I have done 40-50 roasts with my M3. It seems like I am spending as much time cleaning it than I am roasting. The oils/moisture start collecting fast in the tube, drying/chaff chamber, fan and around the vents after about 6-7 roasts. Ten seems to be the quantity that I feel it needs to be cleaned thoroughly before it becomes really difficult to remove the collection of "stuff" all over the roaster. I take the lid and the back panel off the chaff/drying area. It is easier to clean with the door off. The fan takes the longest and the best thing that I have found to clean the blades with are Q-tips and Windex. There are a couple of allen head screws between the drum and the chaff/drying compartment that I can't get to to remove more of the parts to clean the fan. Perhaps I am cleaning it too much, not using the right chemicals (use Windex) or just too anal about it but it's a bear to keep clean.

If anyone would kindly share their cleaning routines, suggestions and materials I would appreciate it.

Bob

Good point.

The drum and drum chamber are easy. I scrub the tube and funnel in the sink every ten to twenty roasts, and that's pretty easy too. The air box I use a damp, soapy towel, and it's not great. The fan is a PITA. So far I've tried various group head, pipe and test tube brushes, all with less than astonishing success. After a year of use, I think I need to tear down the rear part soon, and clean everything completely once its apart.

Once I've done that, I'll test using some sort of filter mesh, cheese cloth etc. at back end of the air tube, rather than the chaff collector. If I can catch all the crud there, the hard to clean bits will remain pristine. I'm perfectly willing to use a dozen washable filters, change them every roast, and throw them all in the dishwasher afterwards.

Thank you Jim.

I am curious if I am getting the same quantity of crud collection as you. I have read all your posts on the Quest, some many times. One of the procedures you use is to keep the chaff collection door open during part of your roasts. This will remove a lot of the moisture that the coffee oils adhere to in my roaster. This would lead me to believe that my roaster of three months, and I am sure many less roasts, may be building up the crud at a much faster rate than yours. I wish I had taken pictures of the roaster today before I started cleaning it. I worked on it for over two hours and I still have more to go.

I like the idea of installing a filter over the hole at the back end of the air tube. I am going to take a look at this and see if I can come up with something. That would surely cut the crud down dramatically. Great idea, thank you very much.

Jim, I appreciate your unselfish sharing of your experiences with the Quest. There has been a learning curve with the Quest for me but I am now getting consistent times and controllable temperatures.

If you have any other suggestions/ideas I would appreciate it.

Bob

Roast level probably plays a large role here as well. The darker the more frequent cleaning is necessary.

I took my roaster apart after about 30 roasts and was surprised to see how clean it was. I only toook 3-4 of those roasts past second crack though, most were stopped much earlier. There was very little buildup of anything and I only cleaned the pipes and tubing and then put it back together. The drum looked nicely seasoned with a very thing layer of residue so I didn't want to do much to it.

I LOVE this roaster from maint perspective. Both behmor and hottop were such a PITA compared to it.

I did 160 roasts so far (normally to just before 2nd crack). [actually probably closer to 200 roasts... 160 were logged]

After every roast, I just vacuum inside the charge chute and the cooling bin.

After every session (normally 3-5 roasts), I also vacuum fan blades and inside the chamber hole -- I can see with a flashlight it's very clean there. I removed the drum after around 100 roasts, and did not see any buildup.

There is lots of buildup in the charge chute and tube and trap doors, cooling bin... but never bothered me... in fact, I kinda liked the art it created It seems there's a point it stops accumulating so much. Roast control is very consistent.

But this weekend, I took off the screws to back panel, and the charge chute, and cleaned everything in the sink with soap. It comes out sooooo easy from the stainless steel, and looks like new now. I love they even made the charge cute with a removable panel, so it can be easily cleaned inside.

Roasted a batch in cleaned roaster, and it still acted the same, and tasted the same (tried some this morning after 2 day rest). So I plan to keep my routine low maintenance

I use a regular toothbrush to scrape the internal surfaces every now and then. You can also clean the inside of the top cross pipe from the back with a toothbrush.

Cheers

Thomas..thanks for the response.

Very interesting. My roast levels are like yours as well. I have never gone into second crack either. I must assume humidity plays a big part in it as well. I roast in my garage and being in North Carolina it's always a bit more humid. The inside of the drum has been clean as well. The fan, as Jim mentioned, is the most difficult to clean.

Dieter01 wrote:Roast level probably plays a large role here as well. The darker the more frequent cleaning is necessary.

I took my roaster apart after about 30 roasts and was surprised to see how clean it was. I only toook 3-4 of those roasts past second crack though, most were stopped much earlier. There was very little buildup of anything and I only cleaned the pipes and tubing and then put it back together. The drum looked nicely seasoned with a very thing layer of residue so I didn't want to do much to it.

Ben....I love the roaster as well and if the only difference between the M3 and the Hottop was the containment of chaff it would be the choice.

I also vacuum the cooling bin after each roast. After a thorough cleaning inside the cooling bin with Windex or alcohol and it's back to it's new shine it will take about three roasts for the thick, oily, steamy buildup to cover the inside of the bin, coat the blades and leave an an area around the vents in the back coated. I vacuum out the area inside the fans as well.

