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Skywalker, the ALM chinese one pound roaster
Lostx403
Top  #76 Print Post
Posted on 12/19/2023 9:51 PM
Received my unit today, did 3 roasts with some old yirg I've had for some time. 250, 400 and 350 grams using the built in profiles via the controller that comes with the unit. Used the assisted mode.

Initial impressions:

It's powerful
Build quality is okay/fine
Cooling could be better
Chaff collection is good
Having a trier and viewing window is great
Overall size of the unit is manageable, not as big as I was expecting

Impressed so far, will do more roasts tomorrow, had to get some additional pieces to improve my venting situation.

I have an Arduino ready to go with Josh's artisan control setup so I'm looking forward to trying that out.
 
HarryDog
Top  #77 Print Post
Posted on 12/31/2023 5:05 AM
So far the Auto roasts are mostly under developed, the controller has failed to respond at times and caused all sorts of issues with selecting AST mode and Full manual roasts issues like unable to adjust the heater or end a roast, I have contacted the ITOP store and hope this is just a buggy controller? We will see how they respond.
 
renatoa
Top  #78 Print Post
Posted on 12/31/2023 6:30 AM
Do you feel it as a keyboard or logic issue?
Failing to respond to touches, or erratic behavior between taps?
 
HarryDog
Top  #79 Print Post
Posted on 12/31/2023 6:55 AM
Well I thought more failure to respond to touch but to stop roast (Long Touch "R") to stop roast yesterday it would beep but not stop the roast so it recognized some touch but did not respond correctly. one day I power cycled it 3 times to get the power button to work. It has been very intermittent with many touch spots, during a manual roast the Heater "+" was working fine but the "-" was not?
 
renatoa
Top  #80 Print Post
Posted on 01/02/2024 1:10 PM
Some time ago in a galaxy far, far away.... oups... they did it... and they leak it ... Shock Grin

