Quest M3 Mods - Page 29

Discuss roast levels and profiles for espresso, equipment for roasting coffee.
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FotonDrv
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#281: Post by FotonDrv »

Goldensncoffee wrote:Got a new drum on the way... I will probably not paint it for now and see how the roasts go. Right now all stock (thin drum) I feel that 200g is about my max to where I have some control over the roast without going too high on the MET. I also plan on doing the copper pipe mod as it seems easy enough to do. Just so I get this right...I'm sweating on a threaded fitting to the end (to stop pipe from falling in). Theres no other holes drilled in pipe? I feel like I saw someones where they had holes drilled throughout it. I could be mistaken. Then it appears the pipe will just lay flat on the bottom case of the roaster.
I sweated the fitting on but it is unnecessary to do that, a good friction fit by bending/denting the pipe would work.

No, mine does not lay on the bottom of the roaster. Look at the photos that shot it being forced UP toward the front of the roaster by the mere presence of the male pipe fitting causing clearance issues with the bottom of the fan/electronic housing. It pushes the fitting down forcing the front of the pipe up; look at it.

No holes in the pipe, except at each end :mrgreen:
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Goldensncoffee
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#282: Post by Goldensncoffee replying to FotonDrv »

Thank you. I understand now :D Going to take apart the roaster this weekend and clean the fan, cut that resistor wire that lets me have control over the fan and then work on this pipe mod. My drum will hopefully be here soon.

I tested out my other exhaust mod last night and it worked very well. Its basically a pice of 3/4 ply that fits into my window with a 3'' hole cut in it. I then installed a 4''-3'' reducer into the hole by taping it with foil tape. The roaster butts up to this pipe when roasting and it seems to exhaust almost all the smell. The wife was very happy

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wrz0170
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#283: Post by wrz0170 replying to Goldensncoffee »

Almost doing the same thing. However, going to wait for my new drum and then give the M3 a good cleaning. Going to do it all at once. Not sure yet about the fan part. May have to look into that a little more. In the mean time, I have (new to me) Artisan to play around for some roasts.

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FotonDrv
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#284: Post by FotonDrv »

Goldensncoffee wrote:Thank you. I understand now :D Going to take apart the roaster this weekend and clean the fan, cut that resistor wire that lets me have control over the fan and then work on this pipe mod. My drum will hopefully be here soon.

I tested out my other exhaust mod last night and it worked very well. Its basically a pice of 3/4 ply that fits into my window with a 3'' hole cut in it. I then installed a 4''-3'' reducer into the hole by taping it with foil tape. The roaster butts up to this pipe when roasting and it seems to exhaust almost all the smell. The wife was very happy
I would wait until you get the new drum before cutting the resistor. I have not cut my resistor but I did cut the rear fan exhaust louvers out of the housing. With the new drum and those louver mods the fan really works!
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Nunas
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#285: Post by Nunas »

Thank you. I understand now :D Going to take apart the roaster this weekend and clean the fan, cut that resistor wire that lets me have control over the fan and then work on this pipe mod. My drum will hopefully be here soon.
While it has become a popular thing to do, there is not much benefit from cutting the resistor and a possible downside.

Cutting it results in being able to run the fan more slowly right down to shutting the fan off entirely. One can have more or less the same benefit by simply opening the charge chute door (or the cooling compartment door). There can be absolutely no difference in air flow at the high end, as the fan already gets full line voltage at the current high setting.

The potential downside of cutting the resistor is the fan runs very quietly; so one may forget that it's been shut down. This could result in the MET going very high.

The stock Quest is predominantly a conduction roaster. In addition to simply removing heat from the roaster, the fan in the stock Quest removes smoke and chaff (plenty of air for that). It does not provide a direct-path flow of hot air through the beans. The flow within the drum is predominantly eddy current. I'm suggesting that one should not expect much of a change in the cup by cutting that resistor. It's not a silver bullet. Your roasts will still have the characteristic conduction roaster taste.

Now, if you shorten the drum, go to a perforated drum, add a perforated back plate, and so on, you're making an entirely new sort of roaster that works less on conduction than the unmodified Quest. This is all neat stuff and a testament to the inventiveness of the folks here on HB.

Well, I've rambled. In a nutshell, Changing to the new drum you've ordered will greatly change the air flow, even without cutting the resistor. Not cutting the resistor will add a modicum of safety margin, which is probably why the manufacturer put it there when creating the MK-II version.

Goldensncoffee
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#286: Post by Goldensncoffee »

Ok Nunas and Foton I will leave the resistor alone. Question about the fans air flow...when I have the fan at the lowest setting and I do the cigarette lighter test by the trier it draws the flame in very strong. According to Rao it should lean gently towards the hole. Is this ok? During the drying phase I open the front hatch so theres no need to shut the fan off completely. I usually keep my fan on "0" for ramp as it seems there is plenty of draw with it at the lowest setting...I then turn it up about half way when 1C starts. With the new drum won't I have an excessive amount of air flowing through that can't be turned down? Any thoughts?

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AssafL
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#287: Post by AssafL »

Just a small comment about Rao is that he is used to roasting on large equipment. You should always ask yourself does it translate well to a tiny roaster as well. (I made that mistake once by participating in a discussion on H-B - bailed out quickly once I realized all involved parties had air roasters - nearly totally useless advice for a drum...).

As for air - I never knock it out completely. I have a drilled (not shortened) drum, and it is painted black (perhaps that is why I have to keep some flow). I also did not remove the back grill. I PWM the fan at roughly 40% at the beginning and usually go to 50% duty cycle at TP. I then take it to 100% at 10% development or so...
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Nunas
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#288: Post by Nunas »

FWIW, I use low fan at the beginning of the roast to preserve heat and get to dry at the right time. I use high fan part way through for a minute or so to remove chaff before it has a chance to scorch. If I roast to 2C (which I often do) I run on high fan towards the end to remove smoke. The rest of the time, I ride the fan control to make small heat changes. For big changes I use the heater control. If I mess up and need to raise the ET quickly, I will sometimes open the charge chute door for a while, but I try to avoid that. I run a background profile curve, which makes riding the controls easy.

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FotonDrv
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#289: Post by FotonDrv replying to Nunas »

+1
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Goldensncoffee
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#290: Post by Goldensncoffee »

Really appreciate the advice. Can't wait until my new drum arrives. I hope its ok that I post this here...I took the whole back half of the roaster apart for a good cleaning. The little 1.5mm set screw on the fan stripped on me. I ended up turning the whole fan assembly upside down and soaking it in boiling water/cafiza (just high enough to where the water didn't hit the motor). It seemed to work well. I guess this is the way I'm stuck with cleaning the fan now unless I replace it.