Sonofresco / Q&A / Tip & Tricks

[aaronranson]

Hey all, I'm looking for some advice and am hoping some are still watching this thread. I have a 1100 propane roaster. A friend who has a metal shop fabricated a three way divider for me, like the ones Sonofresco used to sell for roasting 3 smaller samples at the same time. I just got it home and tried it for the first time. The problem I am having is that only one of the three sections of beans fluidizes. It is like the air from the blower is only coming up from the left side of the roaster. When the roast chamber is removed I ca see what looks like a hot spot (see picture.) I'm hoping there is a solution. I have 12 samples ranging in weight from 200 grams to 350 grams that I need to roast before placing an order for larger quantity. I've recently started a very small commercial roasting operation in my small town. Thanks for any help.

[Burner0000]

Try opening up the whole machine. The in shot burner may be lose. I came across this on my old one. With that hot spot, your burner is probably properly, I'd also make sure you don't have any spots where you are losing air. Once fixed if this is the case you will see a big improvement in roast performance.

[aaronranson]

Try opening up the whole machine. The in shot burner may be lose. I came across this on my old one. With that hot spot, your burner is probably properly, I'd also make sure you don't have any spots where you are losing air. Once fixed if this is the case you will see a big improvement in roast performance.

Thank you for the reply. I have had the machine apart before. Where is the in shot burner located? I appreciate your help!

[Joe]

Try opening up the whole machine. The in shot burner may be lose. I came across this on my old one. With that hot spot, your burner is probably properly, I'd also make sure you don't have any spots where you are losing air. Once fixed if this is the case you will see a big improvement in roast performance.

Thank you for the reply. I have had the machine apart before. Where is the in shot burner located? I appreciate your help!

Actually you should just call Sonofresco and have them walk you through the diagnosis. I have seen something as simple as a non level surface or dirty squirrel cage blades etc.. Cause that issue of the spot. The sample roaster might be different than just a tri wing blade in the roasting chamber and I think they were having issues with that roaster design.

[Joe]

My sonofresco is in it's once a year soak all metal and glass parts in phosphoric acid bath and disassemble and scrape all the caked on resin off of all the parts. I have upped this to 3-4 times a year these days as it make the job much easier.

Just a friendly service announcement get your parts clean.

[aaronranson]

I've been having a difficult time with SWP decafs. I know these coffees can be harder to roast due to their cellular structure being broken down from the SWP. I have roasted 3 different origins, all SWP. They all seem to have a cardboard-like aroma after a day of resting. This aroma translates to an aftertaste on the palate especially as the coffee cools. I have experimented with severe different roast settings but ultimately end up at the same aroma/taste. I would be grateful to hear anyone's experience and possible solutions.

[jspain]

I've been having a difficult time with SWP decafs. I know these coffees can be harder to roast due to their cellular structure being broken down from the SWP. I have roasted 3 different origins, all SWP. They all seem to have a cardboard-like aroma after a day of resting. This aroma translates to an aftertaste on the palate especially as the coffee cools. I have experimented with severe different roast settings but ultimately end up at the same aroma/taste. I would be grateful to hear anyone's experience and possible solutions.

My experience with decaf was to change the roast setting down one setting. The decaf just roasts faster..... I may also suggest trying another decaf process than SWP in the Sono. I believe you'll have better results.... FWIW

[Joe]

I've been having a difficult time with SWP decafs. I know these coffees can be harder to roast due to their cellular structure being broken down from the SWP. I have roasted 3 different origins, all SWP. They all seem to have a cardboard-like aroma after a day of resting. This aroma translates to an aftertaste on the palate especially as the coffee cools. I have experimented with severe different roast settings but ultimately end up at the same aroma/taste. I would be grateful to hear anyone's experience and possible solutions.

My experience with decaf was to change the roast setting down one setting. The decaf just roasts faster..... I may also suggest trying another decaf process than SWP in the Sono. I believe you'll have better results.... FWIW

Yes I usually roast 1 lb 3 oz for all coffees and for Decaff and most coffee I will use level 3-4 on a very clean sonofresco.

[aaronranson]

I didn't get much helpful info from Sonofresco regarding the hotspot. I cleaned the blower and the inside of the machine really well. This definitely increased air flow. I decided to use my 3-wing insert to try sample roasting three different origins at the same time. Boy was this a mistake! I ended up having to turn the machine off before some of the beans caught fire. In one of the chambers the beans roasted extremely quickly, they were dark and oily. At the same time the beans in one of the other chambers had very little color on them at all. The third chamber was in between two. So, I'm guessing this machine is just not able to roast in this way. I'm not sure how I will roast the 300 gram samples I get from the different import companies I am working with. 

[Joe]

All my Sonofrescos have had a hotspot I assume its from the cyclone motion of the heat. I think Sonofresco stopped doing the splitter for a similar reason, the machine was definitely not designed in this fashion. Seriously if you want a sample roaster just make Pid' popper thats what I did. It's much easier than fabricating the failed sonofresco splitter.

[aaronranson]

All my Sonofrescos have had a hotspot I assume its from the cyclone motion of the heat. I think Sonofresco stopped doing this for a similar reason, the machine was definitely not designed in this fashion. Seriously if you want a sample roaster just make Pid' popper that what I did. It's much easier than fabricating the failed sonofresco splitter.

Thank you so much for the help.

[aaronranson]

My thermocouple was in need of cleaning. I noticed a crack in it so I removed it for careful cleaning. In the process the outer material cracked more and crumbled off. I ordered a replacement from Sonofresco. I know this has been mentioned before here, but the part is just expensive. The worst part is the cheapest shipping option for this 1lb part was UPS Ground for $17!. Then, they didn't even ship it UPS. It is coming in a Post Office flat rate mailer. I feel the parts are overpriced but I can handle that. Bring completely ripped off (ROBBED!) on shipping is something else altogether. I had to have the part for the machine to function so I had to pay it. I'm not very happy at the moment! Total order was $91.XX.

[Joe]

My thermocouple was in need of cleaning. I noticed a crack in it so I removed it for careful cleaning. In the process the outer material cracked more and crumbled off. I ordered a replacement from Sonofresco. I know this has been mentioned before here, but the part is just expensive. The worst part is the cheapest shipping option for this 1lb part was UPS Ground for $17!. Then, they didn't even ship it UPS. It is coming in a Post Office flat rate mailer. I feel the parts are overpriced but I can handle that. Bring completely ripped off (ROBBED!) on shipping is something else altogether. I had to have the part for the machine to function so I had to pay it. I'm not very happy at the moment! Total order was $91.XX.

Yeah the thermocouple is the most overpriced part. But take care of it and it lasts for a long time. I wasn't too happy about my replacements either. I asked them point blank a few times why it's so expensive when you can buy a thermocouple from Grainger for like $13. Someone smarter than me needs to copy the adapter, fabricate a better mount and make some money.

[aaronranson]

All my Sonofrescos have had a hotspot I assume its from the cyclone motion of the heat. I think Sonofresco stopped doing this for a similar reason, the machine was definitely not designed in this fashion. Seriously if you want a sample roaster just make Pid' popper that what I did. It's much easier than fabricating the failed sonofresco splitter.

Thank you so much for the help.

I'm very curious about you PID controlled popper. Can you link me to what you built? Thank you!

[Joe]

I'd have to find all the stuff I did. Matt Williams pretty much did all the hard stuff but I did help develop the bus bar for the PID we had that cleaned up the wire mess. There are several PID' poppers that have more modern PID's that don't require the powered ssr that I use.


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