Thank you your quick response. I will keep it in mind.

Mine is a 120V 2012 model and I usually roast half pound at a time. I have to be vigilant during the roast to succeed.

I am still on the fence between your simple and elegant approch or with a perforated plate at the end.

Here are some handles made by forum member cannonfodder. Now my VBM and Quest M3 are wearing similar accessories

Very nice!

In another thread it is being mentioned, that it would increase the airflow if you were to remove the "louvers". What are "louvers" and where are they positioned in the Quest? And what are your thoughts about this?

Pictures, please?

Regards

Louvers are the slats at the back of the quest where the air exits from the roaster. Mine has an exhaust pipe connected to the back so no pictures - sorry.

My Louvers are still in place but I may remove them. While I agree that they may impact air, one of the issues is that the efficiency of a dirty fan drops much more quickly than dirty louver. When I clean the fan I also clean the louvers. So I expect that removing them won't reduce the maintenance by much...

My mods are more for easing maintenance. Things get pretty funky after a half dozen roasts or so, and getting to the main fan is not engineered for easy access. During the last few cleanings I started looking at ways to make it easier.
Here's what it looks like after about 8 1/2# batches.

So the question is, how to get the fan out, as the whole thing is put together like a Chinese puzzle box. There are two screws attaching the 'Z' bracket holding the fan between the drum assembly and the control box.
To get to those screws the whole thing has to come apart.
, to facilitate detaching the element leads.
to be continued...

Earlier I had added quick disconnects to the fan leads so it could be removed for easier servicing.

After reassembly, leaving out the two screws trapped between the drum assy and control box, you now have the ability to easily remove the Z bracket for the fan.

Here it is reinstalled. Now it's just a matter of pulling the two covers and pulling the fan bracket, and the ugly bits can be soaked in detergent.

So far leaving out the two screws doesn't seem to effect rigidity of the box.

I think that would work.

I personally have been thinking about a separate variable speed fan with s steel cyclone in the path and eliminate the Quest fan entirely.

There is no change in use. Having only about three months experience with the Quest and usually roasting darker, so far I have been happy with the way it operates. I also roast in several locations and not looking to add further complications.

@cuppajoe, what cleaning products are you using for cleaning? I need to do a thorough cleaning as well. Seems like what you are doing might take a few hours to do no?