Solution For Hearing First Crack

I can always hear 1C, but 2C is not so easy. Everyone’s hearing is different depending on exposure and age, so I understand why even 1C can be tough to hear. I suspect if you were to lift up the rubber plug (that covers the port where the bean funnel is used) a bit around the time you believe 1C or 2C to be occurring, that would probably be helpful for confirmation. I think just lifting it on one side would do to the trick, avoiding any temp drops (by comparison to the minimal heat loss as with the trier). Just a thought. May I’ll have to try this next roast to test the theory.

Hope you used lead free solder, don’t know if the coffee taste will be affected by constantly hitting the copper.

1 Like

I’m a new Bullet user, coming from Hottop. I needed more capacity and everything I read about Bullet sounded good. However, hears the cracks on the Hottop was so clear and easy. I must say my disappointment in the Bullet in this regard is off the charts.

Yeah, it’s hard to pick out the sound vs. the crashing of the beans. There are a few workable solutions here to try like the stethoscope. I found the portable amp/speaker could amplify the sound but fidelity was so limited I couldn’t hear the difference between the sound of 1C and the thinner snap of 2C.

So I continue to use the $0 aid for hearing the crack: I get my ear in the vicinity of the bean chute cover and tip the cover to the side so sound reflects off the bottom of the cover and toward my ear. Works adequately well for my purposes. I wear hearing aids so my hearing is decent across the spectrum (without them… not so much!).

Bruce

Thanks for the tip Bruce. Happy roasting.

Has anyone tried an inexpensive medical stethoscope on the exterior of the drum? Or the front wall? Just curious. My wife has an old nursing stethoscope at the house, I might try that just for fun.

It’s mentioned above and in an earlier thread (2019? 2020!) which will take a little digging. In that earlier thread a mechanics stethoscope was mentioned. If you use the tryer port you’ll have to be careful to not extend too far.

Hey Bruce, where’d that new avatar come from? :grin:

1 Like

:crazy_face: Copied it from some movie star!!

2 Likes

Yes, I did see the mentions of a mechanic’s stethoscope, however since there is an old nurse’s stethoscope in the house I was asking to see if anyone had tried that.

I was going to do that today and then forgot to get it.

One person mentioned using a kazoo in the tryer port and had some success. If a kazoo can work, a genuine stethoscope ought to be great. May have to be concerned about temps… ??

Bruce

1 Like

Great solution thanks @steve.jungers that appears to work very well, keeping hands free. I just bought one so thanks a ton for the idea. (Can’t understand for the life of me why others are looking at alternate solutions when you are clear that this one works so well, for an affordable price - go figure).

@steve.jungers could not help but notice that you have a “lip” bolted to the front of your bullet. Was that custom made and can you point me in the direction of how I would make or order one? Thanks.

2 Likes

I think his Feb 26 reply indicated where it got it from, someone in Taiwan.

1 Like

Tx @blacklabs - however not seeing that reference

That last bit about the bean deflector… same person he bought the fancy cooling tray with the auger from :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like

I agree @ tom29jq. I was aware of the stethoscope idea before I got the amplifier. But I decided I wanted a hands free solution. That cheapy little aluminum speaker in this electronic amplifier device really accentuates the high pitch cracking sound of the beans. Of course all the other sounds as well. As it can overwhelm you with all the amplified sounds, I only turn on the device(or keep the volume very low) to just until I know the 1C is coming. I never go to the 2c. The 1C sound is quite distinctive and noticeable. At least for me .Of course, I would love to see someone figure out a way to “filter” the sound of the crashing beans. Sounds like sleigh bells at Christmas. Ha. tom29jq Thanks for your vote of confidence. I was beginning to wonder if it worked for anyone else but me.

By the way the “lip” or bean deflector came from a guy in Taiwan. You can Email him at [email protected]

2 Likes

@steve.jungers just curious if you remembered what you paid for the bean deflector plus shipping from Taiwan? Right now I have a low tech solution - stick a piece of printer paper to the right side of the cooling bowl when I drop the beans since the rotation of the drum tends to make the beans “fly” right when it drops …but sometimes I forget :smile:

I think it was about $38. But it was shipped with the bean cooler machine. I’m sure the shipping, on just the detector,would be extra. As such, it could be price prohibitive from Taiwan. But you could Email him and find out. He’s a good guy. Just pricey., is all.

Thanks.