infinus Senior Member Joined: 20 Jan 2012 Posts: 73 Location: Indiana, USA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Cheap POS Grinder: Baratza Preciso Vac Pot: Broken by the cats! Drip: Brazen, Technivorm Roaster: Behmor 1600
Posted Sun Feb 5, 2012, 7:25am Subject: Behmor modification
What's the general policy here for discussing mods to the Behmor? I'm a first time poster and don't want to step on any toes or anything but is it pretty open to post modifications and discuss them?
Posted Sun Feb 5, 2012, 8:02am Subject: Re: Behmor modification
Great question, Michael! Actually, I was reluctant to mention that i prop the front of my Behmor up with a 2x4 for fear that even suggesting that the Behmor could benefit from any such unorthodox methodology. I love my Behmor and am very glad I bought it. I think it is great that Behmor's man in America is an active member of this forum, and I really don't want to ruffle any feathers. Yes, your question is a very good one. I would hope we could get some good constructive answers to this question because there are a LOT of Behmor owners out there. Thanks for addressing this question. Great first post by the way.
Posted Sun Feb 5, 2012, 8:02am Subject: Re: Behmor modification
infinus Said:
What's the general policy here for discussing mods to the Behmor? I'm a first time poster and don't want to step on any toes or anything but is it pretty open to post modifications and discuss them?
infinus Senior Member Joined: 20 Jan 2012 Posts: 73 Location: Indiana, USA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Cheap POS Grinder: Baratza Preciso Vac Pot: Broken by the cats! Drip: Brazen, Technivorm Roaster: Behmor 1600
Posted Sun Feb 5, 2012, 9:04am Subject: Re: Behmor modification
Great. So here goes:
I got a Behmor just a little while back. I was reasonably happy with it from the get go but there were a few areas that I wanted to improve. I wanted to get to first crack faster, and I wanted the ability to temper the roast between 1st and 2nd crack. My preference in roasts is a faster time to first crack. I like the taste and flavor better. Out of the box, doing 1 pound roasts I was getting times around 15-16 minutes. This was on P1B, 1 pound batch size. I began to experiment with ways to speed this up a little bit. I really wanted to be around the 10-11 minute point to first crack on my roast, and my goal was to do it with a decently sized volume.
Yes, my house hold voltage is good, I even use a Variac to fine tune it to a starting voltage of between 120.5 and 121 volts.
First, I reduced my batch size a bit. I didn't want to come down too far however because I felt that being able to do a larger batch was one of the pro's of the Behmor. I settled on a 3/4 pound sized batch.
Second, I realized that the Behmor itself was limiting the speed of the roast by cycling the elements too early (at least I thought it was much too early). I initially contacted Behmor and reported my times to first crack and the times at which the heaters cycled. They believed that maybe my sensor was a little off and gladly sent me a new sensor. I have to take a moment here and comment that their support was top notch. The new sensor definitely helped but I still didn't like the cycling of the element on the way to first crack. So I decided to simply relocate the sensor to "fool" the roaster into keeping the element on. With the element staying on, my times to first crack came down to about 13-14 minutes on a 3/4 sized batch. Better.... still not there.
Third, I started to pre-heat the Behmor. With the sensor relocated I was able to do much more through pre-heats without the safeties kicking in. I now pre-heat for about 4 to 5 minutes to get the chamber temperature up a bit shy of 300 degrees before sliding the drum in and starting my roast. This brought my times to first crack down to about 10:30-11:30 with a 3/4 sized batch. Now we are getting to where I want to be!
Fourth, with this level of preheat and the heater NOT cycling, the momentum of the roast was getting to be a bit over bearing towards the end. Without any intervention, first crack (1 to 1:30 in length) would roll straight into second crack. So, for example, I'd hit first crack at 11 minutes, it would crack through about 12:15, and then second crack would immediately start and I'd end my roast at about 12:30. So at first, I started doing the door open dance that many others have done. I debated experimenting with P2, however given the variance of time to first on bean type this wasn't acceptable for me, so with some experimentation I came up with my own mod to control the heat elements.
Edit: Instructions removed on request
So on hitting first crack I can turn the elements off for a bit. I usually do 10-15 second off and then 10-15 second on for about a minute or two, then just flip them back to full on. This gives me about 3.5-4 minutes between first and second crack! I now am getting some VERY nice roasts (for my tastes). 3/4 sized batches, that hit first crack between 10:30 and 11:30, and have 3.5 to 4 minutes between cracks, for a total roast time of 14-15 minutes!
Another "trick" I'm now doing is that I actually roast on the 1/2 pound P5D program with max time added. Since the switch now has control of the heater it still runs 100% on until first crack. I use P5D (with max time added for 17:30) to get enough roast time for my 14-15 minute roast. Why do I do this? Because on a 1/2 pound the draw fan kicks on earlier (4:30 vs 7:30 for 1 pound). I found that the draw fan (with a fully preheated chamber) makes no difference in roast time, but makes the roast MUCH MUCH more even! With the draw fan kicking on earlier I get VERY even roasts with no signs of heat damage from the elements being on so much.
