mgrayson wrote:I took the top off to clean it and Lo! the light and moisture sensor were visible.
image

The light, blue circle, is off, so not very prominent. The moisture sensor, red circle, explains why a long-handled hex nut driver and long needle shaped thing were included in the case. Did I mention that there are no instructions?

Thanks for tracking that down!

My guess is that hex nut and probe are for periodic cleaning of the sensor pathway. Roasting is a dirty business. Before I incorporated a filter in the gas sample pathway, I was observing deposits building up after just a few runs - but that was in the direct path of the exhaust. Your sensor location is less likely to get direct hits from the roasting detritus.

mgrayson wrote:I really need instruction. Learning any difficult activity without expert feedback is horribly inefficient. Coffee classes aren't hard to find, but roasting is harder, and using an IKAWA narrows the field even more.

I hope IKAWA is reading this. It'd be nice if they flooded the market with moisture analysis blog posts based on what might be about 9 months of the time they've spent working on this upgrade. I'm only a couple months into it so far, and I won't roast without it anymore, ignorance be dammed

If IKAWA doesn't step up, it might be time to start a "Moisture analysis" thread on H-B. Would be applicable to any roasting system outfitted with a moisture sensor, once the calibration gets worked out.

Milligan wrote:Too bad they don't have kit for the Pro100 owners. I'd likely spend 1000-1500 on a kit.

At some point IKAWA might offer refurbished Pro100x's from all the returned units.

1000-1500 sounds like an Etsy throw-down, but I'm wondering if the operative word is "they". Is lack of integration into the Pro app a showstopper?

GDM528 wrote:I hope IKAWA is reading this. It'd be nice if they flooded the market with moisture analysis blog posts based on what might be about 9 months of the time they've spent working on this upgrade. I'm only a couple months into it so far, and I won't roast without it anymore, ignorance be dammed

If IKAWA doesn't step up, it might be time to start a "Moisture analysis" thread on H-B. Would be applicable to any roasting system outfitted with a moisture sensor, once the calibration gets worked out.

Heck, I'd be delighted if they gave more examples of production profiles rather than just cupping. They have at most two examples of profiles that enter the realm of "medium".

Hi, Matt.

My Pro100 return is stuck in Cincinnati with DHL insisting on an EIN before they will let the shipment proceed to Ikawa in London. Alas, they will not accept my SSN despite me sending them a cbp.gov link explaining that I can supply an SSN.

I fear that my Pro100x (which is in transit) will suffer the same fate. This happened when my Pro100 shipped in September 2021. They did accept my SSN then, but it delayed the delivery about a week.

Now, for my question to you. Did you have any such difficulties with your DHL Ikawa shipments?

I wish Ikawa would be more aware of this problem. I've just written to ask them to add my SSN to the Pro100x shipment, but I don't know if they can do that after it has shipped.

Cheers,
John

John,

Sorry to hear of your shipping difficulties. I had no problems with either shipping the Pro100 back or receiving the Pro100x. Sometimes I get asked to pay some import duty on expensive overseas items, but not this time.

I've had very quick responses from the Ikawa Pro team. I think that they will work hard at getting both roasters to their correct destinations.

Best,

Matt

Well, the nightmare continues. The DHL rep just heard back from the "Exceptions Department". They stated I must have an EIN. I've asked the rep which lie she wants me to give the federal government, that I have a sole proprietorship or that I am a household employer. I copied Ikawa Operations. This is going to have to be Ikawa's problem.

My return arrived Thursday and I received my Pro100x yesterday. It was worth the DHL hassles.

For my first roast, I used the Ikawa Espresso Roast profile and set the target DTR to 20% and watched. The software picked a 1st crack, then adjusted it and finally settled on 406F (208C) for first crack. The count up to 20% ensued and, at 9:16 it was reached and the roaster went in to cooldown (53 seconds earlier than the roast profile)! Since I find my preferred roast level for each bean by altering DTR, this is a dream for me. I'm also thinking this will help for consistency as beans age and the ambient weather changes.

Besides what has already been mentioned for improvements, I appreciate Ikawa shipping one bigger jar used when blowing out the roasted beans. (It was a hassle to not spill them with the existing jars.)