Posted Thu Jun 25, 2009, 7:37pm Subject: Temperature problems with iroast 2, help!
I just purchased my first roaster and roasted my first batch of beans. (I'm really excited). I decided to start that I would use Mark Princes suggested heating pattern explained in the iroast 2 review. I set the program like this: 1st phase 385 degrees for 1 minute, 2nd phase 430 degrees for 3 minutes, and 3rd phase 465 degrees for 2 minutes. When I started roasting this is what happened: after 3 minutes it was only at 340 degrees and it started stage 2. At 4 minutes it started stage 3 and it was at 367 degrees. Between 4 and 5 minutes of roasting 1st crack started and at 5 minutes the temperature was at only 375 degrees. It was only at 6 minutes that it finally got to the 385 degrees it was supposed to in the first stage. What am I not understanding here? I roasted indoors and it was about 75 degrees F in here. I well know that maybe the wall socket I was using could not be providing enough power so how do I find out? I roasted two more times after that, being careful to program correctly and the same thing happened. The good news is that I loved the French Press I made with the beans. I do not yet understand when to stop the roast (the recommended level was city to city+) I think I roasted a little darker but not into 2nd crack. Please could somebody help me?
JKalpin Senior Member Joined: 28 Dec 2008 Posts: 230 Location: Thornhill, Ontario Canada Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Aerobie Aeropress Grinder: Baratza Maestro Plus Vac Pot: Yama 5-Cup Drip: Bunn Roaster: Freshroast Plus 8
Posted Fri Jun 26, 2009, 5:50am Subject: Re: Temperature problems with iroast 2, help!
Your first step is to buy a 'Kill-A-Watt' meter. You plug it into your wall or stove powere outlet and plug your roaster into it. It will let you know the line-voltage (roaster off or running) and a number of other things such as amperes and watts. It is low-cost, dependable and gives you useful information.
What you have sounds very much like low voltage.
It you have low voltage it could be a problem with that one outlet or your household power in general. If your street has low voltage you can still fix it with a Variac auto-transformer. Variacs are reasonably cheap if the vendor is near you; they are heavy and shipping costs could be high.
Do a search in this newsgroup first for Kill-A-Watt and then for Variac. They have been discussed a lot.
TimothyH Senior Member Joined: 9 Sep 2006 Posts: 21 Location: USA Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: silvia (pid) Grinder: mazzer mini (doser) Vac Pot: bodum press pot Drip: capresso Roaster: IRoast2
Posted Fri Jun 26, 2009, 8:14am Subject: Re: Temperature problems with iroast 2, help!
The good news is that I loved the French Press I made with the beans. I do not yet understand when to stop the roast (the recommended level was city to city+) I think I roasted a little darker but not into 2nd crack. Please could somebody help me?
I have been roasting with the IRoastII for about two years. I had the same problem with the indicated temp. I think if you got the roast to darker than city+ you probably had a higher temp in the bean mass than the indicated temp on the roaster. I installed a thermocouple to read bean mass temp and found that it read higher than the temp indicated on the machine. I now pay more attention to sound, smell and color as well as thermocouple temp. I pretty much ignore the indicated temp.
I thought my unit was defective but it sounds like you are having the same problem.
TheJohnNewton Senior Member Joined: 11 Oct 2008 Posts: 16 Location: East Bay SF Area Expertise: I love coffee
Grinder: Kitchen Aide Drip: Chemex, AeroPress, Moka Pot
Posted Fri Jun 26, 2009, 8:22am Subject: Re: Temperature problems with iroast 2, help!
From what I've read at Sweet Maria's and observed with my own I-Roast2 the first stage is always a minimum of 3 minutes even if you program a shorter one. The programmed temp is not going to match the temp of the beans. It's more like the temp of the air. You want the beans to slowing increase not match the programmed temp exactly. The temp display on the roaster is also known to be fairly inaccurate. Like Tim I also installed a thermocouple and rely more on sound, smell, and color. I don't even bother to look at the temp indicated on the machine anymore.
