false1001 wrote:Very interested in the parts list... are those home brewing piping/fittings?

They are called Tri-Clamp fittings. common in food production and lab settings because they are easy to clean and snap together and off quickly. Good for beer brewing because there are no pipe threads for nasty stuff to grow in.

Phoenixxx3 wrote:Looks nice!
I am also interested which parts you ordered from stilldragon.eu
Which heating elements are those? Do you plan to use both?

When I moved down in size a bit I didn't need Still Dragon EU anymore so I was able to source the parts from stilldragon.com in the USA But they both have similar parts.

This is the order sheet for the column build:


The Heating coils I will be using One at a time at 220v to try hit 2000watts. I haven't measured them yet to see if they hit a true 2000watts or not yet. but the elements are out of china sold by Amazon. Always buy at least two so you have two shots when the first goes up in smoke! I didn't get the cool ceramic insulator the picture promised, but the dimensions are still good at just under 2" very loose fit in the 2" x 8" long heater tube. I also need to either have the lugs hang low into the milk can, or redrill the holes for the lugs more inboard as they are too close to the pipe and will probably short as is.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07M6 ... UTF8&psc=1

The controller I will eventually move to a TC4 or TC4+ arduino build but for now i'm using a Still dragon SSVR controller... will be manual, but with a keen eye on temp rise should be able to control the profile manually and I needed the boiler control for another project anyway. Still dragon charged $41 for the large controller parts kit... cost another $50 or so in copper and 30amp plug heads. I don't like it as is, no protection for the SSVR from a short. So I will add a 30 amp ANL fuse in line with L2 and i'm also putting a 110v outlet in the top of the box to run my fan from one location rather than having two cords running out to the machine. Also will probably need a cooling fan for anything much over 2000watts(8 amps) on the SSVR. This is the basic wiring as it stands. I will be adding the additional fuse protections in the top of the box on the white line.



I'm not too upset about the pricing as the price of a Gene Cafe type machine is over $500 and mine should be able to do 500 grams per run.

Have in mind that glass dilates and I have seen glass break during roast because of the snug fit. Make sure the glass has place to dilate and it's not holded compressed by SS pieces.

Important stuff is to get a temp sensor at the heater exit. And more important is to have a certain distance between heat and beans, if you are to close then you carbonize them (been there done that).

The quantity of beans to be roasted is dictated by the volume of air that stirs the beans and if the heater can input that amount of heat that is diminished by the air. So it's a Ballance between air/heat/beans mixing.

With 3k ohm heater and a huge leef blower pistol I could roast 500g.

Search for rostuino on Google, a Arduino based module smarter than fc4, allows you to use artisan.

Elfmaze wrote:This is the Beans temp probe location ... not sure how well it will work there or not... but that is where it is. I am thinking I need to add a second temp probe at the exit of the heater tube.

The Bean Probe should be almost invisible to the hot air column. In this position yours will measure mostly hot air. Likewise the Hot Air Probe shouldn't be placed close to the center of the tube because it will be obstructed.

Looking good... one of the cleaner no-weld/solder builds I've seen

Denis wrote:
Important stuff is to get a temp sensor at the heater exit. And more important is to have a certain distance between heat and beans, if you are to close then you carbonize them (been there done that).

T

The borosilicate glass should not expand much like straight glass does... but the Steel bits will expand...its interesting because the bolts will not get too hot, but the flanges will. If I've done my thinking correctly it should get looser on the glass in radius and only very slightly more compression in length. Now if the silicon gaskets the glass sits in starts degrading i'll have some thinking to do.

The heating tube is 8" long with a max of 6" for the coils... so 2-3 inches for mixing and expansion after the heater before beans. I am pretty sure i'm going to put a temp probe about an inch before it hits the roasting chamber.

devlin2427 wrote:The Bean Probe should be almost invisible to the hot air column. In this position yours will measure mostly hot air. Likewise the Hot Air Probe shouldn't be placed close to the center of the tube because it will be obstructed.

yeah, if it was custom I would have angled it and made it shorter to catch the falling cascade. But SS is not a terribly good conductor of heat, Might be able to set the probe end only an inch into the tube instead of full depth. If its still a problem I can cut it and recap it shorter. I'll know after the first few runs how its doing. I'll be able to take infrared from the top to see approximately whats going on. For the $45 for that reducer with the thermowell I was willing to take a shot over $300 in custom machining.

Got the lid for the roaster welded up... At this point it would make for a fantastic still! Next I need to start cutting holes in the oil can. Point of no return for it from there.

UGH, super frustrating. I am working on the bean shelf inside the cone. I was wondering through Home Depot and found this thing that works ALMOST perfectly. BUT, the round holes catch 95% of the beans i found one or two of my smallest beans that can slip through... the side long holes can slip about 50% of the beans. It just sits so perfectly that I may moddify it to work, some little baby tack welds will keep it from flipping and dumping my beans into the heater. a small stainless wire bisecting each hole will solve it... but more welding.

edit: Just found out its not Stainless steel, makes welding it not awesome. Can't silver solder it in because the operating temp is too high.... Might be too good to be true I'll have to find another that is SS
https://www.homedepot.com/p/DANCO-1-7-8 ... /203193972

devlin2427 wrote:The Bean Probe should be almost invisible to the hot air column. In this position yours will measure mostly hot air. Likewise the Hot Air Probe shouldn't be placed close to the center of the tube because it will be obstructed.

The more I think about this, the more I realize to get a good reading the probe would have to be damn near the edge of the funnel. 4" diameter with a 2" spout doesn't leave much room for a clean measurement. too close to the edge if I cut it down will also be influenced by the conduction from the cone with the stainless skin... might eventually cut it down and just make sure the naked probe fits tight in the hole near the edge.

If I make a good clean cut and take 1" off I can reweld the thermowell into the hot air tube though. The total probe length is 1 3/4" long. A cut at the step will leave me with 7/8" long well that will work nice in the hot air tube.