My GeneCafe roaster failed after a year of good service. The heating element failed during my last roast, and now it will not heat. Monday I will pursue getting it fixed, but the real question is...

Has anyone owned a GeneCafe and a Hottop that could give a comparison? If you own one or the other please do not reply to this post. I would like to compare the roasters - so experience with both roasters is what matters.

Today I picked up some beans from a local roaster...yuck! One day I will roast again!

thanks,
Don

I would fix the Gene considering how young it is. I have both those roasters in addition to the Behmor and the iRoar2.

If you had a Hottop, we wouldn't be having this conversation

I currently own:
- Hearthware Precision
- Hearthware Gourmet
- Hearthware iRoast2
- GeneCafe
- Hottop KN-8828
- Hottop KN-8828D
- Hottop KN-8828B
- Hottop KN-8828B (converted "back" to a "B" from a "P" Model)

I have been using the Hottop roasters beginning with the KN-8828 around February of 2003. With those roasters on hand, I only use the KN-8828B. The others are either on display or in their boxes and stored.

While the Gene Cafe is a capable roaster, and for the price makes a very nice cup of coffee, the coffee it can produce is comparable to the Hottop. The Hottop does offer (IMO) better user control, real cooling for the beans after roasting, and memory for profiles so you don't have to watch over and manually control every roast in an attempt to duplicate your preferred profile.

Personally, I found having to manually stop the roast in the Gene and have to deal with the hot drum to dump the beans into my homemade cooler was a real PITA. For other methods of roasting the cooling feature of the Gene is sufficient, but for espresso I really like to end the roast NOW without having to predict when and stop it a little early to compensate for the fact that the beans would sit in the hot drum with air blowing over the still-hot heating element. If the GeneCafe had a separate blower to send cool air through the drum and a memory area to save roasts it would make an excellent roaster.

One online supplier sells the heating element for the GeneCafe for $75. It would be definitely be worth fixing, IMO.

Please feel free to read the reviews I have on my website of the Hottop and GeneCafe roasters. I would be glad to answer any questions you may have.

[DISCLAIMER: I have been doing independent contract work for Hottop for about four or five years.]

Tim at FreshbeansInc has shipped a new heater element for Gene and it sounds like I can make a simple repair. Apparently my failure is common on older GeneCafe's, so the 2008 models have a new/redesigned heater element.

I am looking forward to making the repair and getting the Gene back in service. Thanks also to Intelligentsia for a quick shipment of Black Cat to tide me over.

best,
Don

Niko, are you implying that the Hottop would beat the Gene in a side by side comparison? Since you own both roasters, what roaster is your "go to" roaster for espresso? --thanks

New heater came today, installed and 1st roast complete. No need to let the beans degass - Silvia warming as the beans were roasting, 1st shots pulled 30 min later and AMAZING.

It is good to be roasting again.

So while I was waiting for the roaster repair, I started thinking about creating my first espresso blend. Here is what I did...

65% Brazil Bija Flor
10% Kenya Peaberry
25% Ethiopian Harrar Organic

I didn't roast and cup each variety yet - I was too anxious. But I can taste the blueberry notes from the harrar, lots of dark chocolate, and a pungent body that sits in the middle of your tongue.

Thoughts on this blend anyone??

GeneCafe is down AGAIN. I regret ever purchasing it. The replacement heater unit was supposed to be a "more reliable design", but it did not last.

So I would like to announce: I BOUGHT A HOTTOP!!

While unpacking the Hottop, it does not take long to realize that the build quality of the Hottop is tons better than the GeneCafe. The Hottop is mostly metal, and the heating element inside is thick, like the one in my household oven. I have had the Hottop for a week now, and made 2 roasts. I have a new learning curve with the unit, but I can say the unit is operating perfectly and appears to be built like a tank. I will post more about my roasts later after I have learned all the nuances.

I am so disappointed with the GeneCafe, it is hard not to throw flames. Nevertheless, the truth is that my GeneCafe just did not hold up to ONCE per WEEK roasting of small batches. It is really disappointing when a $500 unit fails after only 40 roasts!

Buy a Hottop folks, do NOT waste time with anything else of lower quality.
Happy Roasting,
Don

Look at this.
http://southcoastcoffeeroaster.bl...sassemble-for.html

Thanks, Tim sent me a new heater unit free of charge so I will be doing the replacement tonight. I enjoyed using the GeneCafe, but it is really frustrating when a $500 unit doesn't hold up to a light usage schedule. Nothing beats home-roasting!

vanboom wrote:I am so disappointed with the GeneCafe, it is hard not to throw flames. Nevertheless, the truth is that my GeneCafe just did not hold up to ONCE per WEEK roasting of small batches. It is really disappointing when a $500 unit fails after only 40 roasts!

Buy a Hottop folks, do NOT waste time with anything else of lower quality.
Happy Roasting,
Don

Is it possible, however, that your experience is unique? Haven't seen a lot of complaints about Gene quality or inability to "hold up."

I have two Genies on the scrap heap, the second a replacement machine from Tim. Multiple heater failures, LED failures, board failures, plastic shield falling off, etc. etc. There are a number of failed units being reported on other sites. It is reported that the heaters for 230 volt units are more robust and it is also reported that post mid-2008 110 volt units are better. There are also owners that have had good service from these units.

For a machine designed as a heater to have the act of heating lead to its demise is pretty weak. I could not advise anyone to purchase a Gene Cafe. It has been over a year since I replaced the Gene and I'm still irritated.

I'll have to agree with the concerns about Gene reliability. I've had mine for roughly 15 months, have probably averaged three roasts a week. Mine has required disassembly twice: Once for a freak accident--the fuse cover was apparently loose and a spring-loaded fuse shot 20 feet across the yard--and once for a heater breakdown.

