DIGIROSTO PRO-1500
- Thread starter mikedard
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Sinister703
New member
- May 31, 2004
- 50
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stay away, I was researching it and found out stories of them 'glitching' and roaster fires burning out the insides. They are very small, bout the size of those tiny counter top bar fridges they sell now. Not the bar fridges that sit on the floor, the counter ones, 1/2 the size of the floor bar fridges!
They are made in Korea, and heres the website
http://www.imex-hcc.com/main.htm
Now, I know they revamped the original, now its called the "HD' model with some upgrades, but I dunno... after all I read, I decided to stay away, though its an awesome concept.
The Ambex 2.2 Kg is a really nice machine, I tried it out, its a SOLID roaster too, and pretty close in price to the IMEX roaster
They are made in Korea, and heres the website
http://www.imex-hcc.com/main.htm
Now, I know they revamped the original, now its called the "HD' model with some upgrades, but I dunno... after all I read, I decided to stay away, though its an awesome concept.
The Ambex 2.2 Kg is a really nice machine, I tried it out, its a SOLID roaster too, and pretty close in price to the IMEX roaster
- Thread starter
- #3
"DIGIROSTO PRO-1500"?
I've seen one up close when Brightway was selling them. I returned two air roasters (Cafe Roasters, I think) that the soldering joints came loose from heat. They never fixed the problem, but they did keep giving me new ones and they kept desoldering. I finaly just gave up. About the Pro-1500 I just had to hear it from someone else. Thanks Ron for the information.
Michael
I've seen one up close when Brightway was selling them. I returned two air roasters (Cafe Roasters, I think) that the soldering joints came loose from heat. They never fixed the problem, but they did keep giving me new ones and they kept desoldering. I finaly just gave up. About the Pro-1500 I just had to hear it from someone else. Thanks Ron for the information.
Michael
Alun_evans
New member
- Feb 4, 2004
- 1,065
- 1
I would be a little put off by the "any type of coffee bean including espresso" line on their front page. I would stick with Ambex...roasting for the is a business, not a gimmick :grin:
DIGIROSTO PRO-1500+HD
We have had this unit for 8 months and love it. We took it apart as soon as we received it, photographed all of the parts, and studied it throughout. It is made very well. Like any young company, they have learned from some flaws on earlier units(from what I read) and improved the unit.
The quality of product coming from South Korea is outstanding. We buy 4 different ATM's from SK and they are far better designed than the current American counterparts, and it hurts a little saying that.
The only fire risk I see is if you loose power toward the end of an espresso roast where the oils, alcohols, ketones, etc. are extracted and ignite due to the drum not rotating. You should have a dedicated 15-20 amp circuit for this with nothing else plugged in the circuit.
The coffee is very good.
It's a 400-1000gm roaster and has it's place in the market. It is easy to use and easy to train someone to use.
We have had this unit for 8 months and love it. We took it apart as soon as we received it, photographed all of the parts, and studied it throughout. It is made very well. Like any young company, they have learned from some flaws on earlier units(from what I read) and improved the unit.
The quality of product coming from South Korea is outstanding. We buy 4 different ATM's from SK and they are far better designed than the current American counterparts, and it hurts a little saying that.
The only fire risk I see is if you loose power toward the end of an espresso roast where the oils, alcohols, ketones, etc. are extracted and ignite due to the drum not rotating. You should have a dedicated 15-20 amp circuit for this with nothing else plugged in the circuit.
The coffee is very good.
It's a 400-1000gm roaster and has it's place in the market. It is easy to use and easy to train someone to use.
FredLanger
New member
- Jan 25, 2005
- 2
- 0
Paracom, where did you purchase the roaster? I'm also wondering about maintenance and turnaround time for repairs, service, etc. I remember seeing this roaster when it came out a few years ago and thinking it looked great, but I too have read the horror stories. It's good to hear that there have apparently been great strides in the quality.
Fred
Fred
Sinister703
New member
- May 31, 2004
- 50
- 0
That is good to hear they've fixed up the problems. Pretty much any roaster will go on fire if the power is cut at a bad time (when beans are at high temp). Guess you make sure the firehose is nearby! 
Stay Away from the IMEX PRO 1500
I've had this roaster and it is a disaster! Fires, broken 12 times the first year! Recently I chatted with a new coffee shop/ roaster in England, she has just purchase one from IMEX directly (10/2004) and she is having the same problems! The factory is not any better to deal with than the US distributor. Do yourself a favor, ASK FOR REFERENCES from the company before you buy a roaster. If they give you ANY excuse for not giving you some references to check, AVOID, AVOID, AVOID!
