Ambex YM-2 concerns, questions or advice

[topher]

Lachoza..silly question but have you checked your gauges? Make sure they are reading true temps..also make sure your machine is level. If this is not your issue, scrape your fans. I tear my roaster apart at a minimum of once a month. I have a 60 kilo and I roast about 10,000 lbs a month. As I grow I will be doing this bi weekly. Let us know what you find. Good luck

 

[Kilowatt]

Hello all,

Just bought an Ambex YM2 as a secondary machine so I could roast smaller batches. It is very different than any roaster I have used, hope the folks here can shed some light. Here are some issues I have had:

Airflow is baffling in this machine. No matter how I have the damper lever set, no smoke comes out of the exhaust during a roast - it all pours from every orifice of the machine, the bean probe, the loading funnel, and anywhere else it can escape. I have cleaned and re-cleaned the inside of the machine, but seems to be almost zero airflow through the drum. There is a plate over the top back of the machine that has what appears to be an air channel much like my 15 kilo has, has anyone had success bolting on and setting up a blower for this opening to improve airflow and separate exhaust gases from cooling tray air?

Watlow temp controller alarms out at about 370 degrees, and won't stop beeping, to achieve any kind of dark roast, have to get temp up to at least 425. It is driving me insane.

Flame put itself out after alarm went off, and I had to unplug machine and plus it back in to reset controller to get temp back up.

Stirring arm for cooling tray comes unscrewed, and I cannot seem to get it rethreaded - is there an easy way to access this?

That's it for now, still in the discovery phase on this machine. Seems solid, just need to figure it out.

Thanks for any thoughts you have.

 

[peterjschmidt]

The Watlow controller on my YM-2K also beeps at 370, but has a green button to turn the beeping off. There are four buttons, the two on the right for up/down temp setting, and the second from the left turns the alarm off. Hope that helps.

I don't have any wisdom for your airflow problem. Are you sure the damper flap is moving when you adjust the airflow lever? Maybe the damper flap is loose and the shaft spins w/o moving it? I don't think the move much air through the drum, even when it's set to do so, but it's moving some because the snow outside the window where mine vents is full of chaff.

 

[Kilowatt]

Peter,

Thanks for the tip on the temp alarm, that will save my sanity.

I opened the access plate by the damper lever and verified that the damper flap is moving. Also noted a difference in airflow and air temp out of the exhaust port when I flip the lever.

I also have chaff in the snow, but no smoke whatsoever from the exhaust, all the smoke pours out of the machine wherever it can.

I would love to know if that port on the back would draw air, smoke, and chaff if I were to have a part machined and attach a blower and a cyclone to it. My 15 kilo vents out the top back into a cage fan, then into the cyclone and up the chimney.

Really appreciate the reply.

 

[peterjschmidt]

Can you post a pic of the port on the back? There are several versions of the 2K over the years, and yours doesn't sound like the one I have.

I added a second blower on my cooling tray, so I can see that the chaff in my snow is coming from the drum exhaust. I still can't understand how yours is expelling chaff, but not the smoke. My bet is that if you can figure out how that's possible, you'll have your answer.

 

[Kilowatt]

I'll post a pic as soon as I can dig myself down to the shop, just recovering from a blizzard. I know mine is older, but rebuilt by Ambex between (I believe) 2005 and 2009. I knew it needed some help, so I got a fairly good deal on it. Don't mind tinkering, and even investing a few bucks to get it to roast how I want. Thanks again for the replies.

 

[sdcoffeeroaster]

I'll post a pic as soon as I can dig myself down to the shop, just recovering from a blizzard. I know mine is older, but rebuilt by Ambex between (I believe) 2005 and 2009. I knew it needed some help, so I got a fairly good deal on it. Don't mind tinkering, and even investing a few bucks to get it to roast how I want. Thanks again for the replies.

