Behmor 1600 Plus - Coffee Roaster

[Andy]

Would love a bit of advice from a Behmor doctor.

As suggested in the replies above, instead of getting random answers via a forum you are ALWAYS better off talking to Behmor Tech Support or the supplier of your roaster first. The Behmor guys do diagnosis for a living and will be the fastest and best way to move forward. The few problems that have happened on the 3000 odd Aussie roasters are always sorted pretty quickly.

See the tech support pages on their website, fill-in the form and someone should get back to you overnight (due to the time zone differences). We carry all parts here and can then dispatch them same day.

Wow - the Behmor gave such a consistent roast compared to the popper! Not to say anything wrong with fresh beans from a popper, it just really struck me as soon as I looked at them. It was also much slower to get the first crack.

I'm recording all the data can think of for each roast, changing one element, and then putting each roast in a one-on-one smack down with other roasts, to get a feel for the different flavours that different variables give. The roasting smack-downs are happening at different lengths of time after the roast, they get vacuum sealed, compared in different brew methods etc etc. It's all going into a data model so down the track I can start to drill down into the roasts and see what variables pushed my buttons. Over time I want it to be a monster data model of my roasts. Is anyone else doing this? It's basically a multiple regression on the different roast variables.


Do I have a problem? Is this level of enthusiasm for roasting normal?


I think I have a problem...

Not only will you have a more even roast, you should also notice a huge body improvement in the Behmor roasts. It really does get close to the results from a commercial drum roaster.

Oh, your enthusiasm for home roasting is perfectly normal.... well at least it's normal for the 1000's of home roasters here on Coffee Snobs!

Enjoy the journey to better coffee.

[barri]

Nick, your long term plan sounds great. I log every roast including the taste after 7 days but in the short term you need to gain a good feel of what your behmor's doing. That is, the cracks, timing, weights, profiles etc. Try not to change too many variables early on. Focus on the one bean and maybe try a few different power settings during the roast. Taste after 7 to 10 days and once you've nailed it then stick with that for a while and enjoy your coffees. After that start experimenting. I started with visions of grandeur. I bought about 5 different types of beans and I ended getting confused. So I focused on Peru CD from beanbay and getting the weight, profile and more importantly the taste right. I've only just started blending and boy it's real fun.

[bxp]

A quick thanks to Andy and Behmor for the quick diagnosis and quick postage of parts. I only got round to fixing it on the weekend but I could have been up and running within 3 days, so didn't have to buy store bought beans.

After taking out the PCB I noticed there was scorch marks on the back and also on the metal back plate about 1.5cm away which has the spacers which you screw the PCB onto. This was the first time I've stripped it apart and had it tilted on it's side etc. When I did I heard a rattling sound, which happened to be a rogue nut. No idea where it came from because there was no bolt or any holes which I could see a missing bolt. I presume over time the nut fell from somewhere and fell between the PCB and the chasis= magical spark! I never would have noticed it because the day I unboxed it was the day I put it on the shelf in my garage, so no opportunity to hear the nut moving around.

PCB in, dry burn and then that evening a new roast. Good as gold.

Can't thank Andy enough for the rapid response. Store bought beans crisis averted.

[bxp]

Quick three times in one sentence. What was I thinking about when I wrote that? Terrible...

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Quick three times in one sentence. What was I thinking about when I wrote that? Terrible...

You'll be well prepared if you have to jump over a lazy dog....

[Andy]

thanks to Andy and Behmor..
(snip)
...When I did I heard a rattling sound, which happened to be a rogue nut. No idea where it came from because there was no bolt or any holes which I could see a missing bolt...

Always happy to help.

As for the random nut... I can only think of one in the roaster off the top of my head.
The drum motor has a socket held to the shaft with a nut and bolt, it might have come off there?
You can check by undoing the side circuit board (no need to un-clip the wires, just let it hang down), the drum motor is held with two screws from inside the roast chamber. Undo those and the motor should come out the right side. It should be pretty obvious if the nut came from there.

[koshari]

Always happy to help.

