lsjms wrote:Cheers.
I have only seen one pro roaster in action and I like the hands on nature of turn this, baffle that. Coupled with my dire lack of electronic know how this was the only way for me. While you may have some tech to blame for mistakes I assume you will also be able to replicate the successes at the touch of a button? Roasting for me is an outdoor activity and with huge variety in ambient temps and windspeed through the year I do not think preset profiles would ever work for me.
I agree with you, I wanted to try PID control but I do not like it and have settled on having the computer control the roaster in exactly the way I used to control it manually. Whilst it is doing this it is displaying the bean and environment temperature compared to a template roast. I can intervene at any time to change my set points or to manually control the roast. This works well and I am very happy with it. I now have the Hottop I always wanted with a USB connection built in to allow monitoring/control from my computer.
lsjms wrote:You have a B and a P model right? I thought the newer ones gave you profile control, what are the limitations?
Yes I have both but have recently converted the P to a B. I think it is essential to be able to adjust the heater power and fan on the fly at any point in a roast. This is not possible with the P. The P also switches the heater power off when a segment temperature is reached. The bean temperature can drop several degrees before the next segment starts which is not at all good. The B is much better allowing this on the fly control and is all that is really necessary. I have added the Arduino to monitor/control the roast for fun and not because it is really necessary.
lsjms wrote:I have been looking at a way of speeding up the drum as I think the agitation is now the weakest link. This is now abandoned as I was slapped in the face with the easier idea on HB of redesigning the drum vanes.
I do not see anything wrong with the agitation on my Hottops, the roasts are very even.
lsjms wrote:Will the day come when we can download the Greenbean usb connect Hottop software to go with the logger, and I'll rue the day I binned my main board!
The version of the Roast Logger available in the downloads section can already connect via USB (and suitable multimeter) to a Hottop for temperature monitoring/recording.
The version I am using with computer control requires knowledge of electronics to connect the Arduino and thermocouples (which are built into the Hottop) and requires breaking into the control signals in the Hottop. I do not expect many people would want to do this. If anyone does they are welcome to a copy of the software.