Hows my gene cafe temps look?

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Hows my gene cafe temps look?

Postby Chivalry » Sat Nov 29, 2008 12:49 pm

Hi , just done my first roast in quite a while (new baby... lots of overtime :)!!! ) and just a quick check to see how my gene temps are compared to others.. as it seemed to take an awful long time to reach max temp...

I roasted 250g of Monsooned malabar... at room temp ,, and results were as follows..

Set to 230 and 15 min timer... from cold

150 after 2:30 mins
183 after 5
189 after 6
195 after 7
201 after 8
208 after 9
213 after 10
217 after 11
221 after 12
226 after 13
229 afetr 14
fluctuated between 229 and 231 for the last minute... then i (thought) i heard audible cracks so stopped roast at the 15 min mark....... though does look a tad light maybe.. but im no expert ...

is a problem maybe?

Thanks for any input and help :)
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RE: Hows my gene cafe temps look?

Postby espressomattic » Sat Nov 29, 2008 6:18 pm

Sounds very much like the issue I have. Even with a pre-heat to 160 I rarely get above 230. When using Malabar, the roast can be nearer 19-19.8 mins to get it dark enough. I suspect your roast may well be a tad light.

Not being an expert, but from research this issue *may* be ralated to the motherboard.

I have recently contacted Genesis about this and was seriously fobbed off.

I challenged the sales department, saying that the earlier models had this issue, which they were aware of as they subsequently changed/upgraded them. I thought it reasonable that they would issue a new Motherboard and told them so. I wasn't actually expecting them to, I just wanted to see what they had to say.

The bottom line was "Our mistake, your roaster, not interested...you pay"

So much for good will eh? This wasn't the first time I have experienced poor customer service from Genesis...
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RE: Hows my gene cafe temps look?

Postby CakeBoy » Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:58 pm

Similar issues with ours. We have changed both the mobo and the heater but can no longer even get to first crack. I believe it is a problem with the BIOS chip coding calling in the fan too soon, though of course I may be wrong ....... either way, it's a shame because we loved the Gene :)
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RE: Hows my gene cafe temps look?

Postby nickr » Tue Dec 02, 2008 11:36 am

The Gene Cafe is sensitive to low voltage, although less so than the basic Hottop. Check your supply, anything less than 230 basically means, don't roast. Early evening is the worst time for me with the mains often dipping below 215v. Very late night or very early morning are the best times for high supply voltage. Aldi and Maplin sell a mains checker which measures voltage, current, wattage and KW hours it only costs around £7. I consider it to be a vital piece of gear now.
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RE: Hows my gene cafe temps look?

Postby CakeBoy » Wed Dec 03, 2008 2:45 am

215v good grief, that is bad! We have one of the meters that you referred to Nick and I agree it is invaluable. We ended up buying a new fridge and freezer after finding out how inefficient our old ones were.
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International muffin blagger

Iberital L'Anna 1 Gp Hand-Fill | Wega Orion 2 Gp | Bezzera 1 Gp | Rancilio Audrey PID | Spidem Trevi
Iberital MC2 Timed | Macap M4 DS & MXA DS | Mazzer SJ | Starbucks Barista Grinder (Dualit E60/Solis 166)
Pinhalense 2x500g Gas Batch/Sample Roaster | Gene Cafe | IMEX CR-100
Aerobie | eSantos | Zassenhaus | Bodum P/Over | Chemex | Hario Woodneck | Timer Filter
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