Posted Sat Jun 27, 2009, 11:33am Subject: Re: Temperature problems with iroast 2, help!
I'm going to buy the killawatt meter today. I'll let that be my first step. I don't understand how the programming works. Perhaps you could explain this to me. Mark suggested an even ramp up to 385 degrees and then to hold it for 1 minute. So I programmed the first stage at 385 for 1 minute thinking that the machine would take the time to get to 385 and then hold it for the minute. But I'm wondering if when you set the first stage if that includes the ramp up and starts the time from the very beginning. If so, if I want to ramp up to 385 and then hold it for a minute how much extra time would I add- 3 minutes? This would be assuming that I don't have a line voltage problem. Also, I'm potentially interested in the thermocouple. Is it easy to install? Thank you all for your help.
TheJohnNewton Senior Member Joined: 11 Oct 2008 Posts: 16 Location: East Bay SF Area Expertise: I love coffee
Grinder: Kitchen Aide Drip: Chemex, AeroPress, Moka Pot
Posted Sun Jun 28, 2009, 7:45am Subject: Re: Temperature problems with iroast 2, help!
eastbaysanfranman - It's not like setting an oven. Programming a temperature and time DOES NOT mean the roaster will take whatever time needed to get to the programmed temperature and then stay there for the time you programmed. It's more like the roaster will attempt to blow air at that temp for that amount of time. Also keep in mind the bean temp and the roaster temp are two differnt things. By "slowly ramp up to 385" I assume he meant the bean temp not the roaster temp. If you go to the I-Roast page on Sweet Maria's site you can find a tip sheet for using the I-Roast that should help with the basics of how it works.
Posted Mon Jun 29, 2009, 2:48pm Subject: Re: Temperature problems with iroast 2, help!
Right on everyone for your help. My electrician buddy came over last night and tested my outlet. It was on a really hot evening and everyones ac was running on the street. It tested at 120V. I don't know anything about electricity but I'm assuming that that is the only info I need to see if the outlet is putting out enough power. So I plan on skipping the killawatt unless anyone tells me differently. It sounds like the most important thing I could get now is a thermocouple so that I can tell what the bean temp actually is at the different stages. I roasted last night at preset 1 to plainly see what my maching is doing. (preset 1 is 450 degrees F for 10 minutes) Here is what the temp on the iroast2 read: 2 min. = 295 degrees, 3 min = 318 degrees, 4 min = 350 degrees, 6 min = 360 degrees, 7 min = 388 degrees, 8 min = 397 degrees, 9 min = 400 degrees, 10 minutes = 400 degrees. It never got to 450 degrees. I need to study the sweet marias info but it seems like he said that the actual temperature on the one he uses is always about 40-50 degrees higher than the readout on the iroast.
Posted Mon Jun 29, 2009, 5:25pm Subject: Re: Temperature problems with iroast 2, help!
eastbaysanfranman Said:
It tested at 120V. I don't know anything about electricity but I'm assuming that that is the only info I need to see if the outlet is putting out enough power. So I plan on skipping the killawatt unless anyone tells me differently.
It's not. Your assumption is erroneous. Don't skip it.
Testing the outlet while the neighborhood air conditioners are all running full blast tells you that the neighborhood has good power distribution. The kill-a-watt will tell you what the voltage is while you're running the roaster, which may be different than the unloaded voltage.
Voltage drop under load is a normal and expected part of building wiring, there are different standards of acceptability. What you need to do is figure out that you're not 100 feet away from the load center over 14 gauge wire and having unacceptable voltage drop, and losing power.
If your electrician friend wants to come back and test what the voltage at the outlet is while you're running a roast, that will skip the need for a kill-a-watt, for now, sort of.
The ultra quick check that your line voltage is OK with the I-roast: start a roast cycle. Listen to the fan for a few seconds. Press the cool button to start the cooling cycle. The fan speed (pitch) should not change significantly.
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