Behmor AB Coffee Roaster (also known as AB 1600 Plus and 1600 AB plus)

[James37]

Behmor 1600ab plus in australia

Hi there, I've been informed that this machine wont be available in Australia until mid 2021. I really like the look/cost of this roaster and was wondering what anyone thought of buying one from the US (where they are available) and then buying a step down transformer so that the AUS power input (240V) is compatible with US output (120V). On that note, what wattage transformer would I need to consider? (Apparently it has a power draw of 1700 W but I've read that anything with heating elements may draw more power than that). It all seems a bit of a hassle but I'm desparate to start roasting and was hoping the roaster would be out by now.

James

[338]

James, I wouldn't do it. Just build or buy a Corretto (search here) or popcorn maker and wait. Not much money tied up for either of those options. Why have all the hassle and no warranty or backup here (or spares in Aus as it will be 120V) for having it early? Surprisingly enough many here are managing to roast without this new roaster. There has been a few Correto's given away free on the site in the last couple of months.

I am very sure Andy will be along soon and give his opinion

[GaryM]

On the Behmor Facebook page just a month ago Joe answered a question of mine about the upgrade kit that implied is would be available reasonably soon. Apparently it is designed to suit both voltage markets.

[Andy]

(I just merged the 3 Behmor AB threads together here for ease of use)

Hi there, I've been informed that this machine wont be available in Australia until mid 2021.

The Australian build should have been shipping today (by coincidence) but they didn't get them built in time.

"I think (best guess) that will now mean a March shipping and a April arrival."
from:
https://beanbay.coffeesnobs.com.au/V...coffee-roaster

Certainly not the middle of 2021 (don't know who told you that!) but just a couple of months away. If you follow the above link it also gives directions for getting on the "notification list" which gets updates as we know them.

As for mucking around with a transformer? You could try but they are different roasters. We are building model 2020SR which is different to the USA one and the self-imported one will cost a lot more and not have Australian electrical certification (which possibly means your house insurance won't exist if you have a problem). Add to that your stepdown transformer will only change voltage, not frequency (50hz vs 60hz) so it still won't work the same here.

338 above nailed it, just start roasting on something else simple while you wait.

[Andy]

On the Behmor Facebook page just a month ago Joe answered a question of mine about the upgrade kit that implied is would be available reasonably soon. Apparently it is designed to suit both voltage markets.

Well... sorta.

The upgrade kit he is talking about is for the USA Behmor AB roasters that were black but not really AB roasters. Confused? It gets better. The first shipment of Behmor AB roasters in the USA were "nearly" AB roasters but not quite, there is an upgrade kit available in the USA for that first shipment to get them up to AB spec with the "beep at unattended countdown" etc.

This is a 2 piece upgrade for only the 1st USA shipment of AB roasters.

The gotcha is that the while the front panel and side board are the same size as previous roaster models the terminals on the wiring is different so adding a board to an existing (non-AB) roaster will not be plug and play.

Below is a picture (not a great one) of the side board from the 220v prototype AB roaster at the Snobbery:



Biggest difference is that the active and neutral 220v coming in are using screw-through connectors, not locking spade clips like all the roaster models before it.

This side board and the front panel are a pair, both will have to be used together and while we are building spares I'm not sure anyone except a qualified sparkie will be able to "upgrade" an old roaster. We'll know more when they land.