Quest M3s (new model)

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SlowRain
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#1: Post by SlowRain »

It appears there's a new model of Quest roaster, called the M3s. It has a new method for bringing air in, a chaff collector, and a thicker outer shell.

http://www.coffeeshrub.com/shrub/blog/o ... le-roaster

http://www.coffeeshrub.com/shrub/content/quest

Beanz
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#2: Post by Beanz »

The air intake tubes to preheat the air are an interesting upgrade

Bak Ta Lo
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#3: Post by Bak Ta Lo »

Interesting, I think these are the first updates in a really long time.

I find that he is working on the chaff collection interesting as this has been something I have noticed is a problem. I find that after my second or third roast enough chaff gets down under the roaster drum and near the elements that at high power the chaff will smoke and burn a little and it gives my roasts a smoke smell that is not from the roast.

I can roast my third and fourth roasts at first crack and still get a smoky tainted roast from the little bit of chaff burning around or on the elements.

The only solution I have found is to blow hard through the roaster under the drum in front to blow the chaff out the hole in the back.

I never knew this was an issue until did some side by side roasting with a hot air roaster and realized there was zero smoke smell and taint from the hot air roaster.

Is there a simple solution people are using for this that I am not aware of? I don't hear anyone else having this problem. :oops:
LMWDP #371

Beanz
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#4: Post by Beanz »

I do not get any significant quantity of chaff dropping below the drum.
I wonder if the airflow on your fan is insufficient to draw the chaff out via the path intended. What setting do you run the fan at ?
I did a major strip down, clean and rebuild recently and despite keeping my Quest in good condition when I completely stripped down the fan I was surprised how much material had built up on the inaccessible part of the fan housing. When I put it back together the airflow was dramatically different and it was like learning to use a new roaster, I was quite surprised at the difference.
Have you completely stripped the fan and housing at any stage ? This might have an impact on airflow
The other consideration could be that for some reason you simply have a larger gap between the face plate and the drum

I was particularly interested in your original post as I have been communicating with Molly regarding the new drum with airflow holes for my 2011 Quest.
I had not realised there was an upgraded roaster, I was only aware of the new drum.
The preheating of the air via the intake tubes is very interesting for me for winter roasting. I roast outside or in the garage, my ambient in winter can be 5C so it could be a good upgrade

Bak Ta Lo
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#5: Post by Bak Ta Lo »

Beanz wrote: Have you completely stripped the fan and housing at any stage ? This might have an impact on airflow
No, Never! I have roasted with it off and on for a few years and never actually stripped the fan out of the housing to clean it, I always have just cleaned it as best I could from the outside. I recall some threads around disassembly and deep cleaning the inside . That could be the simple answer, thanks for that.
LMWDP #371

Beanz
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#6: Post by Beanz »

Prior to my stripping down and cleaning the fan used to start turning at setting 4 after cleaning it started turning at setting 2. Just gummed up enough to restrict ease of turning. Don't be intimidated by the stripping it down. Not sure if they were all constructed the same way but the wires have a connector on them so that is easy and then with removal of a few screws and a bit of manipulation you can get the entire fan unit out. You can then get the fan impeller off the shaft with a small allen key and pull apart the housing. I washed the fan impeller (without motor) and the housing in hot water and detergent and they cleaned up really well, an old toothbrush helps. A bit of WD40 in the shaft hole and grub screw hole in the impeller to ensure it does not corrode after washing and everything went together again really well. If you then run the roaster up to temperature the hot air will ensure any moisture left dries off

Bak Ta Lo
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#7: Post by Bak Ta Lo replying to Beanz »

Great! Thanks for the advice, I will give this a try.
LMWDP #371

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another_jim
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#8: Post by another_jim »

The added insulation was long overdue, since it allows faster roasts at lower drum temperatures.

The heat tubes look snazzy; but I'm not sure how they change the thermal properties -- seems to me the air would be cooler, not hotter, if it's insulated on the way to the front. The tube has no fins, so it's not a heat exchanger, or, more accurately, a far less efficient one than no tube. Maybe, it's designed so the air now acts as a coolant, as in some shop roasters.
Jim Schulman

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TomC
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#9: Post by TomC replying to another_jim »

The idea is that the air must come in towards the front, as the fan is drawing air thru the rear, the room air must now pass rearward over the heating elements before it can get drawn into the back of the perforated drum.
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Nunas
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#10: Post by Nunas »

This looks like an interesting update to the M3. But, I've only seen the photos and read the posts. Perhaps someone who actually has seen one could tell us more. Here's my take on the new design.

Air flow: In my M3 Mk-II with solid drum, the suction fan sets up a low pressure area in the drum via the tube at the top of the roaster and the charging chute (with trap door closed). That low then pulls air in from the gaps at the front and back, between the drum edges and the front/back face plates on the roaster body. The incoming air is very hot at the front, as it has entered the roaster body via a hole at the back and has passed by the heating elements; it has to be somewhat cooler at the back, where it passes from the hole to the rear drum gap. The added air tubes seem a good idea to me. They would eliminate the difference in air temperature entering the drum (hot at the front and cooler at the back). Although, for any reasonable charge size, the beans are kept to the front of the roaster by the vanes in the original M3. So I don't see this as a big deal.

Chaff collection: In the original M3, the swirling of the air in the drum and the suction is what moves the chaff up through the charging chute and top tube into the screen chaff catcher. I don't get any appreciable chaff in the space between the drum and the roaster body. What little may find its way there I easily remove by applying the hose end from my shop vac to the air intake hole at the bottom/back of the roaster body when I'm done and the roaster has cooled. I've not seen any photos of the drum in the new model; is it perforated? That might necessitate the added clean out at the bottom of the roaster body (just guessing). (I guess if it is perforated the air flow must be totally different than what I envision above).

Body air gap: Perhaps the most interesting thing to me, if I understand correctly, is an added air gap in the wall of the roaster body. This should have a similar effect to insulating the body of the original M3. I've never got around to doing this, but can understand how it must make the roaster a little less twitchy, especially the Mk-II with its tinner drum

I'd really like to see the new roaster, but being way up in the middle of nowhere makes that a bit unlikely unless I buy one, which is not going to happen. My M3 mk-II is all I need for now (...well that's what my spouse keeps telling me :twisted: :twisted: ).

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