coffee roaster maintance/troubleshooting

[Vibe_coffee]

Hi everyone, I've recently purchased a 30 kg petroncini roaster. This is our first time roasting on such a machine. Anyway, I'm noticing burnt beans on back to back roasts; no doubt coffee beans are not being discharged properly from the previous roasts and are left in the drum tumbling with the new batch. How do I solve this problem? HELP.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

You might want to ask Topher. He is master roaster who have used many different roasters. Good Luck

 

[Amhas]

Is the machine level? I get an occasional one of these (in my limited time roasting), but I'm thinking the first thing would be the drum isn't level with the machine or the machine isn't level and if you tilt it slight it may help resolve this issue.

 

[sae]

It could be a bad design in the stirring mechanism where some beans are getting stuck somewhere and then they burn up and shrink and then they come out.

 

[Hankua]

Agree with Amhaus

i work in a very large food factory and we contract out new/used machine install to a local mechanical engineering co.

BUT, our in in house maintenance staff can also handle this type of work. And there are a few retired guys from our factory who do outside side work, both mechanical and electrical.

You might consider trying to find an old school retired factory mechanic to have a look at the roaster.

 

[peterjschmidt]

Can you take a flashlight and look around after your last roast and the roaster has cooled down, to see where the beans are getting stuck?

 

[coffed]

If the roaster has three phase motors, they might be connected wrong. Then the drum will be revolving in the wrong direction and wouldn't discharge the beans properly (keeps them inside istead of pushing them out.

 

[Vibe_coffee]

That makes perfect sense!!!

Hey Man,
Thanks bro. Leveling the machine makes perfect sense!!! I can't believe I didn't think of that.
I will try tomorrow and post my results.
Thanks again,
Ciao

Is the machine level? I get an occasional one of these (in my limited time roasting), but I'm thinking the first thing would be the drum isn't level with the machine or the machine isn't level and if you tilt it slight it may help resolve this issue.

 

[topher]

Can you hear the beans knocking around after you roast or are they stuck? I hate to ask this..but are you clearing your trier after you roast? I know it sounds crazy but I have seen when someone has left coffee in the trier and dumped it into the next batch. Let us know what you find. Congrats on your new roaster!!

 

[peterjschmidt]

I'd be really surprised if leveling your roaster solves the problem; I can't see it being off-level far enough to keep the arms from moving the beans to the discharge chute without you noticing it's kattywompus.

It often takes me an extra 15-20 seconds with the dump door open to get the last stragglers out, and before they do come out I can hear them tinkling around in the drum. Like Topher asked, if you can hear them, then you just need to leave your door open a bit longer, and if you can't hear them, they're stuck somewhere.

 

[chast]

Peter......kattywompus????? haha! that's a new one

 

[peterjschmidt]

Peter......kattywompus????? haha! that's a new one

These coffee forums are great; we learn something new every day.

 

[Vibe_coffee]

leveling

Hey all, thanks for all the great input. No its no the trier. The trier is always empty following the next dump.

Also, leaving the dump door open longer doesn't seem to solve any issues either. I actually do hear beans tumbling in the drum. What I did find was, when I cooled and shut the drum from spinning the beans would finally find their way
way out.

Anyway, I have recently raise the back end of the roaster - roughly half inch and it seems the problem solved.
I will keep posting results on longer roast days..

thanks all.

Can you hear the beans knocking around after you roast or are they stuck? I hate to ask this..but are you clearing your trier after you roast? I know it sounds crazy but I have seen when someone has left coffee in the trier and dumped it into the next batch. Let us know what you find. Congrats on your new roaster!!

 

[Amhas]

Hey all, thanks for all the great input. No its no the trier. The trier is always empty following the next dump.

Also, leaving the dump door open longer doesn't seem to solve any issues either. I actually do hear beans tumbling in the drum. What I did find was, when I cooled and shut the drum from spinning the beans would finally find their way
way out.

Anyway, I have recently raise the back end of the roaster - roughly half inch and it seems the problem solved.
I will keep posting results on longer roast days..

thanks all.

Glad that worked. I get a stray bean or two myself but so far it has come from a bean stuck in the hopper in most cases. I think I have seen one or two really burnt bean that got stuck in the drum once. My new ritual is to do a quick shake down of the system (of the hopper and trier) before placing the beans in the hopper to insure that there are no stay beans from the previous batch. That said I'm new to this and working on a much smaller scale system than some or most of you. Good luck with the new machine!!!

 

[topher]

Glad that this fixed your issue...is your coffee coming out evenly roasted? If your drum is not even your coffee can come out like salt and pepper...light medium and dark roast all in one.