I-Coffee roasting experiences

[JAYDEE]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

Hi All,

I have had the same experience (roaster stopping within first minute, crazy lights etc).  I have never pre heated, and simply go by time/ visual for all 250gm roasts.

Will watch with interest...

[sorrentina]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

Another day- another roast test. This time no stoppage!

This time I tried yet another variation: when I placed the beans in the roast pot I turned the spindle a few turns to ensure it was fully seated. When you place the pot into the roaster check to make sure none of the green beans are sitting under the spindle- do this by turning the spindle a little...   Roast was smooth and ran all the way to 2nd crack.

No idea if setting the spindle carefully is the answer yet... but taking care with spindle placement and chaff catcher- and pot- certainly seems to reduce the problem. Its frustrating that it could all be coincidental. Either that or the wrinkle in Waynes machine is ironing itself out- as the stoppages are certainly decreasing...

[Korax]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

... then it stopped .

Thats a real shame .
I have only done the 1 roast with mine since adding the washers as I have got a bit of coffee to get through after a few test roast - even after making 10 coffees yesterday for a few guests

I have uploaded a video of the loud roasting that occasionally happened. This is prior to adding the washes but again could be just chance the last one went well. You can see by opening the lid very slightly while roasting eases the motor. This was the main reason I added the washes and was really hoping the two issues were linked
youtube.com/watch?v=XJHk9p4vi5g (sorry cant link properly yet as im under the 5 messages)
EDIT: Tried another roast and cut aswell...

[sorrentina]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

I am sending Waynes unit back to Korea. They are going to look at it.

If it is an electronics issue I am hoping it will be possible to change over the entire circuit board. It seems machine from my first shipment did not have this issue- only the last. So it looks like it could be a failing component.

[Kafine]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

Does that mean they will all have to be sent back to Korea.

[sorrentina]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

At this time I am not sure- I am hoping whatever the problem it can be fixed here. The circuit board is a complete part- and the connections to it are standard spade type connectors- so it should be possible to simply change it out without much difficulty. Assuming thats where the problem is. I am sending Waynes unit to Korea this afternoon...

watch this space...

[Kafine]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

Thanks Jack, mine cut out despite all my normal checks and balances on two of 5 roasts on sunday. If it is a cct board i was a telstra technician and could easily swap the board out. Hope they find the problem but as it is it just takes a little more observation. Still getting great coffee from it. The component will fail eventually though.

[samhighley]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

Ok, so yesterday was pretty frustrating. I attempted a roast after dutifully checking that the chaff catcher was seated nicely, the roasting pan was inserted well and without any obstructions, and the phases of the moon were in their correct alignment

Its almost like the more attention you pay to getting everything right, the less successful the roasting is. It was resetting about every 10-20 seconds, so it appeared to be steadily getting worse and worse.

Then I happened across something interesting. I started the roaster with the control dial all the way to the right (ie. over the "9"), and then I immediately turned it all the way to the left (ie. to the left of "preheat"). You can move the dial after youve pressed the start button, and it makes no difference to the setting. Guess what, it just kept going. Of course, this could just be all a fluke given other testing, but I tried it again this morning and voila, it went all the way again. Just repeat the same process when you want to extend the time. Move it over "9", press the power button a few times to reset, and then move it back to the far left.

Ive been thinking about this for a few days, after a few people mentioned that they had more success if they put the roaster on "7" rather than "9" to start. If I continue to have success with this method, then id put my money on the problem being in that control dial. Presumably its a rheostat of some sort, and im guessing that the contact and wiper dont have a solid connection.

[trentski]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

Interesting, mine has never moved off 9 and I dont have this issue. Wonder if there is something in that

[sorrentina]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

man- oh man.

so many variables- but which is it? I am going to run another test this evening trying your new method Toasty... perhaps this is the answer...

I heard back from Korea today. At this time they dont know what the problem is but said the following:

"the main cause seems to be a voltage problem:--------
Though we have exported over one thousand sets of I -coffee roasters to Japan where they use 110V, no similiar kinds of problems to yours have occured up to now but a few similiar
issues in Korea(220V) before  in a few limited areas where the supply voltage is unstable."

Cant speak for everyone else but the wiring in my house is quite ancient.

they are going to test Waynes machine and then let me know the next step. They think (without having done tests yet) installing a capacitor will rectify the issue. they say it is easy to install and will send instructions and a video.

Trentski: I think you were lucky int hat your machine came from my first shipment- it seems that these machines experience no or very few stoppages.

I think even in normal operation a stoppage can occur: but from a different cause- a stuck bean. These stoppages are very rare and not a cause for concern.

I want to thank everyone for bearing with me whilst this is sorted.

[Roz]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

Same as trentski, I stick to roasting manually and leave mine on 9 and hit the power button twice to keep roasting. I have preheated for a 4 minute period before and noticed no issues.

I do one batch on my roaster once a week so my use may be smaller than others.

The wiring in my place is 3 years old.

[sorrentina]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

glad to hear it Roz.

I think some most units do not have a problem- and will just soldier on and and on. My original units are both like this after maybe 200 roasts... (I used to only do 150 grams so racked up a lot of KGs) and they are on the same old wiring.

[sorrentina]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

Update: just tested out Toastys new trick: I (carefully) placed the pot and chaff catcher (turning the spindle by hand to ensure it was well seated)- then set to roast level 9- and started. Then I just turned the dial back to the preheat setting. Roast progressed perfectly. When I reset the timer- I moved the dial to around 7 -double pressed the power button- and again moved it back to preheat roast timer reset and continued all the way through to second crack- another lovely roast- no stoppages.

So can I ask anyone who has had this issue to try this method and see if it solves the problem? Will need at least a few more positive results before we can say anything definitive...

UPDATE: just did a second batch- this time 250g. No stoppages- perfect roast :. touching wood now...

[grantw]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

Next up will be 150gms of Peruvian Casa de Selva.

This is the one you should have started with, the cracks are very distinctive which makes it easy. Try roasting 250grams, the larger thermal mass makes it a bit slower, which means you have more margin for error .

You are exactly right :-). I increased the batch size on my last two roasts on the weekend and it was a much more predictable process.

Cheers

Grant

[sorrentina]

Re: I-Coffee roasting experiences

Things do move faster at 150 grams- if you wanted to roast smaller batches and slow it down a little- you can press the power button once to start the cool cycle about one minute after first crack. The roast will continue but not as fast.