Hot top failure

[milowebailey]

No..the cooling does not start. It's like I'm not pushing the button at all.

The Musasa is perfect...I went emerg in probably under 1 second.

I would suggest you have a bad button. or the controller board (I don't think you can just change the button).

Glad to hear the Musasa survived.

[GC7]

Why have you ruled out a solenoid falure on the eject door?

When you start up the roaster and press eject do you hear a clicking noise at the door as the control panel attempts to signal the solenoid to open?

[John F]

Why have you ruled out a solenoid falure on the eject door?

When you start up the roaster and press eject do you hear a clicking noise at the door as the control panel attempts to signal the solenoid to open?

No click...no nothing..

I've been diagnosing it with HT and a new board is heading my way. Awesome customer service. 

[GC7]

Why have you ruled out a solenoid falure on the eject door?

When you start up the roaster and press eject do you hear a clicking noise at the door as the control panel attempts to signal the solenoid to open?

No click...no nothing..

I've been diagnosing it with HT and a new board is heading my way. Awesome customer service. 

OK - sounds like you have your solution. Agreed totally about the customer service from Michael and HotTop. Good luck.

[shakin_jake]

Two things:

- It might also be the button on the control board. I had the same problem with one of my boards, pushing the button wasn't ejecting anything and 'it felt' like the button had a different feel to it than the other buttons. This no-eject scenario happened to me a handful of times and I think it's because the eject button saw a lot of use it eventually just wore the board contact mechanism out. I got a new replacement board from Hottop and all was good again.

- If that no-eject ever happens again, grab a glove and quickly unscrew the gold knob holding the glass window front piece in place and manually shake all the beans out into a colander or whatever you have available. I managed to save a couple of roasts that way.

~~~Hey Sean!,  I owe you one!  I was just wrapping up a batch of COE EL Salvador in my Hot Top B model (20 minutes ago)...280 grams starting weight...when I went to hit the eject button to stop the action at the front of 2nd crack, nothing happened and I remembered you posting this after John F had his failure

What I did, I was roasting wearing a T-Shirt so I quickly stripped the T-Shirt off and used it as an oven mitt to unscrew the front door knob.  I had the roast outta there lickety-split...didn't lose a bean=:-)  Glad I perused this thread when it originally went live and I guess I also owe John F a thank you for pooching his roast (Thanks John=:-)

I'm thinking my board is worn out too...lately the fan button wont respond well.  I manualy re-set my fan at the front of the roast and sometimes to get the fan to kick on I have had to push the fan button 3X's (to the 3rd fan setting) to get it to start

In the event anyone is wondering why I'm roasting out in my attached garage in Jan. wearing a T-Shirt at 4AM, this is Fla. after all.  I think we'll hit a high of 80 degrees fahrenheit today.  Sunday (yesterday)was in the mid seventies.  I don't think it's less than 60 something right now, so my roasting uniform is a T-Shirt, shorts and Birkenstock sandals...no, I'm not a latte liberal<LOL>

Anyways, the Hot Top is a kick ass roaster.  This was roast # 389, or the 389th roast I've done in mine.  I've had this roaster just about 3 years now.  Long Live Hot Top!


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.
"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop

[mp]

Well done Jake ... it sounds like you responded at the speed of light to save your roast.

 

[GC7]

I had a similar problem with three of the buttons on my board and was about to replace it. I emailed Michael who told my to remove the panel and unscrew the plate exposing the buttons and the board. He then said to manually push the buttons MANY TIMES and function might be restored. Well after pressing the buttons literally HUNDREDS of times it seemed to work. The board and buttons function as they should. I don't know how long this "fix" will last but for now it saved me $120 to replace it.

[ScareYourPassenger]

Tarnished contacts?

[GC7]

Could be tarnished contacts. Lab ethanol (100%) did not help the problem of intermitent activity. Continuous pressing the button like a trained chimp (no snide comments here please  ) fixed the problem for now.

[Ray T]

Ever notice how fast the beans eject when you forget to put the tray in place ?  Just did it. Stood right there and watched it happen 

[shakin_jake]

Ever notice how fast the beans eject when you forget to put the tray in place ?  Just did it. Stood right there and watched it happen 

~~~~BTDT....  I've done everything wrong you can with a Hot Top

FWIW, I ordered a new board from Michael earlier in the week...it came w/today's mail...I'll probably get around to installing it later today.  The roast that got stuck because my eject door that didn't open, although saved was roasted a little more than I normally like yet I have been drinking great caps by letting the flush (I'm kickin old school, E-61) go on for about a second longer than I usualy do


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.
Better a Diamond with a flaw than a polished pebble... Bill Brown

[shakin_jake]

Update...I mis-spoke...seems I found another way to do something wrong with a Hot Top=:-)  So, I finally got around to installing the new control board, along with a new rear fan that I also bought and had shipped with the board.  The install was ridiculously easy.  Anywho, I forgot to mention I also bought and ordered a new top filter so everything is installed and I plug the roaster in for a pre-heat and had already measured out 280 grams of El Salvador COE to roast, so the preheat is met, I dump the beans and immediately after dumping the greens, I reset the over temp factory preset from 420 to 428, like I do every roast and I also reprogram the fan speed.  Anyone that has used the B model Hot Top knows you can reset the fan by changing it after the pre-heat is done, and I like to run my fan differently from the preprogramed fan settings, but I punch the fan buttons and my fan did not come on.  Oh! the horrors!!!  I've already dumped the greens and what now, no fan?!?  I immediately realize I'll have to remove the fan housing while the roaster is running as I don't want to restart the roast and have to go through a cool down cycle, and I'm thinking I'll be able to take care of the problem once I figure it out, even though the machine has a full charge of greens in it...

So I'm thinking I must have not completely connected the fan plug in connection so I'm taking the fan off unscrewing the four screws, the roaster is running, it's hot, so I took my T-Shirt off so I could hold onto the front of the roaster for leverage...Now I have the fan off, it's plugged in, so I hit the fan button and guess what?....the fan blades are turning, but it's so quiet I can't hear the fan running.  Yeah...the fan was running when I changed the control input, but it's new and therefore totally quiet.  This is why i replaced the OE rear fan, because it was making some noise, I'm thinking because it's right in the way of the exhaust heat.  BTW, it wasn't terribly loud, just loud enough that I thought it was time to replace it so, it looks like I haven't done everything wrong that you can with a Hot Top.  You learn something new everyday

BTW2, the roast came through perfect...I leave the heat setting as factory pre-set and dumped the greens with close to 18 minutes on the clock (count down).  1st crack happened with approx 4 minutes remainging (not looking at my notes), at 401 degrees on the roaster temp guage (drum ambient).  With about 1:30 remaining, it came into a steady 2nd crack, I termintated the roast 10 seconds later, w/420 degrees showing on the board.  Colour of the roasted beans in the cooling tray and when I bagged them looked quite even and at FC+.  These are great greens and I have one more roast charge after this bag is finished.  FWIW these are the only El Salvador greens I've ever cared for, but then they are COE.  Thanks GCBC for scoring these beans for me!


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.     
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while...