Mine was built in 2009. There isn't a plate on the back of mine, there is a pipe that goes from the top of the drum to the larger port where you can see that diverter valve. You can also look into there and see the top of the blower. With the pipe in place, the blower sucks air from the cooling tray and/or the drum (thru the pipe I mentioned) depending on how the diverter is adjusted. If you don't have the pipe then you need plate on the bottom larger opening so that the blower is just used as a cooler.

Then the upper small port (has a threaded hole on each side) needs to be both vented outside and it needs it's own blower to pull air thru the drum. Since this port is small it's not much air, not even 100 cfm.

I upgraded my blower motor from 1700 rpm to abut 3400 rpm and can easily cool and roast at the same time. I also added an external chaff collector with a 2nd blower just after it. You might do something like this and connect it to that upper smaller port. I run mine inside an enclosed shed 12 x 10 and zero smoke in the shed. I think you're just missing this pipe...about 2 feet long and maybe 1.5" in diameter.

 

[peterjschmidt]

Here's what sdcoffeeroaster is talking about; the black tube connecting the airflow from the drum to the exhaust blower.

 

[Kilowatt]

That is exactly the spot (back top of drum) where mine has the plate cover with the threaded holes on each side. I would think a low-cfm blower attached here should take care of my smoke problem, I could attach a cyclone for chaff removal as well. Still wondering why air and smoke are not being drawn properly with the factory configuration, need to disassemble the machine when it gets a little warmer and see if something is blocked. Thanks for the info!

 

[peterjschmidt]

That is exactly the spot (back top of drum) where mine has the plate cover with the threaded holes on each side. I would think a low-cfm blower attached here should take care of my smoke problem, I could attach a cyclone for chaff removal as well. Still wondering why air and smoke are not being drawn properly with the factory configuration, need to disassemble the machine when it gets a little warmer and see if something is blocked. Thanks for the info!

If you have a plate there, and not the pipe, then you do not have the factory configuration. Without that pipe, there is no way to get the airflow through the drum - no way for the exhaust blower to pull air from the drum.

 

[chast]

Pictures are worth 10K words!!

 

[Gila]

If you have a plate there, and not the pipe, then you do not have the factory configuration. Without that pipe, there is no way to get the airflow through the drum - no way for the exhaust blower to pull air from the drum.

The design must've changed at some point. On my 2004 YM2, it looks like a duct that is part of the chassis draws air from the upper front of the drum:



Maybe the OP has an obstruction in there?

 

[Kilowatt]

1000 words, coming right up. Please note the blackening on the side and funnel, this is where the smoke is pouring out, rather than the exhaust. And the plate on the back which is very similar to Gila's.

 

[peterjschmidt]

By the sounds of it, you and Gila have similar roasters, and era of Ambex that I've not seen in person. I wish I could see yours in person, to try and follow that path of the exhaust backwards, beginning at the exhaust blower. Either something is blocked or something is no longer installed.

The drum is just an open can, mounted on an axle with the open end of the can pressed against the front plate of the roaster, yes? The only way into or out of that can, or drum, is where the beans get dropped or charged, or dumped at the end of the roast. Right? So the lever you flip open to drop green beans into the drum, when it's not flipped, is in its default position allowing air/smoke to exhaust out of the drum (the drum has perforations on the back side to allow air into the drum).

Your roaster, if it's like Gila's, must have some sort of duct to pull air out of the drum when the charging lever is in its default position.

I sure wish I was looking at your roaster. Gila's photos don't help me, as I can't tell where that duct is that he's talking about.

 

[Kilowatt]

Peter: The photos I posted are pretty low-res, I pulled them from the site where it was being sold. I'll take better ones soon, with the rear plate removed so there is a view inside. I had planned to follow the ducting backwards to the drum to see if I could find any obstruction.

Gila: Do you have any photos of the exhaust port and internal ducting for your machine? I'd love to see mine has a different design, or if something is missing.

Thank you!