The one problem I have with my old HotTop roaster is lack of fan control. I need to be able to control when the fan is on, and when it is off. The biggest issue I have is that I do not get enough air flow through the roasting chamber to stretch the 1st to 2nd crack out to 3 minutes. There are times where I can barely get one between first and second. Nowhere near long enough to let the sugars develop. Yes I know, you could get the same effect by regulating the heater but the fan is much easier. All I want to do is install a switch that lets me override the machine controlled fan on/off cycle and just turn it on at 100%, or turn it off and let the roaster take care of it. I am guessing that I will need 2 switches. One for roaster/manual control and another for manual on/off. Does anyone know which wire on the ribbon cable I need to snip to switch between roaster and manual control?


On second thought, that fan should be DC so I could substitute the on/off switch with a small pot and get variable control, but the primary issue is still, which wire to snip for a manual override. I do not have a wiring diagram for the roaster or I would just look it up.

I found that roasting on the Hottop with zero fan yields superior results. Search for my posts on this.

Also, controlling the roast with heat alone is not any harder than with when using air.

Not getting good roasts? Reduce your batch size and read up on the many graphed Hottop profiles posted here.

coffee.me wrote:I found that roasting on the Hottop with zero fan yields superior results.

+1 Trying to extend 1 to 2 via the fan does not work, IMO. Reducing power input yields superior results.
http://www.ielogical.com/coffee/HTManualMods.rtf
http://www.ielogical.com/coffee/HotTopChanges.pdf
http://www.ielogical.com/coffee/HotTopElement.jpg

-1 I found adding variable fan speed a massive improvment.

Greenbean(the datalogger guy) on Toomuchcoffee has posted the identity of all the wires but I can't find the thread. You could PM him if no one chimes in. I junked the whole control panel and main board and put the element and fan on full variable.

lsjms wrote:-1 I found adding variable fan speed a massive improvment.

Nope, sorry, not over a zero fan profile, but if you meant over a fixed factory profile, I'd agree.

Same here, but I prefer a pretty high fan speed towards the end (not into aromaroast round here). For me a low fan roast totally sucks. My top vent is sealed up so my fan may have a different job do do. To emulate my gas roaster(which has a higher airflow and very responsive heat control) it is crucial to use the fan and the heat input on the hottop. In winter I require different airflow to make the most of the hottops gutless element.

I have the old D model. Got it directly from hottop many years ago. With the viewer's choice coffee project on HB I have had a pretty steady supply of coffee and have not roasted for some time. In fact, I have not purchased greens for quite some time. With my out of state move, two new jobs, new house, etc.... the past few years I have not had time to do much. Most of my coffee is vac packed and in a deep freeze since 08/09 but I have picked up a couple pounds now and then since then.

I thought about getting the upgrade controller to update the machine to the P model but don't want to spend the $420. In fact, I think I spent less than that on my roaster years ago. My roasts have been bland, borderline baked lately. The time to 1st has been slow with the transaction to second being very quick. The roasts lack complexity and sweetness (even with new beans). The roaster is in good order and well taken care of although it is very well used. I also run it on a dedicated 20 amp circuit so it has plenty of power. I have removed the filter from the back completely to increase the air flow and I have used removing (or rather raising the rear filter) along with cracking open the chaff tray as a poor man's damper/airflow control but again, the 1st to second can range from as little as a few seconds to 2 minutes but is very erratic which is why I want more control. I pulled it apart Sunday to clean it out and it was not very dirty to begin with. I am more than capable of making the mods but have been tempted by the Quest M3 but having a perfectly good drum roaster right now I cannot see spending the 1200 on another one.

My end goal is to ramp up the charge to first crack time and extend the first to second which is why I was looking at the fan control. I could bypass the machine control and leave it off to speed up the charge to 1st times then slow the roast from 1st to second by increasing the air flow through the roaster. My batch sizes can vary from as little as 70-80 grams and as much as 230 depending on the blend I am roasting.