I'm totally on solar and wind power. That said I recently aquired a Quest M3 and this is a huge upgrade from the poppers (modified) I've been using. I have plenty of power but my system puts out 124volts and the only way I know to change this is to use a variac. I have a Powerstat 136B but can't figure how to wire it to enable ground. I don't even know if it is necessary to do so. The poppers only had a 2prong plug but the Quest has a 3prong plug. I'd like to get the volts down to 110 because when I roast it's hard to keep the MET below 600f. I'm thinking if I am able to use 110 instead of 124 I may have more control over the roast. I've tried decreasing the amps with the knob on the Quest but MET still wants to soar. Does any one know what I can do about this?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
Gene

Not super familiar with that Variac-- is it only equipped with a 2 prong outlet? You ought to be able to rewire a 3 prong outlet and just connect the ground wire to one of the screws on the metal housing with a terminal wire.

GeneBean wrote: ... I've tried decreasing the amps with the knob on the Quest but MET still wants to soar ...
Any advice is appreciated ...

If you keep the heat off via the Quest's control and you are still getting 600F MET, the control or your measurement are broken and Variac won't help. If you are talking about the tendency of the MEt to rise towards the end of the roast even if you do not change heat and fan settings, this is due to the thermal storage of drum roasters, and the variac wont change that either. You need to turn the heat down before you enter the first crack -- this is true of all drum roasters.

Either way, adding a Variac is no use, since it simply duplicates the existing controls.

Thanks to both Jim and Jaxx. I did see where someone wired the ground to the frame of the variac and ill try that. Also i need more roasts under my belt because i think i was convecting when i should have not been. Ill post my results. I need more cheap beans to experment with.
Gene

GeneBean wrote: i think i was convecting when i should have not been.

Umm, the more heat, the more fan you need for normal operation. The heaters won't burn out instantly like on a P1 if the fan dies; but you will skyrocket the temperature around the drum. You only use low fan, high heat to jump start the cold roaster (and then only if you trust your met sensor)

Jim, i'm using a cheap 6" probe that i'm inserting in 1/2 way. I may need to try drilling out the screw at the top right of the bean shout to get a better fit. I'm contemplating Eric's probe/screw combo if i'm not sucessful.
thanks
Gene

Jaxx, the 136b is a 22 amp open faced unit. By what you said and what i've seen on an ebay listing i do think that's the way to go. But do i connect the ground wire from both the input and the output to the frame? Will that bring the ground straight through from the wall plug to the input of the variac and on throuh to the output of the variac. Forgive me if this sounds like a stubid question. I'm for the most part self taught in electronics and sometimes i do dumb things. All in the quest to learn.
Gene

another_jim wrote: Either way, adding a Variac is no use, since it simply duplicates the existing controls.

Jim, Wouldn't the Variac standardize his input voltage? If he's running off of wind/solar, he's got some fluctuations in VAC that would cause the ampmeter to be a little finnicky in reproducibility. I think the thought is that he can standardize to something like 115VAC in, irrespective of how much sun/wind he's getting that day.

I don't see much difference fiddling on the Variac dial or the ammeter dial.

The Quest is not a set it, forget it roaster -- heat and air need to be adjusted throughout the roast even if the voltage is rock steady. So there's no point to a Variac.

GeneBean wrote:Jaxx, the 136b is a 22 amp open faced unit. By what you said and what i've seen on an ebay listing i do think that's the way to go. But do i connect the ground wire from both the input and the output to the frame? Will that bring the ground straight through from the wall plug to the input of the variac and on throuh to the output of the variac. Forgive me if this sounds like a stubid question. I'm for the most part self taught in electronics and sometimes i do dumb things. All in the quest to learn.
Gene

Isn't your variac already running a 3 prong ground plug to the wall outlet? I don't think you'd need to move that, just ensure there is continuity between the grounds (i.e., ground to through a screw on the metal casing).

Check continuity would be my biggest advice... I am not an electrician and I am not familiar with your variac's circuit diagram. I'd suggest seeing if another person can weigh in on this with either experience.