I've had this roaster and it is a disaster! Fires, broken 12 times the first year! Recently I chatted with a new coffee shop/ roaster in England, she has just purchase one from IMEX directly (10/2004) and she is having the same problems! The factory is not any better to deal with than the US distributor. Do yourself a favor, ASK FOR REFERENCES from the company before you buy a roaster. If they give you ANY excuse for not giving you some references to check, AVOID, AVOID, AVOID!
FredLanger
New member
- Jan 25, 2005
- 2
- 0
Re: Stay Away from the IMEX PRO 1500
Is yours the "new and improved" second generation model? I was hoping they had fixed the fire and breaking problems...
getusnet said:
Is yours the "new and improved" second generation model? I was hoping they had fixed the fire and breaking problems...
Buyer Beware
Greetings, Mine was not the "new and improved" however the problems I had were only part of the "new improvements" and I lady I spoke with in England did have the new and improved. #1 the halogen light/heat bulb breaks all the time leaving you with glass shards in your coffee - the sole source for the bulb is the US Distributor or IMEX - if your relationship goes sour you're out of luck. #2 the entire process is held together by a spring pin (go the a hardware store and see what that is) - meaning the drum is connected to the gear motor with this little pin and mine fell out at least 4 times giving me a fire in the drum (it stops turning and you have a 400 degree pile of beans that ignites). #3 because of how delicate the machinery is, the natural buildup of coffee oils (that burn off in a traditional roaster) mess up the bean feed and discharge doors. Within a couple months, the heat had left my computer faulty - electrical components too close to heat without adequate insulation. #4 The smoke eliminator gets gunked up with the smoke/oils it is trying to burn off leaving you with a "smoking roaster" (like all coffee roasters) and NO ventilation (this was addressed in the "new and Improved" and I have heard still isn't proven) - - I could go on, but I think you get the point.
Greetings, Mine was not the "new and improved" however the problems I had were only part of the "new improvements" and I lady I spoke with in England did have the new and improved. #1 the halogen light/heat bulb breaks all the time leaving you with glass shards in your coffee - the sole source for the bulb is the US Distributor or IMEX - if your relationship goes sour you're out of luck. #2 the entire process is held together by a spring pin (go the a hardware store and see what that is) - meaning the drum is connected to the gear motor with this little pin and mine fell out at least 4 times giving me a fire in the drum (it stops turning and you have a 400 degree pile of beans that ignites). #3 because of how delicate the machinery is, the natural buildup of coffee oils (that burn off in a traditional roaster) mess up the bean feed and discharge doors. Within a couple months, the heat had left my computer faulty - electrical components too close to heat without adequate insulation. #4 The smoke eliminator gets gunked up with the smoke/oils it is trying to burn off leaving you with a "smoking roaster" (like all coffee roasters) and NO ventilation (this was addressed in the "new and Improved" and I have heard still isn't proven) - - I could go on, but I think you get the point.
huckfam6
New member
- Oct 18, 2007
- 3
- 0
IMEX 1500
To my shock, my wife ordered one on ebay for $2000. I franticaly did some research and found all the testimonies about the fires. Well, I've had it two years and just use if for home and office roasts. I have had no problems. I contacted the Korean company directly and they were very kind and helpful. Cleaning is key. You have got to cycle the toaster dry at 250 degree C for 5 minutes between every 7 - 10 roasts. So, I can see how this roaster is not for a coffee shop. It may be fine for a normal cafe. See Sweetmarias.com for their commentary. They agree that this is a great home roaster for Bill Gates! I would never pay full price...but, I'm glad I have one on my coffee bar at home. Hope this helps.
To my shock, my wife ordered one on ebay for $2000. I franticaly did some research and found all the testimonies about the fires. Well, I've had it two years and just use if for home and office roasts. I have had no problems. I contacted the Korean company directly and they were very kind and helpful. Cleaning is key. You have got to cycle the toaster dry at 250 degree C for 5 minutes between every 7 - 10 roasts. So, I can see how this roaster is not for a coffee shop. It may be fine for a normal cafe. See Sweetmarias.com for their commentary. They agree that this is a great home roaster for Bill Gates! I would never pay full price...but, I'm glad I have one on my coffee bar at home. Hope this helps.
Digirosto experiences
Hello to all,
I've had my Digirosto for a year now. It is used every weekend to roast between 2 to 5 different roasts depending on what I need.
I bought my machine used, NOT working on Ebay. The machine had spent it's life in a coffee shop in NY city and was totally abused. It had had little care.
When I followed the operational component check procedure in the operator's manual there where so many things wrong with it that I couldn't even diagnose what was wrong with it. Most of the damage had been done by the 12V battery coming loose from its mounting inside of the cabinet and destroying components as it bounced around.
