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  • Vacuum cooler question.

    Hey guys. I've made a cooler hooking a vacuum up to a bucket with a colander sitting in the top for the beans. Cools the beans to room temp in 2-3 minutes and sucks the chaff into the bucket but then the internal thermostat won't let me turn the vacuum back on for at least 30 minutes.

    only a pita if I want to do a few batches in a row.

    I know i'm not the first to have made a cooler like this so i'm wondering if others have experienced the same problem and is there a work around?

    Or do I simply have to be patient

  • #2
    I have found that blowing rather than sucking air is better. You need to remember that the beans are at a couple of hundred degrees when you dump them into the cooler, enough to melt plastic.
    I started with a metal colander sitting atop a panel type fan resting on its side which worked quite well. My current cooler is a bathroom exhaust inside a plant pot with a bakers sieve mounted on top. Cools in less than 2 mins.

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    • #3
      Another plus for the bathroom fan. $20-30, get one the right diameter to fit your setup and you have whisper quiet cooling.

      Blowing air from vacuum not really ideal as it can blow in dust and other crud from inside the unit. And sucking the hot air softens plastic hose and can collapse on itself ruining your cooling experience.

      Cheers

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      • #4
        This is my version for quick cooling my roasts, I used an old metal TV trolley, the cooling tray on top was the lower shelf which I modded, a kitchen/bathroom exhaust fan does the cooling, when finished I wheel it back under the bench for next time!
        Attached Files

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        • #5
          I've just completed building a cooler for larger batches of beans, I got a 50cm stainless colander and built a box for it to sit in, then fitted a leaf blower to the side.
          The leaf blower sucks air through it's spout like a vacuum and blows it out the smaller spout and into the box.
          The cool air will then go up and pass through the colander cooling the beans.
          I'll have a test roast run with it this morning and take some pics to share.

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          • #6
            I had a leaf blower bean cooler for a while. Like a drag race, it was incredibly loud but finished in seconds

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            • #7
              I for a while used a box with a large stainless steel colander fitted into it, beans would go into this and through a hole down lower in the box i connected flexi pipe on to a secondhand dust extractor. Also cooled in seconds. could do up to 3-4kg at once

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              • #8
                I have been on the look out for a cheap dust extractor since I first saw yours in action mate

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                • #9
                  I've given mine a test run today, cooled 800g in maybe 20 seconds, but it wasn't sealed up very well. Since then I've sealed it all very well and now I'm sure it will cool even the largest load, probably several KG, in 20 sec or less ;-)
                  I took some pics but then did mods and now it looks much cleaner... please excuse the messy shed I'm currently working with...

                  Above is before my final mods where I removed the barrel from the leaf blower and built a small support under the motor, and removed most of the support wires.




                  Above is the final version.
                  And below is the final layout of my "roastery".

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                  • #10
                    Wow - that's quite the production line!

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                    • #11
                      Here's my cooler.

                      20 litre mayonnaise bucket $3, bathroom $20 extractor fan mounted on the bottom, sieve on top, the whole thing mounted in an old aquarium stand.

                      Simple, very efficient , cheap, easy to make and almost silent.

                      The fan is to blow the chaff from the roaster out the door, plays no part in cooling.

                      Cools a 725 gram batch ready to bag in about 45 seconds.

                      Click image for larger version

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                      • #12
                        I’ve made a similar setup using an old stockpot and it works great!

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by djbjolly View Post
                          I’ve made a similar setup using an old stockpot and it works great!
                          Good idea, well done.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by greenman View Post
                            This is my version for quick cooling my roasts, I used an old metal TV trolley, the cooling tray on top was the lower shelf which I modded, a kitchen/bathroom exhaust fan does the cooling, when finished I wheel it back under the bench for next time!
                            Does the exhaust fan suck the hot air off through the bottom or blow cool air up through the beans?

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Yelta View Post
                              Here's my cooler.

                              20 litre mayonnaise bucket $3, bathroom $20 extractor fan mounted on the bottom, sieve on top, the whole thing mounted in an old aquarium stand.

                              Simple, very efficient , cheap, easy to make and almost silent.

                              The fan is to blow the chaff from the roaster out the door, plays no part in cooling.

                              Cools a 725 gram batch ready to bag in about 45 seconds.

                              [ATTACH=CONFIG]19388[/ATTACH]
                              You got 20kg of mayo for $3? Bargain!

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