New Bullet - preheat issues

Roasting on the Bullet R1
1

Hi there, new Bullet just arrived. I set it up per documentation and went to preheat for the initial seasoning of the drum. The docs say preheat to 230C, however when I power on the preheat setting is 200C. It preheats to 200C and then sits there at 200C, never suggests I charge or anything. After a while ERRC 000256 showed up. I went to cooldown from there and I get 9 beeps while cooling.

I’m a little lost at this point - things aren’t going per what I read and wondering if docs are off, or what? This is brand new - just arrived from Sweet Marias.
Thanks.

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2

Well, bad to worse I guess. I went and checked firmware, it said there was a new firmware release and suggested updating - which I did and it said it completed successfully (v523).

I powered down the Bullet, then turned it back on - it beeps 3 times but there’s no display. Roastime says from the main screen its connected but when you go to “Lets Roast” it says “Roaster disconnected”.

I must be stupid or something, but I’m not seeing what I’m doing wrong. Help?

3

Try disconnecting the USB and rebooting the Bullet twice. I know that sounds silly, but it seems to solve many problems and is the recommended procedure after a firmware update.

4

When you say reboot twice, I assume you mean pulling power and applying power? I don’t see any power on/off switches and the display is unresponsive. Thanks.

5

Unfortunately, yes. That’s what I mean. There is no power switch.

Be sure to allow the Bullet to fully boot each time.

6

Thank you, that did it. Now, can you suggest how I can get preheat temp to 230C, short of building a roast recipe? Or maybe there’s a seasoning recipe? Or shall I season at 200C?

7

I also just got my bullet from Sweet Marias and i noticed the same preheat issue which i think was just default preheat temp. When you plug in the roaster before you hit PRS adjust the temp up to 230 then hit PRS and you should be good. I didnt get that error though.

8

While i am here i will ask if you are using MAC or Windows? i was having an issue with the software not showing me the live output of the roast. just a blank graph with time stamps. But at the conclusion of the roast i get the full profile.

9

Thanks, I’ll try that. I’m using a PC, and I saw your post about the lack of real-time logging - I’m seeing real-time logging when I have tried it the first time in warming up and preheating.

10

@gramma502 might be right about the preheat setting, too. S/he certainly has the correct procedure for it.

11

okay cool, yea my gut tells me is a Mac thing. Cheers and looking forward to roasting with you! 2 seasonings down and a couple more to go!

12

@celticcupcoffee and @gramma502 thanks for the help. I got through the first seasoning roast, got A-02 midway through and A-08 at the end when cooling began. Should I be looking for more problems?

13

Have you looked up those error codes?

I think the A-02 is just the “pay attention to me” nag. To avoid that, you just need to give it some sort of input occasionally.

I don’t remember the A-08, though.

14

@celticcupcoffee - correct on A-02. On A-08, it supposedly signifies that the chaff collector might be full due to unexpected fan speed. Toggling fan speed up/down clears it so I’m not sure if its really an issue or not but I got it on my second seasoning roast as well.

15

Try running the procedure for a fan calibration. Maybe that will make it happy.

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17

Not sure from the posts if you’ve found the Bullet Manual which is available on the Aillio site under Support > Downloads (if you have just ignore this post).

The manual has the 5 Warning code explanations (A-01 thru A08) as well as the 17 Error Codes. There are also instructions for setting PRS defaults so you don’t have to set the PreHeat each time you roast.

Also in the Downloads you should find the instructions for running Fan Calibration, though by now I would think it should arrive already calibrated. If you can choose Fan Speeds FA & Fb, it’s already calibrated.

A-08 can possibly indicaate that there is contact between the chaff collector filter and the exhaust fan. Check carefully that the filter (the screen cup) is properly seated in the black silicone gasket that holds it in place. There are 2 grooves:

  • the outer groove is easy to see and (without the filter installed) is easy to seat
  • the inner groove is harder to see and equally hard to seat the outer rim of the filter screen into it.

If the filter screen (the screen cup with the bale) isn’t properly seated in the black rubber gasket, beans with a lot of chaff will cause enough pressure drop that the filter will literally be pushed out of the tight fitting rubber gasket (the rubber softens from heat under this condition) and will allow the filter to contact the fan and slow it down or even stop it.

Bruce

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18

@celticcupcoffee points out the issue about no power switch. I bought a small extension cord with a metal box housing 2 duplex outlets and a circuit breaker. That goes into my power outlet then I plug the roaster into the box. I think it came from Graybar (maybe Home Depot?) but can easily be made by anyone confident about electrical work. Under certain conditions related to f/w installation it can be very helpful to have a way set power on without having to plug in the cord.

Bruce

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19

@bab, thanks, SM contacted me and is taking care of the issue. Glad I bought from them, as they really stepped up here.

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20

Good news. I’ve had a great experience with them as well.

Bruce

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21

You will need to go into the setup settings to change preheat, initial drum speed, initial power, etc. The manual describes how to do that. Check page 14 “settings menu.”

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