I've had luck with my HG - there seem to be a couple of keys to longevity; reducing stress to the heating element and keeping the intake clean. To achieve the fomer, I turn off the HG, then apply the shop-vac nozzle to the nose of the HG (buffering the hot metal with a ring of foil, so as not to melt the hose) to cool off the element. To achieve the latter, I put a piece of scrap hosiery over the intake.

-s.

Thanks for the tips. I'll take better care of the next one.

Then again, mine was a Ace Hardware $15 special Maybe that's why it needs more babying.

-s.

I dont use a HG/BM Corretto style roaster, but I found this thread at coffeesnobs and thought it might be of interest
http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1259627839

Randy

The triac controller should extend the life of the heatgun significantly... kind of like using 130V light bulbs in your house instead of 120V... we built our house about 6 years ago and I've changed exactly 2 (of our 30) 130V recessed lights. Most items last longer when operated at less-than-maximum.

CHAD

seedlings - you should note that the triac to which you refer (strikingly similar to one that I purchased after reading your recommendation a while ago... now if I could just get HF to stop sending me catalogs ) has 3 settings (Variable, Off and Full). When the variable setting is engaged, turning the knob to 100% actually provides a touch less output than the Full setting. It's like having a dimmer that peaks at 95%, which is why I was considering this when you posted your 130v/120v light comment. Good stuff...

-s.

Glad to see this roasting method getting some discussion. I feel it's quite good, however I haven't roasted any other way.

I personally use a custom datalogger that graphs real-time on a laptop, however I agree that this info shouldn't be used in a crazy perfectionist manner of trying to stick exactly to a line and making many heat adjustments to achieve that. Rather I use it to give me an idea of what's going on inside (in a more visual way) and make as few heat adjustments as possible to do what I want. This seems to give the best results.

As I was roasting a few cupping roasts of my latest score from GCC, I came to a realization. Martin and I have taken what feels to me like opposing positions with regard to roasting with a HG/BM and decking it out with probes, triacs and such. I don't know that we're so far apart.

I realized that I'm leveraging the thermometry equipment in conjunction with my senses to gain consistency; I'm not sacrificing my nose, eyes and ears at the altar of measurement in pursuit of the holy grail. I respect Martin's desire to keep it simple and embrace the artisanal aspect of roasting; I just happen to think that you can combine your senses with modern equipment without losing that personal, creative touch.

Rather than build a stand to hold the HG or manually vary heat input via distance, I use the triac to control heat input. Rather than manually agitate the beans, I use a bread machine motor.

However, this is far from an automated process. It's assistive - IMHO, these enhancements do no more to abstract me from the roasting process than do power steering and braking abstract a driver from the experience of driving. Paddle shifters, well that's another story .

I utilize this assistive technology where I see it to add value and benefit. I rely on both the readouts and my senses to tell me when I've hit my target.

-s.

P.S. This still doesn't prevent me from absent-mindedly tossing a roasted batch back into the bread machine, only to boggle at the temp readouts, lift the lid and wonder "how in the hell did these beans get so dark and so hot so fast?!"