Perhaps I am just too anal about keeping it clean. I really don't have a problem cleaning any part of the roaster except the fan. If I hadn't cleaned it after around each 10 roasts the residue buildup would surely have stopped the fans from moving.

benm5678 wrote:I LOVE this roaster from maint perspective. Both behmor and hottop were such a PITA compared to it.

I did 160 roasts so far (normally to just before 2nd crack). [actually probably closer to 200 roasts... 160 were logged]

After every roast, I just vacuum inside the charge chute and the cooling bin.

After every session (normally 3-5 roasts), I also vacuum fan blades and inside the chamber hole -- I can see with a flashlight it's very clean there. I removed the drum after around 100 roasts, and did not see any buildup.

There is lots of buildup in the charge chute and tube and trap doors, cooling bin... but never bothered me... in fact, I kinda liked the art it created It seems there's a point it stops accumulating so much. Roast control is very consistent.

But this weekend, I took off the screws to back panel, and the charge chute, and cleaned everything in the sink with soap. It comes out sooooo easy from the stainless steel, and looks like new now. I love they even made the charge cute with a removable panel, so it can be easily cleaned inside.

Roasted a batch in cleaned roaster, and it still acted the same, and tasted the same (tried some this morning after 2 day rest). So I plan to keep my routine low maintenance

If you really want to go crazy, here's a maintenance schedule for gas fired, commercial roasters from an SCAA conference a few years back.

MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE

1.  Check oil level of gear box on back of roaster weekly or every 50 hours
2.  Clean out bean chips from bottom of cooling tray weekly or every 50 hours
3.  Clean ash tray daily or every 10 hours
4.  Clean out destoner boot daily or every 10 hours
5.  Clean magnetic slide daily or every 10 hours
6.  Clean cooling screen top side daily or as often as needed
7.  Clean under side of cooling screen twice a year or every 1000 hours
8.  Drain condensation from compressor tank weekly or every 50 hours
9.  Check for coffee breakage from destoner monthly or every 200 hours
10.  Clean exhaust temperature probe monthly or every 200 hours
11.  Check roaster grease cups weekly or every 50 hours
12.  Check grease fittings and add grease as needed to drum motor, exhaust motor, stirring arm motor, cooling motor, destoner motor, compressor motor, and roaster burner combustion blower motor twice a year or every 1000 hours
13.  Check smoke suppression system time and volume with measuring device monthly or every 200 hours
14.  Check automatic pneumatic oilier monthly or every 200 hours
15.  Check and drain water trap monthly or every 200 hours
16.  Check oil level on compressor monthly or every 200 hours
17.  Change oil on compressor yearly or every 2000 hours
18.  Clean cooling pipe twice a year or every 1000 hours
19.  Clean exhaust pipe twice a year or every 1000 hours
20.  Clean transition above chaff collector twice a year or every 1000 hours
21.  Clean exhaust valve box twice a year or every 1000 hours
22.  Clean cooling fan yearly or every 2000 hours
23.  Clean exhaust fan yearly or every 2000 hours
24.  Inspect destoner pipe yearly or every 2000 hours
25.  Inspect destoner fan yearly or every 2000 hours
26.  Inspect destoner target for tears yearly or every 2000 hours
27.  Check and clean 4' fluorescent lights monthly or every 200 hours
28.  Make a visual inspection for loose bolts and nuts or any abnormal conditions of machine at start of each day or every 20 hours
29.  Check belts on cooling fan twice a year or every 1000 hours
30.  Check belts on exhaust fan twice a year or every 1000 hours
31.  Replace control panel bulbs as necessary
32.  Wipe or blow off outside of roaster monthly or every 200 hours minimum
33.  Wipe down all piping for exhaust, cooling, destoner, and conveying equipment monthly or every 200 hours
34.  Clean green elevator pit yearly or every 2000 hours
35.  Check grease fittings and add grease as needed to top and bottom elevator bearings and motor yearly or every 2000 hours
36. Check green elevator bucket and belt for tightness twice a year or every 1000 hours
37.  Clean green elevator hopper monthly or every 200 hours
38.  Clean combustion blower for roaster monthly or every 200 hours
39.  Clean combustion blower for afterburner monthly or every 200 hours
40.  Wipe or blow off outside of afterburner twice a year or every 1000 hours
41.  Clean chaff from chaff collector after every 4 or 5 loads or once a day minimum
42.  Clean top of chaff collector of residue build-up twice a year or every 1000 hours
43.  Have a qualified technician check roaster safety valves and limits to be functionally correct yearly or every 2000 hours
44.  Have a qualified technician check afterburner safety valves and limits to be functionally correct yearly or every 2000 hours
45.  Have a qualified technician check roaster burner igniter plug and flame safety guard to be functionally correct yearly or every 2000 hours
46.  Have a qualified technician check afterburner burner igniter plug and flame safety guard to be functionally correct yearly or every 2000 hours
47.  Have a qualified technician remove, clean, inspect, and repack main drum bearing yearly or every 2000 hours

I clean mine when the drop door gets difficult to close. Until now that has been about 35 roasts. Except when I profile a bean, I roast 300g every load and I expect the number of roast between cleanings to decrease.

FWIW I place most of my parts in the dishwasher.

I bet the fan is the first part to fail. You can clean the vanes but I worry about the rest of the unit.

I cleaned the old hottop about once a year.

It is still the best roaster I have ever used.