KKTO Beta Testers Feedback....

[WSullivan]

Re: KKTO Beta Testers Feedback....

lol the cord for the TO runs through a wall in my setup, have to remove back wall of roaster to remove, that, 3 hrs sleep in 36, and 2 games of mixed netball last night, now at work for the next 10 hours.........didnt have time

[A_M]

Re: KKTO Beta Testers Feedback....

lol the cord for the TO runs through a wall in my setup, have to remove back wall of roaster to remove

Poor projection for the future... Typical IT..

Do it now and do it quick... Un documented features are for the future and if were are lucky; someone else.. ;D

Cut the cord.. Ya just pull it through... Work out a fix (work around ... errr extended wait state and a few for loops) after a coffee...
: ;D :-* :-* :-* :-*

[WSullivan]

Re: KKTO Beta Testers Feedback....

Cut the cord.. Ya just pull it through...

ha ha, its only 3 metal screw mate

hey do me a favour and have a look at this....http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1258419890/155#155

[flynnaus]

Re: KKTO Beta Testers Feedback....

Well I think today was my most successful roast.

The Problem: one shots worth of beans left of my reserve supply of beans after returning from the holiday. I needed a quick roast that would be good from Day 1.

The Solution: Yirgachefe, of course

The Method:
Batch size 400g.
Pre-heated roaster to 160.
Loaded beans and turned up to 225 on the TO dial. The temp dropped down to 60 then climbed fairly evenly to 160. Then I turned the dial to 250.
I detected first crack at 198 after about 13 mins (I was late getting the timer started). As I had to lift the lid a little to hear the beginning of roliing first crack, it served as a burp.
Then dropped temp dial back to 225 for about 2 mins and back to full again.
Turned off roaster at 218 degrees after about 19 mins and by the time I dumped the beans, I could hear the first snips of second crack.

Colour was about CS9.5 to CS10 - a bit darker than I would prefer but happy to achieve what I think is a good roast profile for this bean (in terms of temps and roast times)

Verdict: Im happy with results. A chew on a bean revealed sweetness and the Yirg aroma is pervading the house. I will need to reproduce these results before I can claim victory but I will stick with 400 gram batch sizes to eliminate one variable. Next time I will try stopping the roast at 215
A tip: If you gently hold the temp controller at full throttle, you can usually wring an extra degree out of it - on mine at least.

Future mods: Use a fire blanket rather than the old bathroom towel Im currently using. A mod I will also eventually try is to put a false floor under the inner chamber to reduce the roasting space. I think a disc of ordinary sheet metal will do but I wonder if putting some insulating material under this floor will provide better thermal control.  

Any tips for cleaning the glass of the TO as it is looking a bit brown now?

[Koffee_Kosmo]

Re: KKTO Beta Testers Feedback....

Welcome back Steve
Nice job on the roast glad you could hear 1st & 2nd cracks

Any tips for cleaning the glass of the TO as it is looking a bit brown now?

Use back-flush cleaner dissolved in a little water And a non scratching stainless steel scrub bud
Then wipe away dry
Brings it up like new

KK

[flynnaus]

Re: KKTO Beta Testers Feedback....

Thanks KK (for the welcome and the tip)

Could only hear FC by lifting the lid a little but 198 seems to be the magic number for my DMM + TC

Any news on the modified stirrer mod? Ive been out of touch abit)

[Koffee_Kosmo]

Re: KKTO Beta Testers Feedback....

Thanks KK (for the welcome and the tip)

Could only hear first crack by lifting the lid a little but 198 seems to be the magic number for my DMM + TC

Any news on the modified stirrer mod? Ive been out of touch abit)

I have placed an order for the shafts to be made with 30mm extra length on the upper section
Also an order for the blades to be laser cut
Also springs to suit
Just waiting my turn in line for them to finish & call me

I think a disc of ordinary sheet metal will do but I wonder if putting some insulating material under this floor will provide better thermal control.

This is also a future mod for me but will need to re tool for it so may be a little time

An easy way to do it for the tweaker    is to use a steel camping plate upside-down
One can position it at the height required with spacers

KK

[Lacehim]

Re: KKTO Beta Testers Feedback....

Happy Easter everyone.

Going to do a roast this afternoon with the grommets back in. I got some longer M3 20mm screws on Saturday and I have to say it is much quieter. There is still some vibration noise but not as much as when it was directly bolted to the base. Only problem Ive had is that the shaft drops with the motor, but Ive used washers to boost it back up. Will test today in my first roast in the garage.

Ive also got a fireblanket from bunnings a while ago and I was wondering how everyone has attached it. How did you fit it around the pot handles? Any photos would be appricated.

[bolb]

Re: KKTO Beta Testers Feedback....

Well its been a while since i last posted so this is long but interesting and hopefully helpful to those who experience the same problem.
I decided i would go through the process of gluing my inner pot into position and proceeded to do so with the high temp silicon. I left it 48 hrs and then proceeded to run with a roast which went as well as they normally do. A few days later i then need to do another roast and this is where all the problems began. I found that the agitator would jam after about 30sec of spinning no matter what height it was set to on the shaft.

