Chaff removal post roast - Page 3

#21: Post by **Capuchin Monk** » June 16th, 2023, 4:06 pm

Marcelnl wrote:I think I'll stick to my 100 $ cyclone setup

At Aliexpress, that small stainless winnowing machine is under $100.

#22: Post by **Chert** » June 19th, 2023, 4:00 pm

Marcel, I will add this little anecdote to your thread about chaff. I imagine all Huky roasters whether perforated or solid drums, drop some chaff underneath on to the heat source. At least I know mine does. Every now and then I try to make sure there is none built up, especially after some years ago, I had a brief chaff fire. Such a flame is quite self contained, and is just under the burner so not much harm can come, but the smoke doesn't smell nice and that smoke travels up through the drum as the roasting fan pulls it through.

Last week during a recent roasting session I had my second chaff fire. Mid roast. I took a water spray bottle and tried to extinquish the flames and completed the roast.

Between batches I extinguised my pilot flame and I used my handy shop vaccuum to pull the chaff away so that another fire could not start. Then I completed the last batch of the day. With the gas line closed and disconnected, It was time to use my vac again to clean up after that final batch. As soon as i turned on the vacuum, smoke and foul plastic stench emerged from the exhaust of the vacuum.

I turned it off, unplugged the thing and ran up stairs and onto my patio, prepared to put out a fire in the unit. Although I only threw oxygen on that smoldering ember stuck in the shop vac for a second, it had burned a big hole in the filter inside wiht a small fire ready to start. I doused it with water there outside. My basement smelled like burnt plastic for the rest of the night.

#23: Post by **Capuchin Monk** » June 20th, 2023, 1:41 am

Sounds like it's time for another public message from Smokey Bear, "Only you can prevent the chaff fire."

June 20th, 2023, 4:44 am

Chert wrote:Marcel, I will add this little anecdote to your thread about chaff. I imagine all Huky roasters whether perforated or solid drums, drop some chaff underneath on to the heat source. At least I know mine does. Every now and then I try to make sure there is none built up, especially after some years ago, I had a brief chaff fire. Such a flame is quite self contained, and is just under the burner so not much harm can come, but the smoke doesn't smell nice and that smoke travels up through the drum as the roasting fan pulls it through.

Last week during a recent roasting session I had my second chaff fire. Mid roast. I took a water spray bottle and tried to extinquish the flames and completed the roast.

Between batches I extinguised my pilot flame and I used my handy shop vaccuum to pull the chaff away so that another fire could not start. Then I completed the last batch of the day. With the gas line closed and disconnected, It was time to use my vac again to clean up after that final batch. As soon as i turned on the vacuum, smoke and foul plastic stench emerged from the exhaust of the vacuum.

I turned it off, unplugged the thing and ran up stairs and onto my patio, prepared to put out a fire in the unit. Although I only threw oxygen on that smoldering ember stuck in the shop vac for a second, it had burned a big hole in the filter inside wiht a small fire ready to start. I doused it with water there outside. My basement smelled like burnt plastic for the rest of the night.

scary! That is something that makes me remember to clean chaff under the Huky again and be carefull when vacuming it out!....I have to admit I typically forget and do that after a small chaff forest fire....

BTW chaff cleaning in the Huky with the fan on max works flawlessly!

#25: Post by **ira** » June 20th, 2023, 1:49 pm

I can imagine that a 1-5 gallon bucket with a lid and 2 holes could work fine, big one on top for a vacuum hose and a small one on the side at the bottom to place a piece of tubing aimed to cause the beans to swirl and mix. The bucket should be tall enough the beans won't rise up to the vacuum hose and if you're vacuum is strong enough or add pressure to the in hose, you ought ought to be able to get all the chaff out of a decent amount of beans quite quickly. I would build it to test, but the Ikawa already gets most of the chaff out and 100 grams of beans is hardly enough to test with.

#26: Post by **ira** » June 20th, 2023, 2:43 pm

I can imagine that a 1-5 gallon bucket with a lid and 2 holes could work fine, big one on top for a vacuum hose and a small one on the side at the bottom to place a piece of tubing aimed to cause the beans to swirl and mix. The bucket should be tall enough the beans won't rise up to the vacuum hose and if you're vacuum is strong enough or add pressure to the in hose, you ought ought to be able to get all the chaff out of a decent amount of beans quite quickly. I would build it to test, but the Ikawa already gets most of the chaff out and 100 grams of beans is hardly enough to test with.

June 20th, 2023, 3:54 pm

that sounds indeed like what I had in mind too, turns out I already have it ...the Huky does a good job spinning the batch when cold

#28: Post by **Chert** » June 23rd, 2023, 10:43 am

I tried this technique after cooling before shutdown wiht all the batches I roasted the last session. For me the naturals still manage to hold on to the chaff more than makes the time of feeding coffee back through, connecting j pipe, giving some time and then dumping the beans. Maybe works better for T pipe or does one need to turn off the fan during loading with the T configuration?

June 25th, 2023, 8:00 am

I somehow cannot imagine the T or J pipe make a difference, I usually cut the fan using the valve during loading.

There is indeed still chaff but once I cranked the fan to max and increased the duration of rotating the beans a bit there for sure was a marked decrease in chaff remaining!