Ageing Behmor 1600 (125kg+ roasts over 4 years)

[Intellidepth]

Ahhh. The joys of old age. My Behmor has slowed down. Not the drum rotation, the temps. For some time now it's only been able to handle 300-350g roasts instead of 400g (used to push 450g from time to time). I've had to change profiles for some beans to accommodate it too. Admittedly it had 3 fires from distractions when roasting chaffy beans in the early days. It survived. The neighbours did not.

Any ideas on what I might need to do to improve it? Or is it reaching out for retirement?

(Same house, same power.)

Thanks.

[lakeman]

Hi mate.
I had the same issue and I found it was the afterburner on top that died.
I thought about repairing it but for the use you have had may I suggest you think about a hotttop.
I believe a 1 kg model is due in about august

[Bazooka]

May be its time to get in the queue for behmor plus glad to know behmor can do 100+ kg roasts, so about less than $1/kg, good value indeed!

[Intellidepth]

Behmor 1 is officially going into semi-retirement thanks to the timely arrival of the latest batch. *shiny*

Lakeman 1kg hottop sounds great for our consumption rate - I'll have to save up for one. Thanks for the heads up. It'll also mean I can roast for social events far more easily, which after my first few enthusiastic efforts a few years ago of roasting up to 16kg in a day, dissipated into 'ahh, wasn't really worth the effort'.

Now that I've sorted the important things in life, I'd best get my head into the zone for a uni exam today .

[Intellidepth]

Did you repair it lakeman? If so, could a non-electrician do it? Andy's suggested he can supply the part and I'm thinking I might spend the $ so I have a second roaster for as long as the rest of its parts survive.

[lakeman]

I took it apart and decided not to bother.
It was a bit tricky to reassemble as the ceramic component was broken and the element was stretched so in the end I didnt bother.
How much did Andy say the part was?

[Pretzal]

Ahhhh just stumbled upon this thread.

I reckon I'm having the same issues with mine. It's taking longer to roast my usual 350gm batches with more than a few different types of beans getting to the end of the cycle time and having to add the maximum allowable time to ensure the roast finishes. Apart from extended roast times, I'm getting 'lazy' first cracks that go on for prolonged periods very slowly then straight into second crack. One bean type seems to skip first crack altogether?

I took a few panels off today to give it a clean out. Nothing horrendous under the covers but it may take a few roasts to see if it has made an appreciable difference. I was looking to upgrade the front panel, but I might have to wait a little longer and upgrade it all!

[lionfish]

Interesting thread.

My roaster is struggling to bring 250 grams to second crack on P1 for extended time. I'm in the garage so the ambient temp is slightly warmer.

I've cleaned the senor so I don't think it is that.

Is there any other diagnostics I can do?

The beans are looking very raw at even the 6 minutes to go mark.

Many thanks for any support. It is getting very frustrating.

[J_Hutt]

Interesting thread.

My roaster is struggling to bring 250 grams to second crack on P1 for extended time. I'm in the garage so the ambient temp is slightly warmer.

I've cleaned the senor so I don't think it is that.

Is there any other diagnostics I can do?

The beans are looking very raw at even the 6 minutes to go mark.

Many thanks for any support. It is getting very frustrating.

Perhaps get a price on a set of new elements? Shouldnt be too hard to fit if youre careful and safe.

Also, an upgrade 1600+ front panel will give you more ability to extend the roasts in manual mode.