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

[Javaphile]

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

LOL Im afraid that after one roast, just to say Id done it, there would very quickly be a motor attached to that roaster! ;D

Not only do you have to deal with all the traffic, but if its anything like it was 30 years ago when I was there the drivers are all completely insane!! ;D


Java "Demo Derby time!" phile

[Dimal]

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

Not only do you have to deal with all the traffic, but if its anything like it was 30 years ago when I was there the drivers are all completely insane!! ;D

Oh yeah, I can relate to that Java.... My Granddad (Opa) was Dutch and my heart was always in my mouth when out driving with him. Hed be looking anywhere but where the car was headed while driving and it always amazed me that we never had any accidents.... LOL, think I lost some years off the end of my allotted lifespan with some of the trips we went on.... Phew

Mal.

[Lizzie]

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

Dutch drivers bad??? try driving in Paris... there is a reason for the huge rubber bumper bars on the French car makes.... ;D !!

Holland was just about one big traffic-jam when i left in 81... and every trip back the jams were bigger and the cars seemed to have gotten smaller and faster, like dinkytoys on steroids!
last year i decided to foresake the car and take the train... apart from reliving great memories about train trips as a littlun, it was much faster, more convenient and cheaper to boot.
did the trip from Paris to Brussel on the Thalys (Very Fast Train.)....experience and a half!!

zapty, where did the roaster come from? The venerable DE? or a smaller boutique roaster?

L

[zapty]

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

Drivers in Paris are in a class all by themselves, Lizzie.
The Dutch are not far behind in my opinion...yes, traffic jams...there are special updates on all the traffic jams on certain radio stations and every evening on the news it is one of the hot items....
The trains are great but are getting overly crowded and often there are no seats left. The TGV from Brussels to Paris is great and so are the German ones.

The roasters history will be investigated once Ive got my hands at and its safely at my place.
DE although one of the largest coffee roasters in the world is sadly not known for its quality but only its quantity.

Nice to know there are some people of Dutch heritage on this forum, Mal had a Dutch opa (oma too?) and you have lived here...

The small boutique roasters are few and far in between these days over here.
There are some but not too many anymore.

Heres another one of my old roasters, it is a French one with a windup clockwork to turn the roasting barrel

Groetjes,

zapty

[Lizzie]

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

Nice to know there are some people of Dutch heritage on this forum, Mal had a Dutch opa (oma too?) and you have lived here...

geboren en getogen Hollander, nog steeds met een Nederlands paspoort, zapty (trans: born Dutch still travelling under a Dutch passport)... but lived in Oz since 81.

shame about the boutique roasters vanishing in Europe...it was always great, walking down the street and smelling the coffee being roasted... and next door the butcher smoking the bacon... and then the pub...


very curious where the roaster came form.. keep us posted!

groetjes,

L

[Dimal]

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

Mal had a Dutch opa (oma too?) and you have lived here...

Gday again zapty,

Ive never ever made it over to Holland though I still have plenty of relatives there. My Mum migrated over here with her parents when she was only about 21/2 years old in around 1925. Opa was a professional musician, and Oma a very fine Violinist and Pianist. Opa played with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra for many years as 2nd Cellist and also taught Cello and Piano. Oma was a qualified primary school teacher and naturally enough, also taught Violin and Piano from home.

Was a very musical upbringing but Im afraid I only learnt to play the Piano to a very basic level although both my brothers are very accomplished. I also remember the wonderful sights and smells of going to visit my Grandparents at their home and to other Dutch friends and relatives who migrated at around the same time or later on..... Wonderful food and fantastic coffee from a very young age...... Bliss

Great memories indeed.....

Cheers mate,
Mal.

[zapty]

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

The Probat sample roaster arrived yesterday at my house.
It was well wrapped in plastic, I dove on top of it and tore of all the wrappings and couldnt believe the condition it was in, it hardly could have been better.
Probat Emmerich was contacted (that was by the way its place of conception) and a request from them for pictures (to be able to identify it) of it was immediately answered.
They also where amazed at its condition and they wanted to know where it was used and whom it was bought from.
The person I bought it from apparently inherited it from a relative who had had it stored in a wharehouse for many years. The seller knows nothing about its history or anything else except that it was really heavy (about 100 kg) and that no electric cables came with it so it was not tested by him and therefore he could not be held responsible if it did not work.

The Probar B3 that I can call mine now is a rare electrical roaster (Probat only very occasionely built them)
and I am looking into either getting new elements from Probat or converting it in to a propane burner.

All the mechanical parts are indeed in excellent condition but one of the elements would need replacing as they are coils like you would find in a hairdryer!!! and one of them has the last 1/2 inch broken off.
All the ceramics etc in wich the coils are imbedded are perfect and also the wiring seems fine.
Need only to find out the voltage of the elements as that info is not apparent...

As Probat Werke Emmerich is only a couple hours drive from where I live (I just received an invitation to visit their Probat museum for coffee technology) it should make things easy for me to have their expertise so near by.