It's from an Aliexpress seller, Fuwoda, which lists Skywalker twice, one of the positions has the "right" pictures, with standard control panel, and the second has the leaked alternative.
What I found strange is the wire coming under the front mask... as a custom probe, thermocouple or similar...

~~~
renatoa attached the following images:
image_2024-01-02_210927387.png image_2024-01-02_212014148.png
Edited by renatoa on 01/02/2024 1:24 PM
 
HarryDog
Top  #81 Print Post
Posted on 01/02/2024 1:24 PM
Is that wireless?
Do you have a link?

Found it, $172.12 to ship.
$198.70 to ship the old version.

Direct fire baking machine!

ITOP date to contact me has come and gone?
Edited by HarryDog on 01/02/2024 6:47 PM
 
Lostx403
Top  #82 Print Post
Posted on 01/03/2024 9:35 AM
They must have f'd up on uploading the wrong picture, looking now I see the 2 listings in their store but not that pic, must have removed it.

That wire must be running to a computer and not sure how they're communicating to the phone.

Also looks like it's just in someone's kitchen judging by the cook top and olive oil to the right of the roaster lol, someone in China trying to do what Josh already did? Provide logging if it's just coming off the thermistor that is on the front face plate? Just guessing, who knows what they did/were doing.
 
renatoa
Top  #83 Print Post
Posted on 01/03/2024 9:40 AM
The image is still left orphan in the aliexpress repository, direct link is:
https://ae01.alic....jpg_.webp
 
Lostx403
Top  #84 Print Post
Posted on 01/03/2024 9:55 AM
HarryDog you're in Canada? Do you want me to send you my units controller to see if it works for you? Otherwise if you want an Arduino wired up I can take care of the soldering and mail it to you if that's an issue holding you back. Obviously you'd have to pay for the arduino lol. I'm in Alberta if my username didn't give that away with the area code.
 
sloppyjosh
Top  #85 Print Post
Posted on 01/03/2024 10:27 PM
Just before I stopped using the skywalker's controller I thought my touch panel was also acting a little off.. similar to what HarryDog described.. but I thought it was just me fat figering things. I'd also had it apart several times at that point.. so I wasn't sure if I'd messed something else up.

I've been running a few roasts on my modded skywalker.. One thing I note is that it feels to me that it does better with larger charges. I've tried running several 225g charges and it still just feels like it's running really fast. I can stretch my roast time out to 10 or 11 minutes which seems reasonable but my temps (and I am using a non-stock probe so that may be part of it) are never where FC and other roast milestones are supposed to occur..

I've attached a couple profiles.. The odd thing I notice is that the finishing temps were very similar yet the dark one ran almost double the time the lighter one ran after FC.

Additionally, the lighter roast lost only 12.5% by weight and the darker was 15.5%. The lighter roast went ~1:05 past FC an the dark went ~2:15 past FC. I'm kind of perplexed about the temps finishing the same... I also expected the one that ran longer to be much darker than it was. I'm still really new to roasting though so.. maybe not.. In the attached image the three piles of grounds are the same bean at 12.5%, 14%, and 15.5% weight loss. Perhaps that's not an accurate indicator of roast level (even among the same bean on the same day?) I'm going to cup all three tomorrow.

Am I just underdeveloping these roasts or something?
sloppyjosh attached the following images:
peaberry_dark.jpg peaberry_light.jpg three_roasts.jpeg
 
renatoa
Top  #86 Print Post
Posted on 01/04/2024 3:08 AM
For me weight loss say more than color.
I am lazier judge them by weight, than building a colorimeter Grin
You probably have there variations centered around a medium roast.
Not full light or full dark.
 
HarryDog
Top  #87 Print Post
Posted on 01/04/2024 9:30 AM
I put a thermocouple in the roaster Just a little lower and a bit to the right.
It is a little shorter. I have ordered a better probe, I hope to try.
Tracked behind the factory probe.
Sky Roaster Thermocouple
PHT 200C 154C
TP 99C 115C
DE 150C 136C
FC 185C 166C
Drop 185C 179C

Looks to be tracking behind the internal factory probe.

Controller Issue
ITOP store is telling me they don't know what is wrong, not sure if they are going to do anything, they did want a video of the issue but I don't want to start any fires just to get them a video but might have to.
 
Mike_Mathis
Top  #88 Print Post
Posted on 01/04/2024 5:25 PM
My unit was delivered yesterday. There were 5 beans in the drum area when it arrived. 4 of them were burnt. I'm glad I took it apart and checked it. There was a bean wedged in one of the plastic cavities between the drum and the front panel. Initial roast today. I'm not much on seasoning a perforated drum. I don't have any "seasoning beans". All my beans are the good stuff so I took the drum out and soaked it in the kitchen sink with Cafeza in case there was anything on it. I cleaned all the parts that would touch beans with a mild detergent. For my initial roast, I did 350g of Panama Garrito Estate washed. I chose to do the assist thing with profile 22. I was aiming for about 14% W/L and it ended at 14.28% so not bad. One thing I did not like was when it reached preheat temp at 220°C (which I thought was too high) I started putting beans in, and before I could get them in and double press "R" the temp had gone up to 230°. I don't plan to make THAT mistake again. Next roast I will start putting beans in at 210° and hit R as quick as I can. DE was 4:50 in @170°. 1C was 6:00 in @ 181°. End was 8:29 @ 197°. 1C and end seem a little low. I hate to hear about your controller issues Harrydog. I hope they will make it right. Also if anyone isn't completely sure, the bean probe on mine is exactly 4mm in diameter and 24mm extended from the front metal plate. It was weird roasting and not having Artisan available, especially for the development phase, but hey, I've never had a trier before either.

Edit: After doing a little reading, I realized the preheat passing setpoint is not good at all. Tomorrow I will start it up, choose a profile, preheat and see what it does. I'll do a dry run as I don't need to roast any beans at this time.
Edited by Mike_Mathis on 01/04/2024 10:48 PM
*Kaffelogic Nano 7
*Skywalker V1
*2023 BC-2
 
HarryDog
Top  #89 Print Post
Posted on 01/04/2024 7:29 PM
It's hard to read someone on a chat and they say next to nothing, I just started a chat today and asked about replacement parts as they seem to be wasting my time.

I think using AST mode and extending the roast a bit, taste test then change if needed you should find a good sweet spot. I did two manual roasts based on Renatoa's posted changes for Naturals and it was too slow for 350g, I keep the first settings longer on second attempt and it was looking good until I was panicking trying to end the roast. I think next time I just get the beans out and then try to shut down the run away heater.
Taste test them tomorrow.

