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

[Javaphile]

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

Ah, Javaphile.....decisions, decisions. Mental gymnastics which keep the brain fit and active until the ephemeral thoughts happily materialise in the shape of your physical project.

Hehehe Yup! Chrome plating seems to be the way to go for the best combination of protection and looks and Ive even convinced myself to swallow the cost of doing it. Unfortunately I can only do it if I can get the outter covers off of the roasting chamber assemblies.

If they cant be removed then any kind of a plating option is out as the barrels themselves cant be removed so-as to prevent them from being plated (not to mention to prevent them from being exposed to the chemicals in the various plating baths). Given that the roaster is 50 years old I have serious doubts about whether Ill be able to remove the screws holding the outter covers on. I tried to remove several of them prior to it being blasted and none of them gave even the slightest bit.

If I *had to remove them the heads are big enough that I could lock a vice-grip on them where-upon they would either come out (while ruining the appearance of the screw head requiring their replacement) or the heads would twist off where-upon Id have to drill them all and attempt to pull them with an Easy-Out. Failing that working Id have to drill them all out and re-tap the threads. If I cant find a high temp paint I can live with it may come down to that but I fervently hope not!! As I recall theres 11 of these screws per barrel assembly. I *really dont relish the thought of having to drill out and re-tap 33 screws/holes. But Ill do it if I have too.

Java "Looking at all the options" phile

[robusto]

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

Ah, Javaphile.....decisions, decisions. Mental gymnastics which keep the brain fit and active until the ephemeral thoughts happily materialise in the shape of your physical project.

[Javaphile]

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

Just a quick update on the status of the rebuilding of the roaster.

I recieved the replacement Micro Drive and it appears to work perfectly and had no signs of any wires ever having been connected to it previously. Its settings were however *not set to the factory defaults as detailed in the included manual. So either someone programmed these for a specific application or the factory defaults are not as spelled out in their manual. Not a big deal in either event as it does appear to be a brand-new, never used unit and a couple of minutes sufficed to reprogram it to the settings appropriate for my application.

Unfortunately the news on the blaster front is not so encouraging. The dipstick doing the blasting has *still not gotten all the parts back to me and has failed to keep several appointments for doing so. Weve scheduled another attempt for next Tuesday and Ive told him that I expect him to blast the remaining parts while I wait and that if he breaks this appointment I will be reporting him to the Better Business Bureau and that I will then literally camp-out in his driveway until the parts are returned to me.

On the coating front things are still up in the air as to what will be used. If I can remove the outer covers on the roasting areas (the curved part(s) that encloses the drum(s)) once all their paint has been removed then I will most likely be going with a chrome plating for all of the roasting chamber parts (excluding the barrels themselves of course) and for the main box itself (so that the flame area is properely protected against heat) and then powder coat the remaining parts with a high temp rated powder for a nice high gloss color contrast.

I can not powder coat the entire unit as even the high temp powder is only rated for up too 600F. While the barrels themselves should never approach this temp I would expect that areas in the flame chamber will most likely exceed it.

If the outer covers of the roasting barrels can not be removed it appears Ill be forced to go with a high temp paint on them. Im really trying to avoid this as it appears that none of the high temp paints available have a high gloss finish and this would seriously detract from the roasters appearance. There is a high temp ceramic coating available but it also suffers from an ugly grey matte finish and is *extremely expensive ($300USD to coat the inside of just *one of the flame areas).

Hopefully by the end of next week Ill know which coating Ill be able to use and can get that process started.

Prior to having the coating done I plan on testing the burner side of the system to determine if the one barrels burner is set up for natural gas while the other 2 are set up for propane as I suspect. If thats the case I want to know *before I do any coating as replacing the oriface would ruin any coating already applied as pieces will have to come apart to remove/replace it.

So thats where things stand currently. Hopefully in another week or so Ill have everything figured out as to what coating I can use and once thats done it will be a simple (if I can remember how it all goes back together after so long!) matter of reassymbling the whole thing and then putting it to use. I cant wait to get this puppy up and running! The waiting is killing me!

