Another step on the roasting path

[ray settanta]

The used Hottop with a broken heating element arrived and has been almost completely disassembled for cleaning and repair. Because I am not too mechanically literate, I had not planned to tear it down quite as far as I did; however, the process was easier than I thought it would be. The Hottop website was invaluable. Hope it goes back together as easily with no leftover parts.

[Joe]

Yep sounds like fun. How much did you get it for?

[ray settanta]

$500

[mp]

Don't give up Ray. Keep at it. You can do it!

PS

Would like to see pictures of your hard work when you're done.

 

[ray settanta]

The Hottop is almost cleaned up. The motor and rear wall of the roast chamber still need to be done. I have to go carefully here because, unfortunately, the motor and the circuit boards can't be soaked in the cleaning solution. Michael, from Hottop, stopped by today and he gave me some good tips. Hottop seems to be a great company.

[Joe]

99.9% isopropyl alcohol is safe on electronics and works great.

[ray settanta]

Thanks for the info.

[sea330]

Hell, before I retired we use to scrub circuit boards down with just soap and water, let them dry, repair send them back out into the field. Be sure to discharge your self when handling boards with ICs on them. If you live in a really low humidity environment use a wrist strap.
 

[YasBean]

Glad to hear that it is going well!  Do give a report when it is all up and going!

[Ascholten]

Getting 99 percent IPA can be a pain in some places,  the 70 works just let it dry out before you plug it in, ie a few minutes.

Aaron

[ray settanta]

I found some 91% and will try it tomorrow.

[YasBean]

How's the HotTop project coming?

[ray settanta]

The project is on hold at the moment. All the parts are cleaned except for the motor and part of the main support where the bean ejection chute solenoid is located. Scrubing the back wall where the temp sensor is located took the most time. Next time I will take that apart and throw it in the detergent. Took longer to clean that wall than I thought it would. Work has stopped on the roaster because of my earlier project of building a large toolbox using no power tools. I really need to finish that first but I wanted to get the bulk of cleaning done on the roaster before returning to it. Another week and I should be done with the toolbox and ready to finish cleaning the roaster and begin to put it back together. There seems to be a lot involved with aligning the drum by using a simple tool that can be fabricated and aligning the heating element so that the drum is close but doesn't touch it. I will be back with another progress report in a few weeks.

[YasBean]

Wow!  It sounds like you are doing more than a simple fix-up.  That roaster is going to be fantastic once you have finished.  Have you decided on the extent of the upgrade?

[ray settanta]

No, not yet. I purchased a heating element and the upgraded fusible link. I want to put it together and gain some experience before I go further. If it suits my needs as is, I may not upgrade at all. But if I do decide to upgrade, having done all this now will ease the angst of wondering whether or not I would be capable of doing a major upgrade. BTW, I even soaked the screws in Cafiza. LOL.