Disconnected Motor Wires - Oops - Troubleshooting Studder Noises and Drum Stoppages

Need help, friends. I have seen a few other posts in here related to this but some are old so I think I will start this fresh (I am also contacting support).

Related Posts:

Summary

Brand new v2 making da da da da noise
Drum stops spinning when beans go inside
Drum Scraping and Stalling/Jamming at 300+ Degree Temps
@bab looks like the usual community superhero that he is on 2/3 of those posts. Quick shoutout to him.

Description of initial issue: Grinding noise in back of drum during preheat and cooldown. Eventually worsened until drum stopped spinning.

Initial Troubleshooting: I removed the drum motor and reset the gear on it. This worked… for about 10 minutes. Getting further into Preheat it sounded bad again and then locked up. Upon turning it on again with the back panels removed, it become obvious that the motor was unstable… jiggling and vibrating WAY too much… causing lots of noise and eventually failure.

Description of Next Issue: I tried to remove the motor (like this Aillio Video shows) BUT I wasn’t careful enough and my wires are now disconnected from the back of the motor.

Final Questions:

  1. Can I solder these back on? How do I reconnect them?
  2. Should I be using spacers to tackle the initial problem and where should the spacers go?
  3. Should I remove my drum and check for debris and/or check the pulley in the back middle?
  4. Any other tips?

Thank you guys. Been really enjoying this community lately. See pics below as well.


I’d suggest waiting to hear from support. They’re really good at what they do. Or if you bought from a dealer they probably have someone that can help as well.

You probably needed adjustment to the drum and possibly some adjustment to the drive motor and/or the drive pulley on the rear of the drum. Let them guide you thru the process. Yeah, it appears the black lead for the drive motor just needs to be reconnected but confirm it with support… they may want you to check some other things first.

Keep in mind support is in Taiwan so work out the time zones to get a clue what the time/date difference is to your location.

Bruce

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I don’t envision any problem re-soldering the black wire back on. Be sure to removed the broken strands of wire embedded in the old solder joint before attaching the newly stripped one. You probably know this but be sure to use rosin core solder and not the acid core type that is typically used for plumbing.
Follow Bruce’s advice regarding contact with Aillio to remedy the drive problem.

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Update: I was able to solder the connections back on and put it all back together. Fixed that parts. Thanks for the tip @kkrawford on the rosin core. That was my first experience soldering and wouldn’t have known that. :slight_smile:

The issue remains:

No matter how I fiddle with my spacers I still end up with a grinding noise in the front of the roaster (we think it may be the roast chamber making contact with the front plate). This, in turn, puts too much resistance on the back motor/pulley system and causes the motor to “bounce” and make the studder sounds as it hits the built in spring plate (this plate is unique to the v2 I think)… until it comes to a halt.

We have found that, with the current spacer arrangement, we only have the issue at the end of preheat and during the cooling stages. During the roast and at lower temperatures it seems the drum doesn’t come in contact with the faceplate. When we start to hear the grinding, we can apply some pressure on the faceplate, the tryer, or the black dump handle and it will stop the scraping (somehow!?). That seems counterintuitive, though, if the issue was the drum chamber hitting the faceplate…. Idk… but it “works” for now.

We have spent hours and hours pulling it apart and changing the spacers only to find that after preheating for 20 minutes that the issue is still there. Then wait for cool, open it all back up, change config, close it up, preheat and wait.

Any suggestions to help avoid this contact on the faceplate??

Support Update:

Summary

Support said they could send me a replacement motor. That, however, I don’t think will fix the problem so I updated them about the re-soldered connections and and more in-depth description of the grinding issue above.

Add spacers to the front of the drum. You should have spares that were delivered with the Bullet. Add the thinnest to the stack already there. If that doesn’t do it, remove that thin spacer and replace it with the next thicker spacer. It takes very little additional space to resolve the scraping sound at the face plate. Wait to fuss with the drive motor & cog belt pulley after the front spacers are resolved.

If you have trouble with beans falling into the space at the front of the drum, the original stack of spacers may have been ok but the face plate may be getting tightened lower than when the adjustment was first done. There is some free play with the screws in place but not tightened. If you still have scraping at the front try pushing the face plate to different positions (up, down, left or right) before tightening. In my case I have to lift the face plate before torquing screws.

You should see some signs of where the contact is between the drum and the face plate. Use that to guide you when pushing the face plate to the limit before tightening, i.e. push the face plate toward the scraped area. It’s only a few (0.00X") movement. In fact this is where you should start before adding spacers.

Lots of words here to describe something that is really very easy to do- it’s neither hard nor exacting as there is very little free play.

Bruce

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@bab s with another top-notch reply. I know I can count on you to chime in!

I actually only received one spacer from Aillio/Sweet Marias with my Bullet. It was a tiny one. It only fits on the “drum side” of the bearing. Are you suggesting having spacers on the “front plate side” of the bearing or should I always be able to see the bearing?

I have a support call scheduled for tomorrow night to have Aillio help me identify the source of issue and provide solution. They have already recommended some of the same things - spacers, back pulley, etc.

Will keep y’all posted.

The spacers stack together on the front of the drum axle and press against the bearing mounted in the face plate. Pic coming later but you will prob have already had your telecon with Aillio support by then.

Bruce

Ah. I’ve tried spacers on both sides with mixed results so I was wondering if there was a “right way”. After my support call I found out that I didn’t receive all the spacers when I received my Bullet and kit! I only received one small spacer.

I actually had bought my own washers a couple weeks ago for trying to solve this. Support was very helpful and got me to a place where I think I’m squeak and stutter sound free! Needed right amount of space between drum and face… by using correct combo of washers in the right spot - the drum side of the bearing (in other words, I should see the bearing on the outer edge in the faceplate).