On the positive side, Tim gave absolutely top-flight service. Lots of phone advice and very prompt replacement of defective parts, without charge. That kind of support deserves respect--and repeat business. But there's still that nagging issue that a $500 machine had problems with such light-to-moderate use. I suspect, if the machine fails again, I'll go with Hottop. Or, who knows, maybe the Gene is now good for the long-haul. Fingers crossed. It does a very good job.

Hi, all.

First roasting post in defense of the Gene Cafe. I've had mine since Nov. 2007. In that time, I've roasted over 450 batches in it. Indeed I have had to replace the heater, but after 100 or so pounds, I wasn't the least but irritated. Tim replaced it so fast, my head was spinning.

I truly enjoy using this machine and will buy another once I really wear it out. The extra 300-400 for a HotTop is a bit out of my price range, but if I could afford one, I'd certainly buy one.

Until I use a HotTop, I can't answer the original question.

In any event, thanks for letting me play here. Now if I can just get my avatar up...

John

It is painfully evident that the design of the Gene Cafe's heater unit is just not robust enough. Any sort of build up of chaff residue in the chaff collector or dust build up in the air intake will cause it to wear out over time. My Gene Cafe lasted about 14 to 16 months, averaging about 1 Ib per week until it refused to cycle past 450 degrees with any reliability. Admittedly, I had not been cleaning the inside chaff screen on the chaff collector prior to the failure (did not know it was there) - and maybe had I done so, the heater would have lasted longer.

Interestingly, when I brought this up with the tech at the shop where I bought it (the Greenbeanery in Toronto), he told me that one simple fix was to bypass the heat-activated auto-protection switch inside the heater assembly. This would prevent the heater from relaying the message that it was overheating and not cause the heater to shut off prematurely in the roast cycle.

I took the heater assembly apart, and tried to bypass this switch. The switch consists of two contacts that are separated by a heat-expandable material - when things get too hot, the contacts no longer make - well - contact, and power to the heater shuts off. Strangely, after doing my best to bypass this, things did not improve markedly -but I'm only moderately competent in electronics, so maybe I did something wrong, or do not understand how the over-heat protection works after all... Also, I may have damaged some of the heater elements when trying to reassemble... Not sure.

BTW, for sealant for the heater assembly, I used silicone gasket sealant, available at any automotive parts store. (I think the red tube is rated for at least 500 degrees). I've taken the unit apart since at the sealant seems to be holding up well. I just hope there is no chance of noxious fumes from the sealant mixing with the air that roast the beans, as this might be a health hazard - however, I have not been able to detect any chemical odours that were not there before...

So, now, after that hassle, I'm faced with ordering a new heater for $90. Maybe someone else can post about possible ideas how to disable the over-heat protection circuit, or at least make it less sensitive. I suppose this could be a bit of a fire-hazard, but like all roasting, it should never be left unattended anyway...

Hi Cynan.
How can I clean this chaff screen on the chaff collector?
I only blow with my breath,the slots on the up and down sides of the glass cylinder,plus the chaff collector.
If you can help,please do it.

Sorry for the late reply - Have not been around lately.

To get at the internal screen in the chaff collector, you need to dissassemble it. This involves taking out the screws that hold the chaff collector together (I think there are 4, but not certain). The chaff ccollecgtor will then come apart in half and you will see that there is a smaller interior screen underneath the screen that is externally visable.

Definitely a design flaw. I wounder if taking this internal screen off altogether would be a viable option?

After I grudgingly bought a Hottop, I received a free replacement heater for my broken GeneCafe. The Hottop has been so good to me, I haven't even gone through the trouble of rebuilding the GeneCafe because I know what will happen. After a few months of roasting the heater will fail again.

So far the Hottop has been solid as a rock and giving me more consistent results. For some odd reason, my Hottop roasts last longer than my GeneCafe roasts. That is, the Hottop roasts taste good to me 10 days after roasting where the GeneCafe roasts started to get really stale after day 7. Odd.

I strongly recommend a Hottop to any serious home roaster. I have owned an IRoast (I-Roar), Genecafe and a Hottop and far and above the Hottop is the best unit.

Finally got around to getting a replacement heater for the Gene Cafe. (BTW, it was stamped with a date of 11/2008, vs 08/2006 on the original. Unfortunately, the two look identical, so I'm not expecting any improvements in durability). The Greenbeanery was good enough to offer me a replacement heater for $45, half their price for a new unit, even though my machine has been out of warranty for a year and a half. The installation went pretty quick (aside from the RTV gasket sealant tube I was using splitting and leaking silicone sealant everywhere...) and I am now just giving it a few hours to cure.

I wonder how many months it will work this time? Oh well, I guess that's what you get when you build a roaster using a heating unit borrowed from a hair-dryer... Maybe someday I will be able to afford a Hottop...

Edit: BTW, I have been looking at the MSDSs of these Silicone sealants. The one that Genesis (company that makes the Gene) uses and all the RTV silicone sealants I could find indicate the possibility of formaldehyde fume emission at temperatures above 180 deg Celsius. I wonder if this is a health hazard - or if the walls of the heater box don't actually get any hotter than this. Anyone have a laser thermometer?

...I use it outdoors,so I don't afraid any fumes.

Right, but I am more concerned with the possibility of fumes permeating into the beans during the roast - both for flavor and health reasons.

I am happy to report that my Gene Cafe is functioning like new with the new heater unit (cycling up to the set temp with no problems with no beans). Alas, but for how long...

After about 20 hours I could still detect some faint fumes coming from the sealant I used (after the heater had been cycled on for a few minutes). The package says it has a 24 hr cure period - so I'm not going to try roasting anything until tomorrow.