Lastly, I use the open door cooling method. I absolutely love the roasts I get out of this setup.
Whew, that was a lot to type...... So I just wanted to post my experiences and maybe enjoy some discussion on this. I've know that the way I'm using the Behmor is NOT the way it's setup from the factory, but I've been careful to monitor temperatures from MANY different points around the roaster and see no signs that anything's running too hot. I still want to caution people to be VERY careful with this type of modification. I NEVER walk away from my roaster and always monitor temperatures and voltage.
Willieok Senior Member Joined: 5 Feb 2012 Posts: 2 Location: Oklahoma Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Sun Feb 5, 2012, 9:40am Subject: Re: Behmor modification
Just curious as to the environment temperature you are reaching on the way to 1c? Do you target a temp after 1c or just do the power cycling based on time (10 sec on, 10 sec off)? Thanks for the post.
Joel_B Senior Member Joined: 9 Oct 2007 Posts: 1,823 Location: Pacific NW Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Astra Mega II Grinder: Mazzer SJ, Virtuoso Vac Pot: Yama 5 cup Drip: nope, french press Roaster: Behmor, WP, BBQ drum
Posted Sun Feb 5, 2012, 9:45am Subject: Re: Behmor modification
Wow! Nice job Michael. Really resourceful. There's a guy here (sorry, slipped my mind) that modded his with manual controls over each component. Toggle switches and reostats over elements. Motor speed, exhaust fan, etc. Always had plans to do something similar but somehow with all my projects its been a back burner (no pun intended) project. But I like what you've done and that's a simple process.
One thing you might want to upgrade next is the drum motor. I've read from others that a faster drum rpm helps even out the roast. Lower batch sizes I find can get a little uneven so I've always wanted to do that as well.
infinus Senior Member Joined: 20 Jan 2012 Posts: 73 Location: Indiana, USA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Cheap POS Grinder: Baratza Preciso Vac Pot: Broken by the cats! Drip: Brazen, Technivorm Roaster: Behmor 1600
Posted Sun Feb 5, 2012, 9:50am Subject: Re: Behmor modification
I find that the environmental temp in the Behmor is difficult to measure. The "infrared" affect of the elements adds a variable that I'm not sure how to account for. The location from which you measure also greatly changes the reading. Close to the door temps can be down around 300, close to the elements it'll be hotter. Due to all this variance and the unknown affect of the infrared I decided not to rely on environmental temp as a firm indicator. Once I hit first crack I for now am just doing it on time. 10 or 15 second off, 15 seconds on.
As for drum speed, another thing I may do a little investigation on is the cooling cycle. With the light switch mod you can run the heater in the cool cycle. I've wondered if one of the pins will flip the drum to the high speed "cool" mode. If so, you could easily trick the roaster into running the drum faster with no change to the drum motor configuration.
Joel_B Senior Member Joined: 9 Oct 2007 Posts: 1,823 Location: Pacific NW Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Astra Mega II Grinder: Mazzer SJ, Virtuoso Vac Pot: Yama 5 cup Drip: nope, french press Roaster: Behmor, WP, BBQ drum
Posted Sun Feb 5, 2012, 10:07am Subject: Re: Behmor modification
infinus Said:
I find that the environmental temp in the Behmor is difficult to measure. The "infrared" affect of the elements adds a variable that I'm not sure how to account for. The location from which you measure also greatly changes the reading. Close to the door temps can be down around 300, close to the elements it'll be hotter. Due to all this variance and the unknown affect of the infrared I decided not to rely on environmental temp as a firm indicator. Once I hit first crack I for now am just doing it on time. 10 or 15 second off, 15 seconds on.
I've done a little experimenting with measuring temp but as you've noticed it's variant spending on where the tc is placed. What I'm curious about though, is there a placement that may not be a direct correlation to overall ambient temp, but could at least be an indicator to use as a reference. Basically use that temp with an offset. Have you found a spot that gives reliable readings?
infinus Senior Member Joined: 20 Jan 2012 Posts: 73 Location: Indiana, USA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Cheap POS Grinder: Baratza Preciso Vac Pot: Broken by the cats! Drip: Brazen, Technivorm Roaster: Behmor 1600
Posted Sun Feb 5, 2012, 10:14am Subject: Re: Behmor modification
I haven't tried to find a spot where I can correlate a certain temp with differing points of the roast (ie: first crack, second crack). From the reading I've done on others experiences it sounds like a point close to the built in temp sensor's location is a good measuring point if you want to use it for profiling a roast.
I'd love to do the mod I saw on here to get a bean temperature reading but I don't know that I have the tools for that.
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