Behmor Connected - is it going to be worth the wait?

#1: Post by **Locopavoni** » October 3rd, 2015, 6:35 am

I use a Behmor 1600, nothing special, but it has served me well to date.
I am wondering if it is worthwhile getting the panel upgrade to the 1600+, or holding off and waiting for the Behmor Connected upgrade.

The features of the Behmor Connected sound great, but from the posts I have read it seems like the degree of control over the roast may be less than on the 1600+.
-not sure how accurate this is, and I would appreciate your thoughts.

#2: Post by **turtle** » October 3rd, 2015, 12:35 pm

Outside of the desire to upgrade is your roaster working satisfactorily for you?

If you do not have a need to "repair" you may want to wait out the release of the new product then see what changes are made to it when others make improvement suggestions to the new control system

#3: Post by **billsey** » October 3rd, 2015, 12:45 pm

It's going to depend on a couple of things IMO. Cost of the Connected upgrade and actual release/availability.

The + upgrade was significant and inexpensive, I've never regretted it. It provided so much more control to the roast. The two things I feel are still missing with the + upgrade are temperature sensors and fine temperature control. The sensors in the + are still located at the same place as in the original, on the outside of the chamber and in the exhaust. The chamber temp is always going to read low, since it's actually a mix between chamber and ambient. The exhaust doesn't even begin to show until fairly late in the roast. The temperature control in the + is in increments of 25%, with a 15 second cycle. With manual intervention you can tune that to 12.5% by extending the cycle to 30 seconds.

The Connected upgrade looks like it's going to improve the temperature sensing significantly. Joe has been pretty clear that the upgrade will involve drilling holes, so I'm assuming we'll end up with sensors directly in the roasting chamber. He's also said there will be finer control of the temperature, though it's unclear to me if that is just finer percentages with the same cycle time or a shorter cycle time as well. Probably worth asking about, since he says the design is done and they are just working production now.

October 3rd, 2015, 5:04 pm

Behmor is well used but is working well at present. It's more the additional control and functionality that is appealing. Currently temp management consists of opening the door, etc.

The additional functionality of the Connected seems ideal, and with the integration to phone my expectations are high.

Last I heard the Connected is not too far off, - expected late fall. However, I'm outside of the U.S and as mine isn't 110v, not sure if there will be a longer wait.

Leaning towards possibly upgrading to the + now, then replacing the whole thing with the connected (rather than drilling holes etc).

#5: Post by **pbleic** » December 1st, 2015, 5:39 pm

Lara sent me an email yesterday that said that the Connected with be out on April 30, 2016. Apparently there was a 2-3 month delay because of a wifi part delay. The note she sent on this was dated October 7, 2015.

#6: Post by **brianl** » December 1st, 2015, 9:17 pm

1600+ upgrade is definitely worth it. Did joe mention a price on the connected upgrade? I assume the new units will probably be pretty pricey.

#7: Post by **pbleic** » December 1st, 2015, 9:36 pm

No prices mentioned. The note did say the upgrade would be available first about a month earlier.

#8: Post by **JojoS** » December 1st, 2015, 11:02 pm

When I first read about the Behmor Connected, the suggested retail price was in the USD600 range. No idea how much the upgrade kit will cost.

#9: Post by **penguin** » December 16th, 2015, 2:14 pm

Spoke to a Behmor rep, and the connected kits will be available in March for $189 (self install) or $229 (Behmor installed).