pjvdl wrote:

Hi all. I have been happily roasting since my last post; getting used to how the drum roaster performs. In general, I've been very happy with its performance. It will happily roast 1kg batches.

I am having a bit of an issue with the drum bearings though. I have a 12mm drum shaft and an using FL001 (flange) pillow bearings, which do the job, but I am using standard temperature bearings, which do not cope with the heat.

I am struggling to find anything suitable for higher temperatures. The best I can find is something like https://www.bocabearings.com/products/skfl001-12mm-21409, which is rated to 160C. The internal roasting chamber is getting to around 350C and the drum is getting to around 250C, so although the bearings are mounted externally, I'm still concerned 160C is not high enough.

Can anyone suggest a supplier of high temp pillow flange bearings for a 12mm shaft who would ship to Austraila?

allenb wrote:

The most I've heard of anyone doing, and that was due to grease separating and drooling, is go to high temp grease instead of standard. I know of no reason to look for any exotic bearings for high temp especially with the remedies just mentioned (space them away from the front plate a tad).

Paul, what are your bearings doing causing you to replace them?

UmMerkur wrote:



I had the same struggle of finding a high-temp flange mounted bearing, so I decided to just mount the bearing on 1" standoffs to keep it away from the heat. If you have the extra length in your shaft you may think about that. I've attached an image of my CAD model, should be able to see what I'm talking about.
I'm a little worried about the door hinge bearings, but those are much lower duty so maybe it will be okay?

renatoa wrote:

What about using a custom made "bong", as those used by Pavoni users, to insulate the group from the boiler...