Behmor 1600 Plus - Coffee Roaster

[AntC1946]

I have been using my Behmor 1600 for 3 years now. Don't do much fancy with the roasting process, use a blend of beans based on KJM's House Blend, in summer we roast in 400g lots (350g in winter 'cos Tassie is cold outside then and 400g is a struggle sometimes lost) and have a cleaning session every 5 roasts. All roasts are done outside, running from an external power socket attached to the house (no actual extension cord).

Apart from an initial problem with weird warnings, the roaster has given absolutelyno trouble. We roast at least twice a week so would have completed over 300 roasts by now.

I can say that cold days with strong winds affect the roaster - they seem to prevent generation of enough heat to finish the job off. Luckily the timing of such a day on a roast day is rare - and now I just wait until the next day.

Why am I writing this? To show the Behmor as a roaster that lasts and one that keeps on producing results that we are very pleased with. Thanks Andy for working with Behmor to bring the unit into the country and for your ongoing green bean supply. And now - it's coffee time I am being told.

[pcrussell50]

After burner comes on and stays on, all the time, every time...

...cross posted to coffeegeek of North America...

Just finished a roast about an hour ago. Light, as usual, set into cooling before 2C. I let it cool for ages, a lot longer than the normal cooling cycle, while I made breakfast for my little girl. Come back to empty the beans, they are stone cold as expected, the display LED lights are all out and dark, consistent with a shut down machine... but... the after burner is going full gonzo. So I unplug the machine from the wall. This time the AB turns off (duh) while I vacuum out the chaff. Plug it back in, and the AB comes on again full blast. Unplug it and leave it unplugged for half an hour, go back and plug it in and the AB turns right on immediately.

Got the machine for Chrissie 2014, so in service for '15 '16 '17 and a quarter of '18...

Any ideas before I contact Behmor?

-Peter

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

After burner comes on and stays on, all the time, every time...

...cross posted to coffeegeek of North America...

Just finished a roast about an hour ago. Light, as usual, set into cooling before 2C. I let it cool for ages, a lot longer than the normal cooling cycle, while I made breakfast for my little girl. Come back to empty the beans, they are stone cold as expected, the display LED lights are all out and dark, consistent with a shut down machine... but... the after burner is going full gonzo. So I unplug the machine from the wall. This time the AB turns off (duh) while I vacuum out the chaff. Plug it back in, and the AB comes on again full blast. Unplug it and leave it unplugged for half an hour, go back and plug it in and the AB turns right on immediately.

Got the machine for Chrissie 2014, so in service for '15 '16 '17 and a quarter of '18...

Any ideas before I contact Behmor?

-Peter

I suspect that it's a problem with the side printed circuit board, but have you tried starting a roast profile and letting it run out? Or starting a profile, and then hitting cool?

The nice people at Behmor seem to be monitoring their support line....my roaster (similar age to yours) stopped completely on Friday (Aus time) but they've responded with advice within 24 hours.

[pcrussell50]

I'll try those things, thanks :thumbup:

-Peter

[taco]

The bit of the drum/basket that connects to the motor shaft broke off mid-roast today. I'm going to try and reweld it, but I'll also try and email Andy to see if he's got spare parts in case I stuff that up.

[artman]

The bit of the drum/basket that connects to the motor shaft broke off mid-roast today. I'm going to try and reweld it, but I'll also try and email Andy to see if he's got spare parts in case I stuff that up.

That is weird, its a solid chunk welded to bars than the drum outer ring.

Pretty sure a replacement drum is quite cheap, I'm sure Andy will help out.

Cheers

[taco]

The bit that separated was the cylindrical bit (that is squared off at the other end and inserts into the motor shaft) from the square metal plate that has a hole in it that the cylindrical bit sits in and is tack welded together. That metal plate is still attached to the bars on the drum.
It's 5 years old and has roasted just under 200kg of coffee, plus a little bit of cacao and the occasional hazelnuts too. Not bad for the first repair needed.
New basket/drum has arrived already, great service as always Andy.
I'll still try and re-weld the shaft bit back on to the original once I borrow a welder, but no stress now if that fails.
Oddly, fastway delivered the parcel from a regular car instead of a van/truck. Must have had a small parcel round today.