In any case, I sent an e-mail to IMEX in South Korea telling them of how many systems where in-operative. They immediately offered to fix the machine for the cost of parts only plus shipping (DHL). To save on shipping, IMEX gave me their DHL account number to ship to and from Korea to California. That alone saved me $300 in shipping. Here's what really blew my mine. The machine left California and in 2 days it was in IMEX's hands, 2 more days passed and I received an email from IMEX for the repairs for parts ($299.00). I sent my Visa card via e-mail on day 5, and in 2 more days the machine was back home in California. So in 7 days total, the machine went from California, to Korea, and back. And, it was repaired and in full operation.
Their service has been outstanding for me. My contact person was Sue, Cho at IMEX.
Now about the roaster. Virtually, all of my roasts are done in manual mode because I wanted to learn how to roast. I felt that auto-mode would have been a no brainer to use.
Once you have the auto-mode set for a specific bean density and moisture content of a particular varietal of bean you can drop the beans in, input the weight and let it rip. The roaster will do all of it without much intervention from the operator.
There are there roasting programs built into the computer program. These three programs can have the time and temperatures changed at will during the process. There are 4 areas in which the operator can interven with changes. The computer will remember which of the 3 auto settings you have selected plus your imput into that specific program should you do that same roast for the next time around.
I have never had a fire in my Digirosto. Incidently, the 12Volt battery is for the automatic quenching of the roast at the end of the cycle if a person chooses to use it or you may bypass it as well. There's also an emergency switch on the side of the machine that will use the water and spray attachment (bean quenching) in the event of a fire. The 12 V battery is there for that reason and does not need 120 volts ac for fire extinguishing.
The machine is rated at 1.5 kg or about 3 pounds. The largest roast I will do is 2 pounds 6 ounces of green beans. This is all done in manual mode.
1) What I have done to enhance the performance of my roaster is to use a variac to ensure that the line voltage is at 120 BEFORE I start the roast. The variac will step up the voltage due to voltage drops for whatever reason.
2) These roasters have a self preservation mechanism in them some where that is based on temperature. To trick the roaster, I use a squirrel cage blower to keep the components cool. It's placed at a 45 degree angle to the front of the roaster, blasting cooling air onto the left side of the roaster as you are facing it. In my case I only need to do this when the ambient temperature is at 62 degrees F or higher at the start of the roast.
Another cool feature of the Digirosto is that there is a enviornmental temperature (ET) probe (drum temperature) and a separate bean temperature (BT) probe. I do my roasting visually as well as using the bean temperature probe. This way I can accurately control the degree of roast to achive the roast style I wish. Replication of the roast is very easy this way as well.
I track the the ET and BT every minute from the initial start of the roast to the dump temperature, which is based on the bean temperature probe only. I DO NOT cool the beans inside of the Digirosto. There is a feature on the roaster that will let me dump the beans smoking hot into the bean tray, then I dump them immediately into the CRC cooling system that is sold on ebay. The beans are cooled within about 2 minutes max. This prevent over cooking in the roaster. And, it prevents gunking up the exhaust side of the Digirosto.
To maximize performance I also keep everything squeaky clean. I clean out the chaff tray (vacuum), then wipe clean the whole area with a moist cloth.
The parameters that I use for roasting in the Digirosto are:
Bean Varietal
current crop, aged beans, etc.
bean density
bean moisture content
room temperature
room humidity
line voltage (120 volts)
bean temperature (sets type of roast, ie. french, full city, city, etc.)
I've gotten a lot of use out of my Digirosto. Would I buy another one? Yes and No. It would depend on what I am going to use it for. In my opinion, it is not a heavy commercial roaster like an Ambex, Toper, Probat, Diedrich, etc.
I recently received my new Toper from Chris Cain of Deleware Coffee Co. Thank you Chris. My Toper is electric like the Digirosto.
The Toper is built like a Sherman tank. It's a full commercial unit with heavy components. I can't pick the Toper up and move it by myself. I need help. I've done several roasts with it and will be learning as I go.
I can see value though in still keeping the Digirosto because of it's ease of operation and the ability to do very small roasts. The Toper works best I'm told when run at full capacity. Presently, my machine does not have a bean temperature probe, but I will be adding one.
Sorry for being so long winded.
Take care,
Kenf
Hello to all,
I've had my Digirosto for a year now. It is used every weekend to roast between 2 to 5 different roasts depending on what I need.
I bought my machine used, NOT working on Ebay. The machine had spent it's life in a coffee shop in NY city and was totally abused. It had had little care.
When I followed the operational component check procedure in the operator's manual there where so many things wrong with it that I couldn't even diagnose what was wrong with it. Most of the damage had been done by the 12V battery coming loose from its mounting inside of the cabinet and destroying components as it bounced around.
