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olddogTim wrote:Is there any wat to get Roastlogger to show the fan and heater on the Roastlogger CHART? That would help me a lot to be able to see the change that happens on the chart when you make a fan or heater change!
GreenBean wrote:Hi Tim, welcome to TMC As your question is related to the RoastLogger, I have taken the liberty of moving your post into the RoastLogger thread.olddogTim wrote:Is there any wat to get Roastlogger to show the fan and heater on the Roastlogger CHART? That would help me a lot to be able to see the change that happens on the chart when you make a fan or heater change!
I have been asked to do this a few times but have resisted it as it would be a plot of heater/fan adjustments against roast time. This is against the control philosophy used by the RoastLogger. Controlling the heater and fan based on elapsed time provides poor control as time is a poor indicator of roast progress.
The RoastLogger provides the ability to adjust the heater and fan settings based on bean temperature before first crack start and time after first crack start. This provides much better control than elapsed roast time. Whilst the RoastLogger allows manual control of the heater and fan it is recommended that people use the Action tables to script the required changes. This can be achieved with or without the use of the PID. These scripted changes will always occur exactly as scripted at the indicated bean temperature so plotting them on the chart does not provide any additional information.
What I am trying to say here is that if I did provide this information on the chart and you tried to follow a previous roast by adjusting the heater and fan at the same elapsed time you would be unlikely to be happy with the result. Changes in mains voltage, charge weight, ambient temperature etc. would mean that the new roast would progress differently than the template roast.
In addition to the above I have a personal aversion to cluttered charts. I believe strongly in showing the key information as clearly and simply as possible.
olddogTim wrote:I am new to roasting but I always roast by temputure, sound (the cracks) sight, and smell in that order.It would only be for referrence to see what happens on the chart when an action starts.
GreenBean wrote:olddogTim wrote:I am new to roasting but I always roast by temputure, sound (the cracks) sight, and smell in that order.It would only be for referrence to see what happens on the chart when an action starts.
If you leave the Arduino Controller and the relevant action tables open during a roast you can see exactly when any action occurs as the check box against the action will be checked when it is performed. This will always be at the programmed bean temperature or seconds after first crack so it isn't really necessary to check this. You can see the result of the action by looking at the chart when the actions check box is checked or by looking at what happens after the action trigger temperature or time after first crack is reached.
I believe that the best way to improve your roasts and, at the same time, get a feel for the effect of changes in settings is to follow the advice in section 5 of the RoastLogger manual by Randy Glass. You can make small adjustments in settings and directly compare the results of the changes between any two roasts in the chart. I suggest this is best done after cupping the resulting roasts. When you find the latest roast is better or worse or just different than previous roasts you can load up the log for the latest roast as the current roast and any previous roast as the template. This will reproduce both roast profiles in the chart allowing you to directly compare exactly what changed between the two roasts. Doing this after you detect any change in the cupping results will allow you to quickly find what works best for you and what the effect of small changes in settings will be.
I find it convenient to note changes in settings in the chart left hand title. This is offered as the file name when saving the log and will then be displayed in the title whenever you reload the log as the current roast or the template.
I believe that the above approach will allow you to improve your roasts more easily and quickly than concerning yourself with the elapsed roast time, in a particular roast, when a heater of fan setting was changed.
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