I left the probe there in the left hand bt spot.. I think this is the most suitable place for the bt probe. The newer models come with an additional bt probe in the lower right hand side of the drum for phidgets. This is the location that I was saying is unsuitable for bt. I agree that 200gm charge should work fine. 100gm however looks like the bt would be unreliable.

Josh, I hope you're giving Randy Harper feedback on probe placement, and on the D/C fan option as well.

I don't think I've seen anyone do the plexiglass installation you did to clarify bean behavior at various charges. Truth be told, it wouldn't have surprised me for Stephen Sweeney to dream up something like that.

To be honest I did not think about doing it! Maybe I will when I decide it is time to clean the roaster. There is a pretty big bearing on the front that would have to be mounted and the drum aligned to accomplish it so it will depend on how energetic I feel at the time. I currently have a piston spring to change on my Lever machine...

The Chinese (and Taiwanese) manufacturers should be doing that to optimize the placement of their probes. Ditto the American distributors if they're messing around with the machine setups prior to putting them on sale.

Balthazar_B wrote:Josh, I hope you're giving Randy Harper feedback on probe placement, and on the D/C fan option as well.

I don't think I've seen anyone do the plexiglass installation you did to clarify bean behavior at various charges. Truth be told, it wouldn't have surprised me for Stephen Sweeney to dream up something like that.

The idea came from user Beananimal on hukyforum who fabricated a plexiglass front cover for his huky to see the beans in action with the machine on. Haven't spoken with Randy yet but maybe I'll drop him a line. . Not sure how much sway he has with the manufacturer but maybe he could suggest some changes with prob placement and inquire about the feasibility of using the dc version of the fan with controller instead.

Watching this thread make me wondering if there was ever approached such roaster as "open source", i.e. developed over the time in a forum, through
multiple iterations, and the final build available as files ready for cnc cut...

Madman13 wrote:The idea came from user Beananimal on hukyforum who fabricated a plexiglass front cover for his huky to see the beans in action with the machine on. Haven't spoken with Randy yet but maybe I'll drop him a line. . Not sure how much sway he has with the manufacturer but maybe he could suggest some changes with prob placement and inquire about the feasibility of using the dc version of the fan with controller instead.

They already switched to a dampers on the BC series machines, that's the simplest solution to air flow control; but does add some cost to manufacturing. Josh did a good job modifying the thermocouples, the dual lead solution is a good one. Then there's drilling and tapping the faceplate for alternative or extra probes.

The damper solution is a simple and effective one, however quite unelegant. Not sure why they can't just design the fan and controller correctly from the beginning. Since the same company sells the same exact fan with a dc motor I wouldn't imagine that it would really cost that much more. That way the roaster can be setup to be controlled by artisan or other roasting software much more easily.

Josh,

First, what a fantastic post! I may be following suit with the dual probe. It's a logical solution. As far as the manual damper. From what I understood from Randy, it may be something you can add on if it was something you wanted to pursue. But a costly one. I believe Somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 +/-. Just to throw that out there.

Happy roasting!

William

What improvements did you notice after replacing the thermocouples?