Behmor

[robusto]

Divey, then you don't want me to go into the RMS values of sinusoidal waveforms. :-)

BUT----you need a multi meter able to read the RMS (root mean square) voltage for a true(er) indication of voltage.

Being alternating current in a sine wave, voltage may be, say, 260V at the top of the wave, progressively reducing to 0 in the middle, then turning negative to the same degree.

A voltmeter will do its best to give you a rough average out the waveform. An RMS meter will give you a more accurate reading after sampling the wave over time.

Makes sense? Good. :-)

[brettreaby]

Divey the substation powers your 22kv pole mounted distribution transformer, being close could be an issue.

Divey 254.6 is quite high- i reckon it would be worth a call to your electricity supplier to ask it be reduced ( even though they will say it is within specs ).

The good news: anything with heaters etc will work quickly ( toaster, behmor, kettle etc). But not necessarily your AC.

Bad news: 1. some appliances are not really rated to 250vac and will run much hotter than designed and have reduced life.
2. your supply power is effectively 12% higher than a home at 240VAC - this will probably cost you in your electricity bill*
3. If you have halogen lighting working on old style transformers they will blow much earlier. if its more recent with electronic power supplies it will be ok.

* ok some of you will argue this point, and yes its a complex area but let me tell you this: a major supermarket is trialling volt reduction systems in their stores to reduce supply from higher voltages to 230VAC. If the big boys are spending money on it there's a reason.

Divey, consider buying one of these cheap gadgets ( $20 jaycar, DS etc) and make notes about your supply voltage in the home so you have some data when you call them. note mine is reading 246 in the morning but usually drops below 240 after lunch.

I wish you blokes would stop talking in shorthand as I have not got a clue what your on about.

I have only very recently (yesterday) discovered that the sub-station that supplies our power is about 300 metres from our home. Would that have anything to do with me recording 254.6 volts at the power point ???

[Divey]

Divey, consider buying one of these cheap gadgets ( $20 jaycar, DS etc) and make notes about your supply voltage in the home so you have some data when you call them. note mine is reading 246 in the morning but usually drops below 240 after lunch.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2155[/ATTACH]

What are they called, I'm guessing a 'Supply Voltage Meter'.

[fruity]

Behmor

Divey:

http://m.jaycar.com.au/m_productView.asp?ID=MS6115

[brettreaby]

actually Divey - 254.6 is ABOVE 230+10% so definitely worth calling them. And as robusta says, the true test will be with an RMS meter which is too expensive to buy unless you need one.

Would that have anything to do with me recording 254.6 volts at the power point ???

[Hildy]

A voltmeter will do its best to give you a rough average out the waveform. An RMS meter will give you a more accurate reading after sampling the wave over time.

The temperature dataloggers should be able to do RMS voltage readings.

[robusto]

That Jaycar meter is a neat gadget. I have one, which will measure volts, amps, and watts, and cumulative watts used by an appliance. I like plugging my big-screen tvs in to it, and watching how the watts go up when the screen lightens. But I digress...

The one big issue with the gadget is the tiny, tiny, tiny readout. I need a magnifying glass to see whether I am looking at watts, volts or amps. Ridiculously small to the point I rarely use it.

Hate to be a nanny, but exercise extreme caution sticking multimeter probes into live ac circuits. And holding them there.

[fruity]

Behmor

I think I scored mine from Catch and it has a much larger readout than the Jaycar one, and is programmable with cost as well (so you can see how much a particular appliance costs over a set period). IIRC, they were original part of a QLD government scheme and were then sold off to Catch?

Anyway, there a few different models out there, and some include remote monitoring. Seek and ye shall find!

[Divey]

Here ya go, how exciting is this................ not!

[brettreaby]

Divey- we never doubted you!

you could take time/date stamped pics with your camera as a record when you go to bat arguing with the power company.

Tell em it aint good enough.

[Unclegoggles]

Hi there All, do any of the Australian Behmor users have the actual times using P2 at which the heat profile dips then increases for each weight of roast. Do the heat profile timing points vary from machine to machine? From observations with my machine on P2 using a half pound roast, the heat drops off with about 5 minutes 30 seconds to go then ramps up with a minute ten seconds to go.

[fruity]

Behmor

Hi there All, do any of the Australian Behmor users have the actual times using P2 at which the heat profile dips then increases for each weight of roast. Do the heat profile timing points vary from machine to machine? From observations with my machine on P2 using a half pound roast, the heat drops off with about 5 minutes 30 seconds to go then ramps up with a minute ten seconds to go.

Without checking that sounds about right. Download RoasterThing (formerly BehmorThing) which will let you track your roasts and shows you the profile graphs with times. Makes it a lot easier.

[Unclegoggles]

Thanks fruity, I'll check it out.

[fruity]

I was wondering guys, if you set your Behmor to a lower voltage (say 220 or 230) and you have 240V mains, is that likely to shorten roast times? If so, does that mean you could potentially bump up your batch size to 500g or a full pound? Has anyone successfully roasted batches larger than say 350g?

[CafeLotta]

I was wondering guys, if you set your Behmor to a lower voltage (say 220 or 230) and you have 240V mains, is that likely to shorten roast times? If so, does that mean you could potentially bump up your batch size to 500g or a full pound? Has anyone successfully roasted batches larger than say 350g?

I'd check the voltage at the power point and set your Behmor to the closest voltage of the 3 available. Last time I checked I was receiving 237V so I set to 240V.

Have never had a problem roasting a true 1lb (454gms) on 1lb-P2-B. Usually end up hitting cool before the roast cycle reaches 0:00. If you are coming up short you could try the "C" setting or add time at the end of your roast cycle.