Java "Still on pins and needles" phile

[Javaphile]

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

Great News Java,

Wow! That is one very economical Micro-Drive. Down here, you would expect to pay upwards of AUD $200 for one. Seems like at long last it is all coming together... What a relief, eh? ,

Cheers Java,
Mal.

Hey Mal,

Retail for this micro drive is $180USD I believe, but I try to avoid paying retail prices when-ever possible. ;D

Java "On the road again" phile

[Dimal]

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

Great News Java,

Wow! That is one very economical Micro-Drive. Down here, you would expect to pay upwards of AUD $200 for one. Seems like at long last it is all coming together... What a relief, eh? ,

Cheers Java,
Mal.

[Javaphile]

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

Good news on the Micro Drive/Inverter front. I received a speedy response from the seller offering to send me another identical unit still in its sealed bag or a $30 refund (almost half the purchase price which was less than half of the retail price). Ive accepted his offer for another unit as I dont trust this one and I dont think Ill be able to get another one so cheap.

Its nice to deal with a reputable person on EvilBay. A refreshing breath of fresh air.

Java "Not so grumpy now" phile

[Javaphile]

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

That is a great relief, Javaphile--- for you especially, and for us going blue holding our breaths as well...Now we await the blasting results.

You might as well take a breath now. With only one day left until I leave on another long road trip, moving my daughter to the East Coast, I somehow doubt the *#@$%^& blaster is suddenly going to get his act together and get it back to me before I leave. >

Java "Getting ready for the road...*again!" phile

[robusto]

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

That is a great relief, Javaphile--- for you especially, and for us going blue holding our breaths as well. Worries about the motor have been put to rest.... and the processor gives you the added bonus of control, and by virtue, POWER over your toy. Now we await the blasting results.

[Javaphile]

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

WooHoo!! The Micro Drive arrived today! I ended up getting a nice 1/2HP rated unit that uses 120v 60Hz single phase as its power source and puts out 3 phase power with adjustable frequency. A nice elegant solution to my power supply problems for the roasters motor.

No need to buy a new motor or have this one rewound for a different current, and as a bonus I now have full speed control of the motor so I can fine tune it for the best roast. WooHoo!! ;D

The only downside was that the Micro Drive was *not brand new as stated in the ad. Upon opening the box it appeared to be a brand new unit. No fingerprints or other signs of dirt on the unit and the manual with its little screw driver were present. Upon wiring it up for a test spin however I noticed that some of the terminal set screws were at different heights and upon a closer examination there were signs of screw driver marks on some of them. Additionally once I powered it up it quickly became obvious that it had been used before as the factory default settings had been changed to custom ones.

I reset everything back to the factory defaults and then set it up for a 50Hz motor and hit the switch to power the motor up. WooHoo!! It worked! The motor spun up to full power in the 20 seconds exactly as programmed for in the Micro Drive.

I played with the speed for a bit and everything seems to be working perfectly. Unfortunately I wasnt able to test the motor under load as the roaster is still all torn apart waiting to have the blasting finished. GGGGGGGGGGggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...........

Ive written the seller asking for an explination of how the settings had been changed and how the screw marks got on the unit if it was in fact brand new as he had stated in his ad. It should prove interesting to see what he has to say.

Java "Slowly but surely getting there!" phile

[Javaphile]

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

Well, I still havent gotten the barrels back from the blaster yet and its starting to piss me off. Its a wonder the guy has managed to stay in business with behaviours like this.

On the up side I did manage to score a new 1/2HP Micro Drive with 120v 50/60Hz single phase input and a 3-phase 220v 0-400Hz output off of evilbay for well under half of retail. An ideal unit for me as it will allow me to plug into any standard home outlet here in the US, making the roaster portable for use at demos, fairs, or where-ever.

Im still exploring the different possibilities for the roasters protective coating and have come to no final decision yet on which path to take.

Id love to do a porcelain enamel coating on it but that will end up costing far too much it looks like at this point. A chrome plating would certainly protect it, but it would be pricey and I dont think it would look all that good if it were all chrome. Used as a highlight such as on the roasting chamber covers and links I think would give a very nice look to it though. Well have to see if the covers will come off once all the paint is off of them.

Java "Hhhmmm...Decisions, decisions..." phile

[Javaphile]

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

Heres some pics of a few hours later when Id done what Id been attempting to avoid having to do...tearing it down *all the way.