[Rockford]

After grabbing one of these from the Forsale section. I've tried a couple of roasts, one thing I am not sure about is...I am following this advice posted in this thread or somewhere else.

When I get to the rolling FC, I am hitting C and P3 and it resets the timer back to 2.06 (was at about 1.51) and then the P3 constantly flashes, I thought I'd see something on the temp graph to reflect the lower power? Do I need to hit 200 again, then C then P3?

Use 200g or 400g batches. 200g best while practicing.
No preheat.
Select P2 and B
At FC (after several cracks) hit C and P3 for 50% power

You can let it run the full time to get a decent roast. Alternatively hit the + once for slightly darker or stop it 20sec early for a bit lighter.

[CafeLotta]

Pressing P3 and seeing it flash indicates you're in manual mode at 50% element power. Refer this Quick Reference Guide for Manual functions (Behmor 1600 Plus models) - http://www.behmor.com/docs/New-Progr...-Plus-V4.2.pdf

For those that have an older Behmor 1600 model and may be reading this, these functions become available with a front panel upgrade if you're up for the install. I can vouch for it being worthwhile doing - http://beanbay.coffeesnobs.com.au/Vi...-upgrade-grams

The one thing I find missing with the Behmor is an ability to display the current element power when in program mode. If its variable rather than stepped, this is irrelevant I suppose. A graph as a PDF which shows Progam (P1, P2 etc) with time v Element Power (or target temp) at various points in the program would be very useful as a guide when manually tinkering with element power after first crack.

You may need to experiment with the other power settings as shown in the Quick Reference Guide and maybe use A and B to view exhaust channel or chamber wall temps via the Behmor's sensors.

[Rockford]

Thanks for the links, I read the manual but obviously missed this. So looking at the graph I posted, should I have seen any decrease in temp at 50% power? Or is it an insulation situation where it will maintain the temp.

[CafeLotta]

Thanks for the links, I read the manual but obviously missed this. So looking at the graph I posted, should I have seen any decrease in temp at 50% power? Or is it an insulation situation where it will maintain the temp.

I can't answer that question. I think it would be a case of finding what % element power and duration is required in manual mode to maintain or increase/decrease the temperature.

As I suggested earlier, you probably need to experiment in manual mode and take note of what changes occurr for future reference.

The program intelligence utilises the information that the temp sensors provide and follows a roasting template in accordance with whichever P1-P5 program is selected. In manual mode it's all up to you!

[simonsk8r]

After grabbing one of these from the Forsale section. I've tried a couple of roasts, one thing I am not sure about is...I am following this advice posted in this thread or somewhere else.

When I get to the rolling FC, I am hitting C and P3 and it resets the timer back to 2.06 (was at about 1.51) and then the P3 constantly flashes, I thought I'd see something on the temp graph to reflect the lower power? Do I need to hit 200 again, then C then P3?



[ATTACH=CONFIG]20651[/ATTACH]

G'day Rockford! Just wondering, where abouts is your temperature probe located within your Behmor? Am just wondering why the line flattens out for the whole thing even going through FC and rolling FC etc. Usually it will keep rising, and then as you lower the temp that line will not be as steep a gradient so as to indicate a lowered heat input/slower heat increase, but it depends where the temperature probe is located.

I have mine setup inside the drum itself after modding it.

[Rockford]

Mine is as per the diagram below using the probe I got from here. It barely peeks out of the metal inside (probably 1-2mm) could the radiating heat of the metal be causing issues? If it goes too far in it will catch the basket?

[CafeLotta]

Am just wondering why the line flattens out for the whole thing even going through FC and rolling FC etc. Usually it will keep rising, and then as you lower the temp that line will not be as steep a gradient so as to indicate a lowered heat input/slower heat increase, but it depends where the temperature probe is located.

There's a fair chance that's due to hitting P3 at first crack and going to manual element power control rather than letting the Behmor program control the element power. Instead of 50% power, 75% power and monitoring temp closer may have been required.

[simonsk8r]

Ah right, but it reaches about 126.5°, then it sort of goes a little up then down, then FC and all other things are happening around this temperature. Yeah it may catch on the drum if you put it further in, but am curious how other people's graphs look like with that probe position. Sorry I can't help more! Just trying to understand what the probe is reading.