Vince_in_Montreal wrote:That is sweet. So the Fan box is only used for cooling now? Does the Cyclone have variable adjustments? If that's the case back to back roasts will go a lot smoother and quicker now

The Chaff Collector/Bean Cooler will only be used to dump the beans into and cool them.

The Cyclone's fan/blower speed is adjustable. It is the round knob on the main switchplate. The button above it turns the drum motor and the cyclone fan motor on/off.

My hope is that transitioning from one roast to the next should be much smoother, quicker, and less prone to screw-ups. (Sometimes in a rush I have forgotten to put in the bean sieve on top of the chaff when I dump the roaster. Then afterwards I have to separate them. :-/) If it works as I hope there will be;
1. Less juggling of things when I dump the coffee beans for cooling
2. I won't have to shutdown the burner between roasts
3. I won't have to wait until the beans are cooled from the previous batch before setting back-up and starting the next batch
4. I won't have to restart the burner and preheat for ~5 minutes before starting the next roast.

I'll let you know how the next roast session goes. -Tom

Roasted 8 batches today and I'm pleased how it went. All went very well and pretty smoothly. I just need to get used to the new steps/sequence in roasting with the cyclone.

What was noticeable and unexpected was much less noise in the RoR curves for T_b and T_e. Since my last roast session;

• I Made some changes in the Config Section of Artisan for Sampling... and Curves... based on explanations in a couple of recent threads

• I upgraded from Artisan 2.4.0 --> 2.4.2

• I cleaned the residue off of the ends of the TC probes while I had them out for the Cyclone install

Bottom line, a worthwhile upgrade for me. -LN

Got to be a good feeling in the end. Your going to find yourself roasting more than usual for a bit. Drink up.

TY... Yes Please... 2-Fingers

Mike, TY for your post. It made me smile and chuckle.

Cheers,
-Tom

I just received my Fortis and Cyclone today. Unlike your photo, I was only provided with a flex hose to attach the cyclone to the original Fortis hopper/airflow port.

was the tube and hopper attachment you show in the picture a custom order through Hong?

Congratz on the new roaster and cyclone. How are you cooling the beans?

Yes. I purchased the Fortis/Chaff Collector first and then the cyclone ~1.5 years later. For the cyclone, I started w/ some photos of what I was interested in and a few back and forth e-mails, Hong worked out the details and quoted a price. (I'm very happy with the upgrade.) This threads OP photos shows what was provided w/ the cyclone upgrade. (Note that the cyclone separator's inlet is flanged as well.)

The flanged connections are nice, but the downside is that the cyclone's position and elevation is fixed relative to the outlet of the Fortis. If you want to move one of them you have to move and support the other. If your setup is as I imagine, I wouldn't have an issue. I would try to find a section of the sturdier flex hose(duct?) to connect the Fortis to the separator.

HTH and Happy Roasting,
-LN

Wow! I am one of the first fortis users on this forum! I made review years ago and was always annoyed by changing airflow during the roast, and having to clean mesh after every roast! Do you notice any improvement on roast quality? I think I will upgrade to cyclone as well in the near future!

pcivic wrote:Wow! I am one of the first fortis users on this forum! I made review years ago...

I read your review and a couple of others to help me decide which roaster to purchase. They were all very helpful to me. TY for taking the time to post your review.

pcivic wrote:... and was always annoyed by changing airflow during the roast, and having to clean mesh after every roast!

I typically roast 6-10 batches at a time. This used to involve 6-10 times during a roast session switching between;

BEFORE
Roasting -->Inserting Coarse Screen-->Dumping--> SD Burner-->Cooling Beans-->Removing Screens/cleaning/Reinserting Fine Screen-->Relighting Burner-->Preheat-->Roasting-->REPEAT

For me this was a PITA and really distracted from monitoring the Roasting Process. Having the Cyclone Separator in addition to the cooler has streamlined/simplified the roasting sessions.

