HUKY History Question

Discuss roast levels and profiles for espresso, equipment for roasting coffee.
SJM
Posts: 1819
Joined: 17 years ago

#1: Post by SJM »

From whenever I got my HUKY (2+ years ago), having some fan control over and above the oem damper has been "conventional wisdom".
But any fan control over the damper has been added on post purchase, so ....
Who started it?
Does anyone recollect the origin of this modification to the HUKY?

User avatar
keno
Posts: 1409
Joined: 18 years ago

#2: Post by keno »

I always thought it was slickrock in this post:

Exploring the Huky 500 Coffee Roaster, Part III
slickrock wrote:I then connect the fan to a plugged-in portable light dimmer (see below). The light dimmer is used to control fan speed and ventilation to a greater degree than using the damper. Besides, the fan is incredibly powerful (so much so that it seems it just might levitate off the range ☺) and the dimmer can provide an upper end to ventilation flow when the damper is fully open.

User avatar
LDT
Posts: 242
Joined: 10 years ago

#3: Post by LDT »

I agree with Ken, I first heard about fan control from slickrock, but someone posted a link to a source for a variac, which I ended up purchasing. I never did use a light dimmer.

User avatar
slickrock
Posts: 272
Joined: 13 years ago

#4: Post by slickrock »

Yeah, I was the guilty party.

Way back then, my initial assessment of the damper design was that it was compromised in a couple of respects: First, the damper was in the flow path between the roaster and chaff collector, so having a nearly closed down damper to slow the heavy air flow from the powerful fan would effectively blocked chaff collection, often fully clogging the pipe right at the face of the damper. It was a coin toss if reopening the damper would clear out the pipe at that point (a butterfly damper is prone to this).

Secondly - and at that time just a personal preference - I found adjusting the fan speed (with a dimmer, which I used, or better yet with a variac, as others have done) to control active ventilation was more direct, flexible and intuitive than controlling a butterfly damper. Ironically, had Mr. Li shipped markedly lower CFM fan, I would expect the damper to be more useful and easier to control.

There's been a some debate as to whether direct fan speed control is inherently better than damper control. For example the TJ-067 had gone through a number of design changes in it's early life, originally sporting a heavy duty damper, but then eventually transitioning to a variable speed fan control instead - a change that I welcomed at the time, in part because that was the way I controlled the Huky. And for those into automation, it is far easier to PID control a fan than a manual damper.

All that said, you can still get away without fan speed control and just using the damper on the Huky, it just takes a little more finesse and practice. I know this because in the last two months of using my Huky, my dimmer when on the blink one night, and so I endeavored to see if I could get good roasts with just using the damper and stock high-CFM fan without clogging pipe with chaff. It was awhile ago, but I recall starting the roast with passive ventilation (i.e. no pipe attachment); then adding the pipe about 20% open damper for a time, then opening it up further at the point where most of the chaff was flying off the beans, but never opening the damper more than about 65% during the roast cycle; and then opening the damper all the way during cool down. In the end, it was just another way to "play" the roaster like an instrument, albeit it took more time to get it right.
07/11/1991, 08/21/2017, 04/08/2024, 08/12/2045

SJM (original poster)
Posts: 1819
Joined: 17 years ago

#5: Post by SJM (original poster) »

Thanks for chiming in, Slickrock.

I had occasion to go back and read through your original reviews of the HUKY and am reminded both of why I decided to buy it and that for all of the conversations that we have had over at the HUKY forum, there really hasn't been any additional information added to what we know about it than what you posted in that trio of reviews.

As to the fan control, my question arose because I am using the original perforated drum/slow motor and became interested in taking the Variac out of the loop. Most everyone (again my reference point is the HUKY forum membership) is reverent about using fan control over the damper, but I have stripped my system back to damper control. Why it seems more direct to me I can't specify, but I did notice a distinctly more direct (quicker) response to adjusting the damper than to adjusting the settings on the Variac. How I will like this new set up over the long run? We will see, but for now I'm pleased with the removal.

Of course I also drive a shift car....:-)))

User avatar
Chert
Posts: 3532
Joined: 16 years ago

#6: Post by Chert »

SJM wrote:
Of course I also drive a shift car....:-)))
Is it an Aston-Martin?
LMWDP #198

SJM (original poster)
Posts: 1819
Joined: 17 years ago

#7: Post by SJM (original poster) »

The dogs didn't have enough leg room.