Author Topic: Quest M3 Users  (Read 12819 times)

Offline djbetterly

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Quest M3 Users
« on: February 22, 2016, 04:11:16 AM »
Are there any Quest M3 users on here?  I see there are stickies for a lot of other roasters, but none for the quest.

I'd love to get the Quest on the stickies list for listing tips and roast guides!
« Last Edit: February 22, 2016, 10:41:39 AM by Joe »

Offline whattodo

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Re: Quest M3 Users
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2016, 10:33:18 AM »
I am one of them. I have been using Quest for more than 8 months.
Roaster: Quest M3/Bullet R1
Grinder: Two Sage Smart, Two Harios
Brewing: Brazen Plus, Thermos Nissan, Bodum Cold Brewer, Chemex 8 Cup, Yama Vacuum 8 Cup & 5 Cup, Vev Vigano Carioca Nero, Bonavita Porcelain Immersion Coffee Dripper, Aeropress, Saeco Espresso, Beko Turkish Coffee Brewer

Offline djbetterly

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Re: Quest M3 Users
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2016, 10:48:59 AM »
@whattodo, are you using it completely manual or did you mod it? 

Curious if you have any tips so far.

Offline djbetterly

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Re: Quest M3 Users
« Reply #3 on: February 22, 2016, 11:03:51 AM »
Also, here is a Quest cheat sheet that was created by a user on another forum.

Here's a link as well:  Click Here!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9ohp2E7ceLbNlhwcmEwNnVNQ1E/view?usp=sharing

Offline whattodo

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Re: Quest M3 Users
« Reply #4 on: February 22, 2016, 08:12:14 PM »
Two thermocouples with TMD-56 and Artisan software. Only mod I did is insulation by using ceramic blanket.
Roaster: Quest M3/Bullet R1
Grinder: Two Sage Smart, Two Harios
Brewing: Brazen Plus, Thermos Nissan, Bodum Cold Brewer, Chemex 8 Cup, Yama Vacuum 8 Cup & 5 Cup, Vev Vigano Carioca Nero, Bonavita Porcelain Immersion Coffee Dripper, Aeropress, Saeco Espresso, Beko Turkish Coffee Brewer

Offline Gene

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Re: Quest M3 Users
« Reply #5 on: February 23, 2016, 08:28:24 AM »
I've been using the Quest for about 2 years. Did the same as wattodo except no ceramic blanket instead I painted the drum. I roast 285g to wind up with 8oz batches. I did 10 batches yesterday back to back with just a 1/2 hour break for lunch at batch 5. No problem at all. I cool the beans by blowing air up from the bottom of a 12" flat flour sifter laid on top of a 24" floor fan that rests on a stool horizontally up against the counter. Beans cool to room temp. in 2 minutes and chaff flies all over my kitchen. I lay a 4" dryer hose up against the back of the roaster and up to my range hood where I have it connected to the filter with a simple wire. This gives me more air through the roaster when needed and keeps the smoke out of the house. I plug the roaster into a 'Kill a Watt' to control the heat level. This gives me a more accurate way to control the heat than relying on the amp meter on the roaster. My roaster was manufactured in March 2011.
Gene
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Offline djbetterly

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Re: Quest M3 Users
« Reply #6 on: February 29, 2016, 04:34:27 AM »
A few questions:

  • What is your average roast size?
  • Charge temp?  (Based on what thermocouple)
  • Regarding the fan, what do you find works the best?  I recently tried two roasts, one with fan at #2 and one with fan at #4 and noticed a big
    difference in body and flavor of the roast..for the worse.  I'm curious what you guys do? 



Offline rbk

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Re: Quest M3 Users
« Reply #7 on: February 29, 2016, 06:37:08 AM »
I'm rocking a quest as well. I have one of the newer ones (thinner drum), EricS probes (BT/MET), and a black drum. I've been using batch sizes of 250g, though I like the idea of adjusting it such that I get 8oz of roasted coffee. Charge temps depend on the coffee, somewhere around 400F (BT) for standard profiles. For naturals and other super-fruity coffee's I've had good results with dragging out drying (subsequently spending less time in development) so I'll charge a bit lower, maybe ~350. I make many fan adjustments as roasts progress, monkey-turning knobs to try and keep BT on track and keep MET at reasonable values, so I don't have any hard advices there.

Been having a lot of fun with it. And fortunately there seems to be no shortage of quest experts scattered about the various coffee fora.

Offline djbetterly

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Quest M3 Users
« Reply #8 on: February 29, 2016, 07:04:32 AM »
Good to hear!   I purposely had this stickies because of all the forums I'm on, there really isn't a singled out quest forum, so I'm happy this one is stickied. 

I've had good luck charging at 300 BT but I keep the fan at one speed until first crack then go full throttle.  I added the PID Setup with the arduino/tc4, SSR and Eric S. probes to mine so artisan can control the temperature of the elements.  I'm incredibley happy with the accuracy of the software and the PID.  The PID also allows for me to repeat a roast quite easily.  It's not expensive to do, but it's slightly tricky if you have no wiring experience. 

I've attached two photos of my setup as well.




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« Last Edit: February 29, 2016, 07:13:23 AM by djbetterly »

Offline rbk

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Re: Quest M3 Users
« Reply #9 on: February 29, 2016, 07:23:22 AM »
Very cool! What kind of improvements did you notice by adding insulation? From what I read it makes it easier to "coast" at constant METs? I also have to imagine it increases overall efficiency (same temp at lower amps), much like the black drum.

Offline djbetterly

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Re: Quest M3 Users
« Reply #10 on: February 29, 2016, 07:43:08 AM »
The unit holds heat a lot better with the insulation and yes allows the roast to cost a fair amount.

I did find a pretty decent article from a fellow coffee geek that talks about the insulation. Check it out.  He also has some other useful notes as well.

http://no-stream.tumblr.com/post/121968145291/m3-roaster-insulation-experience-speculation


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Offline djbetterly

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Re: Quest M3 Users
« Reply #11 on: March 10, 2016, 05:12:40 AM »
Have any of played with the idea that using high fan at first crack changes the end flavor of the coffee?

Offline rbk

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Re: Quest M3 Users
« Reply #12 on: March 10, 2016, 06:57:02 AM »
I recall a few folks mention cranking the fan at first crack, the reasons sometimes varied (e.g. "bringing more energy" into the drum to encourage 1cs, also to more quickly collect chaffe). Assuming you can keep the MET where you want it I've definitely noticed more vigorous cracking if I go into it with a bit higher fan speed. I don't max it out though because I'm usually wanting a bit a wiggle room to keep MET constant.

It's an interesting thing to try though, next time I'm roasting multiple batches I'll try it out.

stereo

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Re: Quest M3 Users
« Reply #13 on: March 30, 2016, 06:01:42 PM »
I've had a QM3 for about a year. First real roaster - upgraded from an Air Popper. Very happy with machine. I haven't yet mod'ed it. Running it stock. Roast about 2-5 lbs per week in 1 continuous session of 8 ounce (pre-roast) doses. Almost always do that session as continuous roast. I've had no problems with the machine, and as I learn more I expect to mod it with probes and software. Only 2 gripes: 1) pesky it is to clean...the fan blade is very compact and difficult to navigate; 2) would love if it had larger capacity. Great machine though.

Offline brianmch

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Re: Quest M3 Users
« Reply #14 on: August 11, 2016, 08:06:10 AM »
What were you all using before you got your Quest?  I've run a Behmor for the last 18 months and do okay, but am sure there isn't more to be gotten from the beans. 

How much of a headache is it to get the probe system running, and how OCD does one have to be about the numbers to get good roasts?