In any case, I sent an e-mail to IMEX in South Korea telling them of how many systems where in-operative. They immediately offered to fix the machine for the cost of parts only plus shipping (DHL). To save on shipping, IMEX gave me their DHL account number to ship to and from Korea to California. That alone saved me $300 in shipping. Here's what really blew my mine. The machine left California and in 2 days it was in IMEX's hands, 2 more days passed and I received an email from IMEX for the repairs for parts ($299.00). I sent my Visa card via e-mail on day 5, and in 2 more days the machine was back home in California. So in 7 days total, the machine went from California, to Korea, and back. And, it was repaired and in full operation.
Their service has been outstanding for me. My contact person was Sue, Cho at IMEX.
Now about the roaster. Virtually, all of my roasts are done in manual mode because I wanted to learn how to roast. I felt that auto-mode would have been a no brainer to use.
Once you have the auto-mode set for a specific bean density and moisture content of a particular varietal of bean you can drop the beans in, input the weight and let it rip. The roaster will do all of it without much intervention from the operator.
There are there roasting programs built into the computer program. These three programs can have the time and temperatures changed at will during the process. There are 4 areas in which the operator can interven with changes. The computer will remember which of the 3 auto settings you have selected plus your imput into that specific program should you do that same roast for the next time around.
I have never had a fire in my Digirosto. Incidently, the 12Volt battery is for the automatic quenching of the roast at the end of the cycle if a person chooses to use it or you may bypass it as well. There's also an emergency switch on the side of the machine that will use the water and spray attachment (bean quenching) in the event of a fire. The 12 V battery is there for that reason and does not need 120 volts ac for fire extinguishing.
The machine is rated at 1.5 kg or about 3 pounds. The largest roast I will do is 2 pounds 6 ounces of green beans. This is all done in manual mode.
1) What I have done to enhance the performance of my roaster is to use a variac to ensure that the line voltage is at 120 BEFORE I start the roast. The variac will step up the voltage due to voltage drops for whatever reason.
2) These roasters have a self preservation mechanism in them some where that is based on temperature. To trick the roaster, I use a squirrel cage blower to keep the components cool. It's placed at a 45 degree angle to the front of the roaster, blasting cooling air onto the left side of the roaster as you are facing it. In my case I only need to do this when the ambient temperature is at 62 degrees F or higher at the start of the roast.
Another cool feature of the Digirosto is that there is a enviornmental temperature (ET) probe (drum temperature) and a separate bean temperature (BT) probe. I do my roasting visually as well as using the bean temperature probe. This way I can accurately control the degree of roast to achive the roast style I wish. Replication of the roast is very easy this way as well.
I track the the ET and BT every minute from the initial start of the roast to the dump temperature, which is based on the bean temperature probe only. I DO NOT cool the beans inside of the Digirosto. There is a feature on the roaster that will let me dump the beans smoking hot into the bean tray, then I dump them immediately into the CRC cooling system that is sold on ebay. The beans are cooled within about 2 minutes max. This prevent over cooking in the roaster. And, it prevents gunking up the exhaust side of the Digirosto.
To maximize performance I also keep everything squeaky clean. I clean out the chaff tray (vacuum), then wipe clean the whole area with a moist cloth.
The parameters that I use for roasting in the Digirosto are:
Bean Varietal
current crop, aged beans, etc.
bean density
bean moisture content
room temperature
room humidity
line voltage (120 volts)
bean temperature (sets type of roast, ie. french, full city, city, etc.)
I've gotten a lot of use out of my Digirosto. Would I buy another one? Yes and No. It would depend on what I am going to use it for. In my opinion, it is not a heavy commercial roaster like an Ambex, Toper, Probat, Diedrich, etc.
I recently received my new Toper from Chris Cain of Deleware Coffee Co. Thank you Chris. My Toper is electric like the Digirosto.
The Toper is built like a Sherman tank. It's a full commercial unit with heavy components. I can't pick the Toper up and move it by myself. I need help. I've done several roasts with it and will be learning as I go.
I can see value though in still keeping the Digirosto because of it's ease of operation and the ability to do very small roasts. The Toper works best I'm told when run at full capacity. Presently, my machine does not have a bean temperature probe, but I will be adding one.
Sorry for being so long winded.
Take care,
Kenf
nutranch
New member
- Feb 18, 2017
- 11
- 0
I have an older model IMEX Pro 1500 and agree with your warnings about Imex. I am stuck with a semi functional unit that requires a new circuit board if you have parts please let me know? Brian Yuba City CA USA 95953 530 763-3789 email orocafe@msn.com
nutranch
New member
- Feb 18, 2017
- 11
- 0
I have an older model Imex Digirosto Pro 1500 that is in need of repairs. I have contacted Imex in south Korea and they will not repair the older unit but will sell me a new Pro 1500. I have told Imex they need to provide ongoing service so these expensive units have a reasonable useful lifespan, else the price becomes entirely prohibitive. Accordingly I will not buy a new Imex roaster. If anyone has a older unit that is disfunctional I need the circuit board inside the unit that is directly behind the front control panel. My location is Sacramento valley California.