As for the random nut... I can only think of one in the roaster off the top of my head.

in our house the random nut is often operating the behmor :-)

[bcobbweb]

Temp doesn't go above 286F on a program 325 on manual

Can't get past First Crack into Second. Shouldn't temp be up to 400-450F?
Thanks

Seems the cat is out of the bag!

At the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) show in Seattle last week the owner of the company "spilt the beans" that there was a new version of the very popular roaster planned for release soon. Within hours the Internet was abuzz with noise and speculation about the new roaster and it's features. So I'm assuming that my Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is now open for discussion... so here it is.


We are lucky enough that the world's first build of the new roaster is the 220v/240v Australian model. The roasters have been built and are on the water and I hope that they will land and clear customs and will be shipping out to anxious customers before the end of May.

Behmor 1600 Plus

The "Plus" model contains the exact same functionality of the original roaster with the popular inbuilt automatic roast profiles and now has the addition of some great new features that the home roasting community has been requesting:

Original Features:

• Easy to use
• User Selectable Auto Profiles
• 220v, 230v, 240v
• Great results

PLUS

New Features:

• Manual Control
  • 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% selectable element power.
  • Variable drum speed 8 RPM / 16 RPM
  
  
• View Temperatures during a roast
  • Chamber wall
  • Exhaust channel
  
  
• "Rosetta Stone"
  • Press "C" at First Crack to reset time remaining

• Unattended Safety Feature
  • At 75% of the roast "un30" will countdown, press [Start] to continue
  • Failure to press start Press [Start] at First Crack will result in the cooling cycle starting

• New Metric front panel.
  • 100g, 200g, 400g (instead of pounds)
  • (the 120v USA model will remain pounds and fahrenheit)

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6316[/ATTACH]



When the new roasters land they will be available in BeanBay:


For existing owners of the original Behmor 1600 roaster you can purchase a replacement front panel assembly which will add all the new features. This will also be available in BeanBay:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]6317[/ATTACH]

I'll update this thread as needed.

I've been running the new roaster for a few months and it's really great to get the extra control.
Any questions feel free to fire away and I'll do my best to answer them.

[frasertr]

Has anyone with a Behmor analysed their roasts using a refractometer. Fascinated by any results people would have

[johnmacleod]

The chamber wall and exhaust channel temperature probes are already in the roaster, including the original model. The new control panel simply allows you to see what their readings are.


Java "Gotta love a new toy!" phile

The readings on the temperature probes can be read on the original 1600 too - at least on mine. Just press the P1 or P2 button while roasting or cooling to see the current readings on the two probes.

John

[neofelis]

After meeting Joe the creator of the Behmor over the weekend at Mice, I can reassure everyone that we're all in very very safe hands!

We have Andy who provides excellent customer service and on top of that Joe is an amazing guy as well! I have full confidence and faith in the Behmor products.

Now hurry up and get the brazen Andy!

[frasertr]

I totally agree! I met Joe and had my photo taken with him. He was an inspiring and visionary character. The relationship him and Andy have is great for coffee in Aus. Their plans for the future are also very exciting.

[keiro]

Hi ,
I live near Leipzig Germany and roast a few years with the Behmor 1600 my coffee. Reconstruction of the Behmors I have long pursued. Since we have the same current as in Australia, I contacted Andy Freeman to a conversion kit to the Plus version bekommen.Ich received on the same day an answer to my question. The conversion kit then went the next day to Germany on the trip.
10 days later I received the items. Everything was SUPER fast. Unfortunately, the part had a technical error and after a short consultation with Andy he has given me no problems for a replacement. This was just 8 days on the road and I have installed the part today and the Behmor 1600 Plus runs like a bee.
I hereby would like to thank Andy Freeman once again for this very great support, I'm just overwhelmed by Andy "s willingness to help, which even goes around the globe.
My english is very bad, but I hope you can understand me.
I read a long time with in your forum and I will do it even further.

Many greetings from Leipzig to Australia

keiro

[Bazooka]

Andy's service is definitely above and beyond normal

[Javaphile]

Andy's in a class all his own.


Java "Gotta love it!" phile