ethiopia Kaffa:
1C starts: 3:27 min
1C ended: 4:00 min
End roast: 5:25 min

Roast lvl: FC
 
snwcmpr
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Posted on 12/31/2013 9:12 PM
Welcome to HRO.
Have you read any of the threads on modifying the popper?
Separating the fan and heat wiring and controlling the heat?
There are more than a few ways to do it, and much has been written on it. And much depends on the model of popper you have.
But, one would have to be a bit handy with tools. But, since you roast your own instead of buy at the store, I can safely assume you are one of us.
Best to you,
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".
 
IntrepidQ3
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Posted on 12/31/2013 11:43 PM
Indeed. I have no aversion to tinkering!

I am using a West Bend Air Crazy. I have a read some threads on modifying poppers. Most seem to be geared towards the Poppery 1 and 2.

Hmmm I will go back a find discussions on separating the heat and can wiring.
 
Airhan
Top  #4 Print Post
Posted on 01/01/2014 12:21 AM
Like most new poppers, I bet the Air Crazy has a DC motor for the fan and will use 120VAC for the heating element, if that is the case you want to look at information about the Poppery II. However the theory behind the Poppery I mods will help inform you too
Aaron
"Grind it like it did you some great injustice!"D.L.Clark
 
IntrepidQ3
Top  #5 Print Post
Posted on 01/01/2014 10:42 AM
Between adding a PID and a Dimmer to my Gaggia Classic and now tinkering with my popper I am learning some about wiring but I still find myself a little lost. I find that many mods use SSR's and Transformers to gain control of the heat and the fan motor.

I was going to follow these directions: http://popperyii.blogspot.com/2011/01/completing-hiros-journey-poppery-ii-mod.html


But then I found an easier way to gain control of the heat over at Sweet Marias forum. Simply take out the therm governor and replace it with a dimmer switch.

This maybe a dumb questions but,

Is there a reason why I should not do the simple mod?

EDIT: I guess I should really ask, can anyone point me to a tutorial to do these mods that are for the inept techy.
Edited by IntrepidQ3 on 01/01/2014 10:53 AM
 
snwcmpr
Top  #6 Print Post
Posted on 01/01/2014 10:48 AM
The dimmer may be under rated for the heating element.
The ones I saw at Lowes and Home Depot and other electrical supply houses were rated to 600 watts. The heating element is between 1200 and 1500 watts on a popper.
As was suggested here some time ago a router speed control from Harbor Freight is a simple way to control the heat manually. I would suggest adding a kill-a-watt to the system to read the current wattage. Kill-a-watts are good to have around anyway.
Also disabling the governor will help when the roast gets further along, so the heating element isn't shut off.

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".
 
IntrepidQ3
Top  #7 Print Post
Posted on 01/01/2014 1:07 PM
Makes sense.

Well it seems I have hit a learning curve here, so I'll need to do some reading and source parts.

For the time being to gain more control I just rewired my WBAC so the fan turns on when I plug it in and the on/off switch controls the primary heating element. This will do for now.
 
snwcmpr
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Posted on 01/01/2014 1:15 PM
Then it may be simple to replace the heat switch with a plug and plug the heat into the router speed control which is then plugged into the wall outlet. $20 at Harbor Freight.

Ken in NC
(I don't buy very much at Harbor Freight by the way)
--------------
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".
 
IntrepidQ3
Top  #9 Print Post
Posted on 01/01/2014 3:21 PM
I will order the router speed control in the near future.

I just roasted two batches of the Ethiopian Kaffa I mentioned in another thread. I was turning the heating element off for 5 sec every 20 sec. (Found the timing suggestion on SM).

First roast-
1C start: 9:20 min
End roast: 12:00 min
Roast level: FC+

1C happened later than I wanted it to.

Second roast-
1C start: 6:45
End roast: 9:17
Roast level: C+/FC

I found I need to stop messing with the switch once the beans start to yellow.

The smell of the beans are so much better than before. I also noticed that with the longer drying period much more of the chaff comes off once 1C starts. Can't wait till I taste em.
 
Lawnmowerman
Top  #10 Print Post
Posted on 01/02/2014 12:12 AM
Here is a suggestion that definitely may or may not be helpful. If you havent done any other mods yet, try this: hook up an electrolytic capacitor across the motor terminals. This filters out the ripple from the bridge. I have tried this and it makes the motor workd little bit fastet. This may give you enough increased airflow toget you where you need to be. Keep in mind however that this is not something you are likely to see done. But it does work.
Ben.
Bad coffee prevails when good coffee roasters stand by and do nothing.
 
IntrepidQ3
Top  #11 Print Post
Posted on 01/03/2014 11:26 AM
I am going to be honest lawnmowerman. What you just suggested sounds foreign to me, but I will do some reading up on it.

In short though, if I do as suggested I will get a more powerful fan by supplying it more juice?, thus getting increased air flow. Correct?
 
snwcmpr
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Posted on 01/03/2014 3:55 PM
I didn't see this addressed, or I missed it.
Have you tried more beans?
You can tilt the popper and stir with a wooden spoon handle until they spin on their own.
80 grams seems small batch size to me.

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".
 
IntrepidQ3
Top  #13 Print Post
Posted on 01/03/2014 8:20 PM

Quote

snwcmpr wrote:

I didn't see this addressed, or I missed it.
Have you tried more beans?
You can tilt the popper and stir with a wooden spoon handle until they spin on their own.
80 grams seems small batch size to me.

Ken in NC


I have not tried more beans since rewiring.

Through experimenting I found 80 grams worked the best for me when the popper was right out of the box. I noticed if I put in say 85g or more I would hit first crack even quicker than 2 min!

Now that I have more control over the heat I could bump up the batch size. I probably need to add a chimney to prevent the larger batch size from falling out.
 
snwcmpr
Top  #14 Print Post
Posted on 01/03/2014 9:13 PM
Oh, that's right, you don't have a chimney (soup can).

Admittedly, I am not an expert with the popper.
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".
 
IntrepidQ3
Top  #15 Print Post
Posted on 01/05/2014 9:32 AM
Ken,

That is alright. I am wanting to get a glass chimney. This would solve my issue with batch sizes. I am really wanting to upgrade to something that can handle a larger batch size and has more control, I just need to find room in my budget for that, but this is another convo.



The time frame I should aim for to hit 1C is between 4-6 min, correct?
 
snwcmpr
Top  #16 Print Post
Posted on 01/05/2014 9:47 AM
I have seen others use a glass chimney.
I didn't do that because;
They may crack as the glass heats and expands. So, the size has to be right. I didn't research any more than that.
It was hard to find one that would fit.
The soup can worked perfectly. It allowed the larger batch size.

Then I upgraded to HT, now I use another air roaster with 1 lb capacity.

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".
 
IntrepidQ3
Top  #17 Print Post
Posted on 01/05/2014 1:13 PM
The glass chimney sounded odd to me as well for the reasons you mentioned. I have heard of others using a glass chimney. The glass came off small antique looking lamps or from candle holders.

The reason why I am pulled to glass is because it sounds cleaner for health and for the look of it... Not that I am really concerned about the look of it.

I have been looking at the HT but currently for me with my budget. I have also been looking at the Gene, but because of the current issue with sourcing parts I am very reluctant to fully consider it. I am either going to do some more looking around or save up for the HT and take that time to get a better understanding of roasting.
 
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