Puzzling lack of chaff

Roasting on the Bullet R1
#1

The last two times I used my roaster, there was a distinct lack of chaff in the chaff chamber. The chaff coming out the front appears to be the same amount as usual. The beans are from a new shipment but are the same origin and varietal I used before.

Not sure if this is related, but both times I got the dreaded ErC 6864 error immediately upon turning on the roaster and then intermittently over the next 45 minutes or so. Once the roaster was nice and hot, the error thankfully went away. I called Sweet Maria’s to order a replacement IBTS fan. But they have failed to call back :frowning:

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on what I should do to investigate either or both of the above problems? Thanks.

#2

I’ve had good results by contacting Aillio support via the web site. They can guide you thru the troubleshooting and authorize Sweet Maria’s to supply a replacement fan (assuming it’s under warranty).

In my case the IBTS fan would drift down below 5,000 rpm and cause the ErC. When the roaster was hot it would creep above 5,000 rpm. But each session was worse that the previous till it just wouldn’t fall into spec. The chaff is probably unrelated to the 6864 error- cooling air is supplied via the base of the control panel pedestal. My essentially dead fan was spotlessly clean but one other user that replaced his fan was packed with white smoke residue.

I assume you’re aware the IBTS fan speed is listed in the Info window… ?? If not, click the “i” in the upper right corner of the Roast page of RT3 and scan down to (I think it’s called) “IR fan speed”.

Bruce

#3

Hi Bruce. Yes, I’ve watched the IBTS fan speed and saw it drop to as low as 500 before shooting back up only to drop again moments later. I’ll send an email to Aillio and see what they suggest.

One other thing I should mention, which may or may not be related to the mystery of the missing chaff. A few minutes into my last batch, there was a loud momentary screeching sound from the back of the roaster. When I checked things out, I found that a fin in the impeller fan was bent. The fan was still firmly in place and was rotating freely. I could find nothing that could have caused the damage.

#4

Not sure about the chaff if it is from the same origin, etc. I roasted a bean yesterday with the least amount of chaff I can recall, but first time roasting it.

I also had the ErC 6864 error and got almost instant response from SM…they asked that I clean the IBTS, which I did, and still got the error, and then they promptly sent a replacement fan, which corrected the error. I was able to do a few roasts with the error by rebooting the Bullet each time. Maybe go ahead and clean the IBTS while you wait to get a reply from SM, so you’ll get that step out of the way.

#5

In case anyone else every encounters this, I reseated the rubber door on the chaff compartment (which wasn’t closing properly) and I am now getting the expected volume of chaff. I guess it was just flying out instead of getting trapped in the compartment.