beanman wrote:Congrats on the BC-2!
I've had mine since early February and really like it (but have nothing else to compare it to).
I built a checklist to ensure I don't miss steps like closing the charge door, check drum speed, damper setting, etc.
I have the air flow gauge also, and don't pay attention to it. I did the cigarette lighter test also, and use 3 on the damper and do not change it during a roast.
I've been doing 600 grams of greens, and will eventually try other size batches.
Thanks for the info about obtaining the full roaster manual by registering online. Like you, I have been using the quick start guide.
Looking forward to hearing more about your roaster.

Beanman - I enjoyed your posts from when you were going through the decision and purchasing process and was probably influenced by some of them.

I've started designing a mod to automate the gas control, and I'll create a separate thread for that when I begin taking things apart. I'm going to try and simply extend the modbus network already present in the BC-2, which I don't think I've seen attempted, so could be interesting.

I'm always interested to look at roasts from coming off of these small BC roasters, especially if folks include gas and air settings.

aabud wrote:
I've started designing a mod to automate the gas control, and I'll create a separate thread for that when I begin taking things apart. I'm going to try and simply extend the modbus network already present in the BC-2, which I don't think I've seen attempted, so could be interesting.

nice! very interested to see your efforts on this. my roaster will be shipping in a week or two.

Correct.

Glad to see you got the pressure gauge working, nice they used a 30pa unit, Dwyer's lowest range gauges are 0-0.25" and 60pa. I put a little brass air compressor filter in the open port to keep dust or chaff getting inside. There are several different damper designs in use, I have the older round flapper style, your's may be the more recent sleeve inside a sleeve where the opening is tapered and gives a more graduated adjustment. I can run my roaster with the damper closed, with the gauge reading @ 0.02" wc. I only do this from charge to @EOD, as it's something from the owners manual. Could be this is something specific to my brand of machine?

Now that the air gauge is working, you can experiment with going up or down a little with fixed air and see what that does.

Got the cooling tray issue sorted, minor as it was. Closer examination showed a bit of a burr at one spot on the edge of the metal it sits on. Filed that off, sanded the whole edge to 1000 grit, then put a little grease on it. I can now spin it pretty easy must grabbing the edge with one hand (as the other hand will be on the bean drop lever).

I use a wooden spoon to pull the beans towards the front.

If I did what you did I would have grease every where. Hoped you used food grade.

yes, food safe... same stuff BC Roasters recommended for the bearings and the only thing I have sitting around the roaster.

I had just been using my hand to distribute the beans and that honestly was acceptable, but I was just jealous of the BC videos that showed the tray being spun round by hand. My tray did not quite sit level because of that burr... now it does and I can spin it. So no more jealousy

I'm close to pulling the trigger on one of these, but I really really like cooling arms for nostalgia reasons, so I'm trying to come around, lol.

Is there a reason you wanted a single wall drum over a double wall drum?

How well do you feel it can roast small batches of around 250g?

Do the probes connect to Artisan through Bluetooth?

Did you consider the Arc 800g and if so why did you go with this one?

Roasty wrote:I'm close to pulling the trigger on one of these, but I really really like cooling arms for nostalgia reasons, so I'm trying to come around, lol.

Cooling arms can make things worse (slower cooling) on roasters. The arms can push the coffee around too much, leading to areas of the tray with no beans. The tray must be completely covered with beans, otherwise the air will follow the path of least resistance and flow more where the beans aren't, slowing cooling.

The tray could be made smaller in diameter, but in a small roaster there isn't any reason to make the tray smaller than the width of the roaster. That's probably why you never see arms on smaller roasters.

Not also that a typical commercial roaster also has an over-sized tray to allow for blending together of multiple roasts. Blending and dumping the beans are where the arms are very useful - well, there's just something about watching the arms gradually sweep the beans out .

For example, on my 1.2kg (not a BC-2), I turn on the arms while the roast is being dumped. Then I turn the arms off and spread the beans spread out evenly by hand. A minute or so later I will turn on the arms again for a few rotations and spread out the beans evenly again. However, using just a wooden spoon would do just as well. OTOH, when I blend a few roasts together, then the arms are welcome.

Roasty wrote:I'm close to pulling the trigger on one of these, but I really really like cooling arms for nostalgia reasons, so I'm trying to come around, lol.
Is there a reason you wanted a single wall drum over a double wall drum?
How well do you feel it can roast small batches of around 250g?
Do the probes connect to Artisan through Bluetooth?
Did you consider the Arc 800g and if so why did you go with this one?

Hi Roasty, glad these posts help you make the decision.
- As mentioned above, small roasters don't need stirring arms, and slows down the cooling. Yes, they look cool. I turn the tray, use a spatula to spread out of needed. When cool, I remove the tray/beans, and pour them into a large diameter bowl, then into an Airscape container.
- Single wall vs Double wall - double takes a lot longer to warm up and cool down when done, but the double wall reduces tipping, and other heat-caused issues. But Mill City is one of the few that makes a 500 gram double wall. Their 1KG is in another league than the BC-2.
- 250g in a BC-2 -- maybe can, but I doubt the bean probe will be in beans very much.
- I connect with a USB cord - easy, and one less wireless connection to worry about, but I can be a tech caveman.
- I looked into the ARC 800 also. Initially, it took a while for the sales guy to call back (but I did call about 2 days before Christmas and New Years day, so I realize they could have been very busy during the holidays, and he's also their Quality Tech). ARC is a good roaster, but rarely discussed here. Two things I didn't like. #1 The chaff collector bottom comes comes completely off (not a door like the BC-2) so you need 2 hands and better access to the back of the roaster to remove the chaff. #2 The gas valve does not seem as precise. BC-2 has a needle valve. Find the 2 youtube of the ARC, and then watch Randy's BC-2 videos. We make several gas changes per roast, so a precise valve makes it easy to do those adjustments.
All 3 ARC colors were in stock early January. The BC-2 will have some in stock, but if you want a specific color, you'll be ordering. I decided on a BC-2 black w/ stainless dimpled cover that was in stock.

Good luck with your research and decision.