After giving it a close going over I came to the conclusion that it needed further blasting and would have to go back to the blaster for more work. Seeing as Im (supposedly anyways) going to be getting the barrels back today I wanted to get it back to him at the same time. Unfortunately even with all the parts Ive taken off the roaster already it was still to big and heavy for one person to handle.

Having made the decision that I would be doing a total restoration with *everything needing to be painted (due to there being no finished surfaces) it then became an easy and obvious solution to tear it down completely. This would have to be done anyways for painting as well as working on the gas feed for the middle barrel so now was as good a time as any as it would allow me to get the parts back to the blaster (I didnt have a 2nd person to help load it intact) that needed further work when I picked up the barrels.

In the process of tearing it down the rest of the way I discovered a couple of places that will need to be re-welded. Its also possible that the recent braze on the valve for the middle barrel will have to be broken and redone as it wasnt done straight and the pipe angles away from the roaster leaving the burner not sticking into the combustion chamber far enough. Hopefully a little tweaking on the vertical pipe will remedy this and I wont have to resort to breaking the braze and redoing it. Seeing as the pipe is cast iron though Im not holding out much hope for it bending into place.

Judging from the paint in hidden areas and where it was only partially removed the roaster appeared to have an almost brick red, black, and silver paint scheme.

The base and main box were red with the barrels and air flow pipes being silver along with the other high heat areas around the barrels. Black was used as a highlight on the bearing caps and where the red and silver met.

Im now thinking Ill be lucky to have it ready to use in a month. A good chunk of my time for the next 3 weeks will be preparing for and then moving my daughter out to the east coast. Barring any more nasty surprises though (like the gas system needing parts) I think its doable.

Come Monday Ill be making more calls inquiring about the cost of having a good baked enamel paint put on it. As long as Im tearing it down all the way and doing a complete restoration on it I want to put a paint on there that will still look good long after Im gone. With the multiple layers this will require its very possible the painting alone will take 1 or maybe even 2 weeks to complete.

Time to cut this off I think so I can go get a couple of hours of sleep before the blaster calls with the barrels.










Java "Stay tuned for more Roaster Restoration tales" phile

[Javaphile]

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

Heres a few pics of the roaster as it was when I got it back from the blaster earlier today:
















Java "Taking it down even further" phile

[Javaphile]

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

GGGgggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...........I just got the roaster back and guess what. The parts they were told were the most critical (the insides of the barrels) looked like theyd hardly been touched! There was still paint all the insides of the barrels! Sheesh! So I gave them back to him and told him to do it right. Suppossedly Ill have them back to me tomorrow.

It also looks unlikely that the roaster will be ready to use in a week. Even in 2 weeks will be a lucky thing.

Ive not gone over it in detail yet but its now obvious that the entire roaster will need to be painted. There were no finished/polished surfaces on it at all.

The gas feed line for the middle barrel shows obvious signs of having been repaired (a freshly brazed joint) and the valve assembly for it is on upside down so it looks like Ill have to tear into the gas feed system after-all.

Gotta run now to go have dinner with a friend. More later Im sure!

Java "Gggggrrrrrrrr...." phile

[Javaphile]

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

I know its a bit cute, but the "Micro" is derived from the Micro-Controller (basically a specialised PIC) which is the brains of the unit and "Drive" because it Drives the motor. Tongue

Cheers,
Mal.

That must mean when Im on my bike then that Im a Macro Drive(r). ;D

WooHoo!! Just heard from the blaster and hes doing the roaster up now and will be delivering it back to me tomorrow morning!! WooHoo!!

Java "So excited he cant sit still" phile

[Dimal]

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

No, I brought it into a shop where they hooked it up and tested it. I still need to buy the micro-drive (why frequency inverters are called that I have *no idea!) for doing the phase conversion from single too triple and for dropping the frequency too 50Hz from the 60Hz supplied.

Java "Still wondering what to do with the box once its clean" phile

I know its a bit cute, but the "Micro" is derived from the Micro-Controller (basically a specialised PIC) which is the brains of the unit and "Drive" because it Drives the motor. :P

Cheers,
Mal.