AFTER
Roasting -->Turn on Cooler's Fan/Blower-->Dump Roaster--> Adjust burner for Next Batch Preheat-->Let Beans Cool-->Preheat Roaster-->Charge Roaster

When have free time during roasting, Turn off Cooler's Fan/Blower and pull beans from cooler, weigh, and package.

The other advantage is that the cooler is at ambient temp when you dump the roaster. Bean cooldowns are much quicker. Much fewer OW ! ! GD that's HOT ! ! ! $%^&&%$#

pcivic wrote:Do you notice any improvement on roast quality?

KINDA---I quite often screwed up the dumping-->restart roasting that the roasting process suffered in the consistency between batches and control/monitoring/executing the roast itself. Extended development time because cooler not ready...gas adjustments made late or missed...not monitoring roast process closely enough (Artisan display, smells, visual sampling..).

pcivic wrote:I think I will upgrade to cyclone as well in the near future!

I worked w/ Hong initially via the Kaldi/Seinn website. I sent him some pictures and described what I wanted in general and he worked all the details and quoted a price. It was a very good experience. I suggest taking a close look at the photos I published. I have a new roaster-vent w/ flanged exhaust, a spool piece to connect to a flanged separator, and flanged separator. The on-off and cyclone's fan/blower speed control is integrated to the Fortis' Switchplate and housing.

HTH,
-Tom

littlenut wrote:Yes, but.....

What I purchased and was supplied is specific to a Kaldi Fortis. Some of the parts may be from other Kaldi roasters that use a cyclone.

Kaldi sells a just a cyclone separator for 420USD plus shipping. https://eng.homecaffe.net/category/products/223/
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The Huky user would need to sort out connecting from the Huky to the cyclone's inlet pipe and from the cyclone blower/fan to a discharge point.

Kaldi supplied new/replacement electronics/piping/fittings for me to connect it and integrate w/ my Fortis. I now have a flanged vent from my Fortis, my cyclone has a flanged inlet, I have a spool piece to connect the two, and the on-off and fan/blower speed control is integrated w/ my existing Fortis electrical enclosure.

Sorry for the clear as mud reply Michael, HTH. -LN

P.S. My plan is to run the cyclone for chaff collection and use my old chaff collector/bean cooler just as a dump cooler. I'm hoping for less activity on my part preceding dump and less downtime between batches. We'll see, but even if it is not a big benefit, it adds to my toy count whenever I hit heaven....

I have a Huky and am curious if this could be adapted for my roaster. It's hard for me to tell from the pictures, but I'm assuming the cyclone plugs directly into the wall, not integrated into roaster, correct? Also, the Huky uses a fan that pulls air through the roaster and collects chaff in a screen. Is there fan speed control on your cyclone? Finally, when I go to the kaldi website linked, I can't find the cyclone listed independently.
Thanks!

Jasper_8137 wrote:I have a Huky and am curious if this could be adapted for my roaster. It's hard for me to tell from the pictures, but I'm assuming the cyclone plugs directly into the wall, not integrated into roaster, correct?

In my case the electrical supply for the cyclone and the drum's motor are integrated. For a stand-alone separator there is a stand-alone converter that plugs into the wall which in-turn plugs into the cyclone separator's fan/blower.

Jasper_8137 wrote:Also, the Huky uses a fan that pulls air through the roaster and collects chaff in a screen.

That is what my system "did" before the cyclone. Now my roaster vents directly to the separator's inlet. My chaff collector/bean cooler is no longer used to induce a draft through the roaster nor collect chaff. It is just used as a bean cooler for dumping the roaster.

Jasper_8137 wrote:Is there fan speed control on your cyclone?

Yes. In my case it is integrated into the roaster switchplate. On the stand=alone cyclone it is mounted near the top of it.

Jasper_8137 wrote:Finally, when I go to the kaldi website linked, I can't find the cyclone listed independently.
Thanks!

It is no longer there. I do not know if they stopped selling it separately or some website maintenance issue. What I suggest is using the site "contact us". iirc I had to create a site account to send a message, but that is how I initiated the contact. Please update what you find out. My contact was "Hong".

HTH, -Tom

EDIT: CACHED WEBPAGE