A (Epic?) journey in search of my perfect roaster

[Javaphile]

Re: A (Epic?) journey in search of my perfect roas

A quick update on the bearing situation. Theres good news/bad news. :-/

At some point in the past they were converted from a sleeve bearing to a standard ballbearing assembly. As a result replacing the bearings was easily done with off-the-shelf bearings. A local company removed the old bearings, cleaned out the area, and replaced them with new sealed bearings all for only $25. Unfortunately in the process the new powdercoat was dinged up in several places which will require a recoating of the pieces. I wasnt too upset at this as they were going to have to be recoated anyways because of the damage to the finish from the oil that boiled/leaked out during the curing bake.

I will deal with their recoating after Christmas at the same time as I have the motor casing done. This time I will have the bearings pulled prior to dropping off the housings for coating to prevent any damage to them from the curing bake and then press them back in once the recoating is done.

The shaft is not as tight a fit in the bearings as it should be but I think I can take care of that easily enough with a thin layer of paint on the shaft where its in contact with the bearings. That should fill up the space and give it a nice tight fit.

I think the shaft will have to be painted once the roaster is reassembled due to the bearings and worm gears that must be slid the length of the shaft during assembly. Theres no way to put the gears on, coat it, and then put the shaft back onto the roaster. The shaft can not be put back on the roaster with the gears already on it due to the roasters design, plus the clearances between the shaft and the worm gears/bearings is too tight to get them on with-out ruining the finish. Ill have to hunt up a paint that matches the red powdercoat and put it on once everything else is done and the roaster is reassembled.

Things are moving along and I still hope to be roasting by tomorrow night with my baby.

Java "Oh the things we do for our cuppa!" phile

[stratford]

Re: A (Epic?) journey in search of my perfect roas

That is going to be a nice looking roaster, Java....

Take a couple of snaps, showing the bad boy in action.. 8-)

[Javaphile]

Re: A (Epic?) journey in search of my perfect roas

That is going to be a nice looking roaster, Java....

Take a couple of snaps, showing the bad boy in action.. 8-)

Oh trust me! Pics there will be!! ;D ;D ;D

Java "Itchy fingers" phile

[Javaphile]

Re: A (Epic?) journey in search of my perfect roas

Here we go! After a trip to the hardware store for some new stainless steel and brass bolts the itchy fingers finally get turned loose!

And theyre off and wiggling!

Here we are getting ready to put the first pieces back on. Namely the indicator plates for the gas valves/flame height and the name plate. I used brass bolts for these and once its all back together and I can see how itll look I plan on painting the numbers on the indicator plates with a brass/gold paint, hence the brass bolts instead of the stainless used everywhere else.

[Javaphile]

Re: A (Epic?) journey in search of my perfect roas

Here The plates are on and the main box is bolted back onto the base along with the motor mount.

[Javaphile]

Re: A (Epic?) journey in search of my perfect roas

And here a few more pieces back on, the drip tray (mounted on the back and not very visible in this pic), the main shaft bearing housings, and one air channel.

This unfortunately is the stopping point for the night as theres no longer any 24 hour hardware stores around here to run too for more new bolts.

Java "WooHoo!! Its going back together!" phile

[Javaphile]

Re: A (Epic?) journey in search of my perfect roas

More progress has been made on the reassembly of the old new toy.

This despite it taking 4 hours today to get more stainless screws and bolts for it along with some high temp oil and grease and despite the non-stop ringing of the doorbell today.

I decided to put gaskets between the air channels and the main box and between the turbine impeller housing and the main box so as to minimize leakage and to maximize the air flow capability. What a pain finding high temp gasket material! Most of the so-called high temp gasket material is only rated to 350-400F. Not the 500-600F level I was looking for. I finally was able to find some rated too 700F which turned out to be *very dense and hard to cut. Im hoping that when it heats up it will soften slightly as theres a slight gap in one area of the impeller housings seal due to a slight warpage of the main boxs material. The air channels appeared to seal up nice and tight.

The air channels have all been put back on along with the gas supply and burner system and their control levers as well as the impeller and its housing.

Ive fired up the burners (with-out the barrels on) and have verified that all the valves work properly and that all three barrels are set up for propane and not natural gas. There is definate differences between flame heights on the three burners but nothing outragous. The middle burner doesnt appear to need the 2 extra air injection holes it has but I may leave them as that burner is farther away from the barrel than the other 2 and it may give it better performance because of it. The burning characteristics may also change once the barrels are on and air is being forcably drawn through the combustion chamber. Well find out later today. ;D

Ive decided for now to do my roasting in the kids old bedroom and put one of my friends who stopped over today to work helping me carry the roaster upstairs.

The list of parts remaining to be put back on is growing short:

• Drive shaft and worm gears
• Barrels
• Discharge chutes
• Motor
• Various knobs

and thats it. Wire the motor into the microdrive, make up some shields for the back of the roasters from alum foil, and mount an exhaust vent in a sheet of plywood cut to fit the window and Ill be all ready to roast!

Barring some calamity the first batch will be rolling down the chute sometime tonight. ;D

This pic shows the back of the roaster with the air channels and gas system installed.

Java "WooHoo!! Were almost there!" phile

[Javaphile]

Re: A (Epic?) journey in search of my perfect roas

Heres a view from the front-right showing the flame adjustment levers (in the Off position), along with a view of the intake areas on the air channels. Peeking through the back just under them you can see the burners.

[Javaphile]

Re: A (Epic?) journey in search of my perfect roas

Here you can see the impeller housing (a massive chunk of cast iron that weighs about 12kg) and shaft.

[Javaphile]

Re: A (Epic?) journey in search of my perfect roas

And here is a picture of the burner test. The righthand barrel had the highest flames with the left burner having slightly lower flames and then the middle barrel with the lowest. The burner in the middle barrel sits lower than the other two so the difference in flame height is exaggerated. This picture was taken with the burners turned up too their maximum.

[Framey]

Re: A (Epic?) journey in search of my perfect roas

Hi Java,

How close to the drums are those burners?
Is the flame in direct contact with the drum ?
Were your drums solid?


Stephen

[stratford]

Re: A (Epic?) journey in search of my perfect roas

Go with throttles up, Javaphile.....

[Javaphile]

Re: A (Epic?) journey in search of my perfect roas

Hi Java,

How close to the drums are those burners?
Is the flame in direct contact with the drum ?
Were your drums solid?


Stephen

Hhhhmmm...I havent actually looked at it with an eye to the distance between the burners and the bottom of the drums. Id guess somewhere in the 3-4cm range. Aw heck, lemme go measure. ;D <Javaphile runs away and returns several minutes later having detoured to refill his cuppa> The outter 2 barrels measure 32mm from the top of the burner to the bottom of the drum. The middle barrel measures in at 39mm.

On high the flames would certainly be in direct contact with the drums. With a high draft (pulling the air from the combustion chamber up around the sides of the drums and then into the drums entering at the front top and exiting them at the rear middle) I would imagine the flames would wrap a pretty good distance up the sides of the drums.

The drums are solid and rotate at around 40-50 rpms. Heres a pic of them in another thread: http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1134349206/3#1

Java "Getting itchy fingers...*again!" phile

[Javaphile]

Re: A (Epic?) journey in search of my perfect roas

Go with throttles up, Javaphile.....

aahhhh...Roger Houston, this is Roaster Control. We are at T-minus before another day is done and counting.

;D ;D ;D

Java "Clear the launch pad!" phile

[robusto]

Re: A (Epic?) journey in search of my perfect roas

Looking good, Javaphile. How is the coating standing up to the (test firing) heat?