[Javaphile]

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

An electric one! WOW!! Thats gotta be one power hungry little puppy! Thats one heck of a find!! If they dont have one in their museum maybe theyll offer you a nice little L5 with all the bells and whistles for yours. ;D

It would be really nice if they just happened to have some elements sitting around on a shelf somewhere gathering dust that you could swap in! Even if they dont they should be able to tell you what the coils were rated for which should make getting replacements pretty easy.

I emailed Probat a couple of times trying to get information on my Gothot (Probat bought Gothot) but never received a reply. Maybe while youre there and have their interested ear you could ask them if they have any info on it. The things Im most interested in is the barrel RPM, the burners output rating, and replacements (or specs) for the gears on the back of the barrels.

Good to hear it all arrived safe and sound! Keep us informed on where it all goes from here!


Java "Now the fun begins!" phile

[zapty]

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

Hey Javaphile,

Do you have any pics of the gear assembly that you need replacements for?
What exactly do you mean by barrel RPM?
The revs of the roasting chambers?
I know the drive motor on mine has a 1400 rpm rating...
You have natural gas burners?

Zapty

[Javaphile]

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

Hey Javaphile,

Do you have any pics of the gear assembly that you need replacements for?

It is the gear that is mounted directly to the drum. On the attached pic Ive circled one of the gears. Only one of them has to be replaced. If I can get them at a reasonable price Ill replace all three.

The previous owner failed to lubricate the drums shafts and as the friction increased the gears started slipping with one of them being so badly worn that its no longer usable. Which is why you only see 2 drums on the roaster in its current/usable configuration.

These gears were made as a replacable part. They were made of a softer material (brass?) than their drive gear (steel) so that if the two gears slipped the cheaper one to make, and the easier one to replace, was the one that would wear.

What exactly do you mean by barrel RPM?
The revs of the roasting chambers?
I know the drive motor on mine has a 1400 rpm rating...

Yup, the revs of the roasting chamber/barrel.

My roasters motor wasnt made for use on US current so Ive had to run it via a Micro Drive which allows me to vary the frequency of the current. If I run it at 50Hz, the rating of the motor, the roaster sounds like its about to go into orbit. It seems to run best at a frequency of 40-44Hz.

Im curious as to what speed the makers of the roaster intended the drums to rotate at.

You have natural gas burners?

Yup!


Java "Old roasters are fun to play with!" phile

[Javaphile]

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

If they dont have any gears Id happily settle for the specs/blueprints on them.


Java "Info hound" phile

[Dimal]

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

Out of interest Java,

Whats the condition of the Worm Gears on the main drive shaft? Theyre in pretty good nick still, are they?

Mal.

[Javaphile]

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

Out of interest Java,

Whats the condition of the Worm Gears on the main drive shaft? Theyre in pretty good nick still, are they?

Mal.

Yup! Theyre still in great shape as theyre made from steel. When the time comes (i.e. when the Finance Department approves it!) if I havent found premade gears or the specs on them my plan was to bring in a set of gears to a machine shop for them to measure up for making the new helical gears.

My other option is to try and measure them out myself and see if I cant find a source for mass produced ones. I have a dial vernier caliper (0.001") and a couple of micrometers (0.0001") here but they havent been calibrated in over 20 years so I have no idea how accurate they are anymore. :-/


Java "Gearing up" phile

[Dimal]

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

Thats good mate,

Those gears look to be in excellent condition . Re: your measurement instruments, you may be able to take them to a local machine shop where they may have a set of Standard Gauges, and ask them to verify the accuracy for you... Shouldnt cost much in terms of a tradesmans time, certainly less than an hour.

I suppose another more rough and ready way to do it, is to buy a set of good quality mechanics Feeler Gauges and check the instruments against those. Doesnt check them near the furthest end of their range though and that might be where you need the accuracy :-?.

Anyway mate, with your typical determination we all know youre going to get there 8-),

Cheers,
Mal.

[zapty]

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

Hey Javaphile,

I will check with Probat to see if they have any specs and or parts still.
Probat Germany seem to be very nice people and go out of their way to help out IMO.
Cant believe they never even bothered to reply to your mail...

Found out a little more about the roaster today from Probat, it was ordered on Januari 22nd 1951 for the Lewy brothers in The Hague, Holland. That means my little baby is 56 years old... just like yours!!!
It was used for a couple years by them (the Lewy Brothers) and then when the roastery closed it was sitting forgotten in a warehouse for some decades till the person who sold it to me got his hands on it.
He never used it nor did he know the value of it.

I got all the mechanical parts working today, the old electrical motor still works like a charm and nary a squeak comes out of the roasters drive and exhaust assembly after all those years.
It still has the original leather drive belt!!!

Now once I get around to checking out the rest of the roaster and possibly converting it (Probat is giving me excellent advise and service) Ill be having a little dream roaster...

Heres a pic of one they (Probat) worked on a few months back....