Today, I carried out my first deep clean of the Bullet R2 Pro. The videos from Aillio were quite helpful. I recommend everyone planning to do the same to watch them and follow along. Some brief thoughts about the process:
After 40 roasts, my IBTS sensor was still clean, but I’m glad I went through the process of removing the faceplate because I was able to clean out a good amount of coffee residue on the inside of the plate.
For the IBTS sensor, I used rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip as suggested by Aillio. For the coffee residue throughout the machine, I made a solution of pulyCAFF and boiling water. For the faceplate, since I couldn’t immerse it in water, I used a small soft brush and dipped that in the solution before brushing all the areas affected by the residue. I then used a soft cloth to wipe it clean and now it looks as new.
When reattaching the front face plate, pay attention to the bearings for the drum shaft as shown in the video. The only way I could make it fit was to open the door and insert my hand to gently move the shaft/bearings to where they needed to go while gently pushing the bearing toward me so it would align correctly. Do not forget to push the bearing in and make sure it springs back before fully tightening all the screws for the face plate.
The video about cleaning the impeller fan and chaff collector is quite straightforward. I followed it exactly and things went mostly smoothly. To clean the area around the removed fan, I soaked a cloth in the pulyCAFF solution and kept wiping until it was clean. I then soaked the fan in the solution, brushed away the residue, and rinsed. The only hiccup is that I may have reinstalled the fan too far to one side, because it made a chirping sound afterwards. I believe it was hitting the rubber of the piece around the chaff collector basket. No problem, I adjusted it a couple of millimeters and it’s perfect now.
The whole process took about an hour, but that is probably because it was the first time. I’m sure it will go by more quickly in the future. Thankfully, the machine is running smoothly and I now know how to properly maintain it for years of good use.
There is another link for R1 maintenance; this is for the R2, which is slightly different.
As for chaff build up underneath the drum, I typically vacuum that area after dropping a roast. A basic handheld vacuum should be able to get most of it out. When you perform the maintenance and remove the face plate, you’ll have even more access to vacuum any remnant out.
After 47 roasts, I am very much enjoying the R2 Pro. Since I never owned an R1 or similar roaster, I don’t know if we needed the R2 Pro with its extra power, but I’m glad it’s here if we need it. I’m also looking forward to the Pro Cooling Tray when it is released. The R2 Pro is not a finished product until it comes with that upgraded cooling tray, because that is part of what makes it the “Pro” model.
The only annoyance/worry I have is with the Dead Man’s Switch, which basically annoys the user if he doesn’t press a button on the roaster after a certain time and temperature. Aillio has included it as a safety system to prevent a fire from someone who left the machine unattended. Personally, I don’t agree with this system, because the R2 Pro is a $5,000 investment here in the U.S. I believe anyone spending that much money on a coffee roaster is able to mitigate his own risks. In fact, regular homeowners do this every day with their propane barbecues and gas ovens.
I find the feature annoying, because it not only plays a warning sound, but it will actually cut the power to the roaster and ruin any beans that might be roasting at the time. If you read some recent posts here, you’ll find that in any firmware after 46, the feature is not working properly and it is shutting down power even when the user properly clears the alert. It ruined one of my roasts, so I downgraded to firmware 46 which never shows this alert.
I don’t know what the future holds, but it sounds like Aillio is insistent on including this feature. It may be required in the EU, but it’s not required in the U.S., so I personally prefer not to have it. I’d rather they keep it as an option for inexperienced users and let more advanced users turn it off in exchange for a release of liabilities in which the user affirms that he understands the risks.
For our use case of roasting coffee for church, the other option we considered was the Coffee Crafters Valenta 3, which is a fluid bed roaster that can handle 3 lbs. The pricing is slightly higher (but for more capacity), and as far as I know, it doesn’t have anything like the Dead Man’s Switch.
I had an R1 and the deadman switch was an annoyance after about 7 minutes into a roast. My R2Pro hasn’t annoyed me with any warnings thus far, so I thought they removed that safety feature? When does your alarm sound?
My R2 Pro doesn’t annoy me either, but that’s only because I keep firmware 46 on it. Any firmware after that seems to introduce the annoyance. So far, I haven’t seen much of a reason to upgrade firmware past 46.
My R2 _Pro arrived a couple of weeks ago and I am finished with six seasoning roasts and another six or so test-drive roasts. I get that dead man switch three times in every roast. I guess it’s time to put fw #46 in it and get away from this madness.