After an aborted attempt at roasting it was back to the forum to read more about the KKTO feedback where i saw that KK was looking at the new double sided agitator rather than the original design and that using springs at the bottom appeared to work better than previous designs. This must be my problem i thought, HA HA, little did i realise it wasnt. Off i went and ordered a new shaft and agitator from KK, which duly arrived and got installed only to find no difference.

It didnt matter what combination of shaft, agitator i used, i still had the same issue, i even unfixed the inner pot as i thought that was what was giving me the grief. The agitator would jam and i would just he the motor still trying to turn the shaft but no action. At this point i had to go back to using the corretto as my supplies were almost out and i had some orders to fulfill. During this process i had been emailing KK on the issue and was just about to box the complete unit up and send back to KK to look at when i got a call from KK who suggested it may be the gearbox/motor. KK remembered having an issue when he was load testing the motor where the inner allow of the gear came loose from the brass outer gear.

So armed with  instructions i proceed to pull apart the gearbox and inspect the main gear and found that indeed this was the case, there was a slight movement of the alloy to the brass component. The repair was to use a hammer and nail (blunt) to stamp the allow inner back to the brass outer so that it was again a snug fit. I re-assembled everything and ran some tests and it was as KK had suggested, an issue with the main gear.

I am now back roasting with the new agitator and have done 10 roasts all perfect. The motion of the beans with the double agitator is much more fluid and i no longer have some beans (about 10) reaching first crack much earlier than before, there is now very little variance in the colour.

I would certainly recommend the new agitator if you are having issues relating to consistency of roast colour across all beans.

Thanks to KK for his great service and support

[Lacehim]

Re: KKTO Beta Testers Feedback....

Nice write up bolb. Glad you got it fixed and if it ever happens to any other motors we know what to do now. Sounds very frustrating.

Ive been waiting for the double agitators. Are they ready KK?

I have to admit that I havent roasted for a while, did 2 batches a while ago and Ive also bought some roasted beans. On my last roasts I found the grommets made a big difference. The roast seemed to take forever (my timer failed at 10mins) so I was flying blind. Also tried a roast without the element guard, 400gm came out good, pulled at 16mins. It was just to see if it made a difference.

Also still having problems with my DMM, It seems to start off okay, then it reads the wrong temp, if you wiggle the wire it reads a different temp. Sounds stuffed to me. I havent bought another beadsensor yet which I think will solve the problem. Maybe with some green at next Beanbay.

[dsgfh]

Re: KKTO Beta Testers Feedback....

Welcome back Steve
Nice job on the roast glad you could hear 1st & 2nd cracks

Any tips for cleaning the glass of the TO as it is looking a bit brown now?  

Use back-flush cleaner dissolved in a little water And a non scratching stainless steel scrub bud
Then wipe away dry
Brings it up like new

KK

A damp microfibre cloth works a treat on mine. Seems to be no need for chemicals at all if done regularly Of course, if youve left it for 9 months before cleaning, it might need something a little stronger.

[flynnaus]

Re: KKTO Beta Testers Feedback....

A damp microfibre cloth works a treat on mine.Seems to be no need for chemicals at all if done regularly

The backflush detergent did the trick.

In other breaking news, I made a false floor for my KKTO out of a piece of brushed steel. I may need to adjust the height as currently it sits about 5mm below the perforated inner chamber. It has helped to significantly reduce roasting times - especially with the climb to first crack. I can now set my TO to 175 and the CS software shows increases of 20 25 degrees per minute.

I did a 400g roast of Sumatran Blue Lintong and seem to have a serious tipping issue. Strange, because I did a 400g batch of Yunnan Hougu just before and it went really well.

I think there are a few issues here.
One is that the new false floor may be rubbing against the agitator shaft slowing it down. Ill need to make the hole in the middle of the floor larger .
Secondly, and more likely, what I suspect is heat leakage: after reaching around 140 degrees, the temp seems to rise at 10 or 12 degrees then drop, even into negative territory. I think Ill try some 8mm silicon tube to better seal the gap between the outer and inner pots.  Currently, its 10mm.

I think its also an agitator design as my roasts are often fairly uneven. The Sumatran certainly was.

How do I get  hold of one of the new agitators KK? Ill give you a call (tonight).

Ill also take some photos of the false floor and post soonish.

[bolb]

Re: KKTO Beta Testers Feedback....

A damp microfibre cloth works a treat on mine.Seems to be no need for chemicals at all if done regularly Of course, if youve left it for 9 months before cleaning, it might need something a little stronger.

I did leave mine for a few months, used caffetto and a green sponge scourer but only did as much as was required where i shine the light into the TO and to view.
Leaving the stain on the glass to build up certainly gives a tint to the colour of the beans.

[Mono]

Re: KKTO Beta Testers Feedback....

The agitator would jam and i would just he the motor still trying to turn the shaft but no action.

Sounds like the same symptoms that I am now experiencing. Will be pulling down the motor/gearbox tomorrow to inspect/repair :-/. Ill be talking to KK if I cant work it out, hopefully with the guide you have posted that it will be enough. Thanks bolb

Steve

[bolb]

Re: KKTO Beta Testers Feedback....

No Problem Mono.
I am sure you will find it simple.
KK just explained everything and then when i opened up the gearbox everything was as he described even to the point of advising how i could spread the alloy into the brass without damaging the whole thing.
(drilled a hole in a lump of wood for the other side of the gear to fit in so it was all level and supported)

Mal