Ambex YM-10 Watlow SD Controller Question

[Pbyrd]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks to coffee forums, I found and purchased my first commercial roaster an Ambex YM-10. I know it is overkill for now but I hope to someday grow into it. As a newbie who is moving up from my hottop roaster the questions begin now:???: I went through a roast with the previous owner but it seems I did not ask enough questions about the Watlow SD controller. The Ambex manual was no help and I was able to find a Watlow manual online. However, it really did not help much as well. It seems this little controller has a ton of settings considering how simple it looks. The previous owner told me he was using the room temp setting and then moving it up to the desire preheat temp. This then turned the pilot on and eventually the gas. I've just not been about to find the right setting. After getting the needed electrical outlet installed, I was pretty darn excited to try my first roast today so it was a let down for sure. All advice or input is greatly appreciated! Btw, I did read a few older post or two on here. One had some good input but still did not figure it out on my end. Note: It is the Watlow SD 1/32 DIN model. Thank you!

 

[chast]

SD is the older model. when you turn on the unit you are probably seeing ambient temp? increase your temp with the up arrow to the desired setting. Not sure what Ambex wants but I assume 300 for a pre-charge temp, then raise it to your final/desired temp. Lot of Ambex users on this site so hopefully they jump in

 

[Pbyrd]

Hi Charlie,

Thanks for your input on my Watlow issue. I've turned the unit off/on again and then used the Infinity key to return to the home page as instructed in the Watlow manual. I'm not sure if I'm in automatic mode or manual. The % light is off so this is suppose to indicate automatic mode. I can't seem to find the ambient temp when going through the menu using the advance key. When I go back to the home page using the infinity key the upper display shows 490 in read and the lower display in green shows 0.0. If I move the lower display up to 300 and turn the roaster on the pilot light cuts in/out every 15-20 seconds (roughly). However, it will not stay on and will not light the burners. I've looked at the Watlow manual so many times that my head hurts...HA-HA! Thank you...

 

[chast]

Hi Charlie,

Thanks for your input on my Watlow issue. I've turned the unit off/on again and then used the Infinity key to return to the home page as instructed in the Watlow manual. I'm not sure if I'm in automatic mode or manual. The % light is off so this is suppose to indicate automatic mode. I can't seem to find the ambient temp when going through the menu using the advance key. When I go back to the home page using the infinity key the upper display shows 490 in read and the lower display in green shows 0.0. If I move the lower display up to 300 and turn the roaster on the pilot light cuts in/out every 15-20 seconds (roughly). However, it will not stay on and will not light the burners. I've looked at the Watlow manual so many times that my head hurts...HA-HA! Thank you...

Ambient temp is what the temp of the room is. Your setpoint is the desired temp and the process value is where you will see the temp climbing.
Give Topher a holler. He has always used Ambex roasters. If your controller fails switch over to a Watlow EZ Zone. Much more user friendly

 

[chast]

Is this gas or propane? makes a big difference in operation. it can also go BOOM! if you use the wrong type

 

[chast]

I bet if you contact the seller he would walk you through it. looked up the info and he had it set for propane. The manual for these are only for programming. Not needed and yes they are confusing.

 

[Pbyrd]

Hey Charlie,

Thanks for all the feedback. I spent the better part of 4 hours going through the manual with no luck. My wife even jumped in for a few hours to help. We figured a lot out including some of the programming options. However, the home page screen always gives the same readout even after changing from manual to automatic in the menu. We never could get an ambient reading to display. I contacted the seller but we could not figure it out over the phone. He was going to do a little more research but I've not heard back from him at this point in time. The unit is currently propane. I'm beginning to wonder if the controller got damaged when we moved the unit to our office. I'll certainly reach out to Topher and anyone else who is willing to help. I'm also happy to pay for their time. I would love to get someone on the phone who could help walk me through it. I'm really looking forward to roasting on my new machine so this is painful! I'll also look into the Watlow EZ zone. Thanks again, Patrick

 

[topher]

Patrick,
I think the new issue is you are in in "ramping mode"
rP- Ramping mode- Select when the control set point ramps the defined set point. I think you might have this set to on which ramps at start up or any set point change. Set this to off not str. Unless you want to ramp up. If you do you need to adjust the below settings as well....personally I would not ramp.
rPSc- Ramp scale- select the scale of the ramp rate
rPrt ramp rate-set the rate for the set point ramp
after we get this fixed you are going to want to LOC Lockout your controller to 4 which is full lockout.
Hope this does the trick..at least we know it wasn't damaged on the move! Good luck and talk to you soon....you owe me a beer

 

[Pbyrd]

Good Morning Topher,

I figured it was something along these lines and hopefully I'll have time to find the setting today after work. I really appreciate all your time and willingness to help out a complete stranger yesterday. I owe you more than one beer! Tell me what type beer you prefer and private message a mailing address, I'll send you some local micro beer to try. I'll also send you down a pound of first baked beans...HA-HA! I'll keep you posted. Thanks again for all your help and have a good day. Patrick