I have the roaster apart now and want to do some voltage checks and see if any of my Phidgets will get the job done.
 
renatoa
Top  #90 Print Post
Posted on 01/05/2024 1:59 AM
Welcome to the gang !

Quote

Mike_Mathis wrote:

I'm not much on seasoning a perforated drum. I don't have any "seasoning beans".


I don't feel the need to season this drum especially, his role is mainly a mechanical agitator and chaff de-peel, thanks to the sharp edges of the slots.
Drum not implied in convection heat transport/transfer because there is no such thing in this roaster.

Quote

Mike_Mathis wrote:

One thing I did not like was when it reached preheat temp at 220°C (which I thought was too high) I started putting beans in, and before I could get them in and double press "R" the temp had gone up to 230°. I don't plan to make THAT mistake again.


This happens because any heat drop under 220 will trigger the heater at 100%, which obviously is not good, check my post above on this subject.
The solution for profile roasting is to press R, the heat will drop to 70% and stay there, then charge beans.
The other solution is to use manual mode, and dial the start power accordingly, like 50% heat and 50% fan for about 200C temperature. Then push to whatever power you like ... 65-70%. after charging beans or TP, if you want soak charge.

Quote

Mike_Mathis wrote:

Also if anyone isn't completely sure, the bean probe on mine is exactly 4mm in diameter and 24mm extended from the front metal plate. It was weird roasting and not having Artisan available, especially for the development phase, but hey, I've never had a trier before either.


Same as mine, I mean the probe dimensions.
Nothing weird without Artisan, the weird part is that we don't have an usable RoR on control panel display, computed in real time...
Anyway, what can you change during the short development period, when the machine response time is close to 30 seconds ?
Imo, the key is heat management before development, to have the right slope of RoR evolution when hit FC.
Like driving a cruise ship toward the harbor entrance, no adjustments allowed when you are half into the harbor... Grin
Edited by renatoa on 01/05/2024 2:34 AM
 
sloppyjosh
Top  #91 Print Post
Posted on 01/05/2024 10:25 AM

Quote

HarryDog wrote:

I put a thermocouple in the roaster Just a little lower and a bit to the right.
It is a little shorter. I have ordered a better probe, I hope to try.
Tracked behind the factory probe.
Sky Roaster Thermocouple
PHT 200C 154C
TP 99C 115C
DE 150C 136C
FC 185C 166C
Drop 185C 179C

Looks to be tracking behind the internal factory probe.

Controller Issue
ITOP store is telling me they don't know what is wrong, not sure if they are going to do anything, they did want a video of the issue but I don't want to start any fires just to get them a video but might have to.


That seems in line with what I see on my thermocouple. I'm really curious about why the temps seem much lower than you'd expect on other roasters. Is it probe placement? I've considered replacing the front with acrylic just to see where the probe sits relative to the bean mass while the drum is spinning.
 
HarryDog
Top  #92 Print Post
Posted on 01/05/2024 12:41 PM
Please take a video if you do get this test done, I still need to check around as I should be able to find plexiglass in town and get a test done myself, want to check drum speed as well.
 
Mike_Mathis
Top  #93 Print Post
Posted on 01/05/2024 6:41 PM
deleted post. Moved to other thread. mod please remove.
Edited by Mike_Mathis on 01/06/2024 9:03 AM
*Kaffelogic Nano 7
*Skywalker V1
*2023 BC-2
 
amaller
Top  #94 Print Post
Posted on 01/05/2024 7:31 PM

Quote

HarryDog wrote:

Well I thought more failure to respond to touch but to stop roast (Long Touch "R") to stop roast yesterday it would beep but not stop the roast so it recognized some touch but did not respond correctly. one day I power cycled it 3 times to get the power button to work. It has been very intermittent with many touch spots, during a manual roast the Heater "+" was working fine but the "-" was not?


I also bought one of these roasters during the Black Friday sale. I couldn’t resist after seeing all the work that Renatoa and Josh put into researching it for us! I just received it a week ago and was having a similar issue with the touch controller until I realized there’s a thin protective plastic covering the surface. After I removed that the controller became very responsive and I haven’t had any problems with it. Hopefully that’s your issue too!
 
HarryDog
Top  #95 Print Post
Posted on 01/05/2024 8:30 PM
Unfortunately mine has been removed, right from the unboxing. They want a video, hope it will do it without wasting more beans but will if I have to as I would like a working controller. Going to do some more testing on the weekend.
 
sloppyjosh
Top  #96 Print Post
Posted on 01/05/2024 11:08 PM

Quote

HarryDog wrote:

Please take a video if you do get this test done, I still need to check around as I should be able to find plexiglass in town and get a test done myself, want to check drum speed as well.


Kind of mixing the threads up here.. But over in the skywalker mod thread I posted the video showing this....
 
renatoa
Top  #97 Print Post
Posted on 01/06/2024 3:23 AM
Let keep here anything about using and impressions about unmodified machine, for non MacGyver people, those kind of users who were interested buying a Gene or Behmor until Skywalker rises.
 
Dan N
Top  #98 Print Post
Posted on 01/08/2024 11:25 AM
Wow what a surprise, my roaster I ordered on Jan 3 showed up today (thanks DHL)!! Guess they're in stock. Funny that tracking still doesn't show anything in the system.
 
Mike_Mathis
Top  #99 Print Post
Posted on 01/10/2024 10:11 AM

Quote

Dan N wrote:

Wow what a surprise, my roaster I ordered on Jan 3 showed up today (thanks DHL)!! Guess they're in stock. Funny that tracking still doesn't show anything in the system.


I don't know where you are located, but if you are in the US, clearly your unit didn't ship from China, clear customs, and get on a DHL truck in that time. It appears that the sellers have realized the popularity of these and have many units in US warehouses. That is good news as people buy, roast on media videos, and report results. It will help me become more efficient sooner (even though my first two roasts have impressed my taste buds). It is an interesting addition to the home roasting market to be sure. Interesting things ahead considering Reddit, coffee forums, YouTube, and even Facebook groups. My notebook is ready and my pencil is sharpened.
*Kaffelogic Nano 7
*Skywalker V1
*2023 BC-2
 
Dan N
Top  #100 Print Post
Posted on 01/10/2024 11:01 AM

Quote

Mike_Mathis wrote:
I don't know where you are located, but if you are in the US, clearly your unit didn't ship from China, clear customs, and get on a DHL truck in that time.

Seems crazy, but ITOP store free shipping option was DHL Express. Picked up in Hong Kong 1/06, arrived CINCINNATI HUB and cleared customs1/07, delivered to me 1/08.
 
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