Bob - Thanks for the reply; this was exactly what I needed from someone with
a lot of knowledge and first hand experience. I didn't observe the heating
elements kicking in out out but as we know 1500 watt hair dryers will
definitely pull down the lights at times.
I don't currently own a Variac and then I'm getting satisfactory roasts with
the current house voltage. What led me to test for the voltage was the
pitch of the blower last evening around 8 PM, and it seemed a little lower.
(maybe the cycles were off)
We're about 2 miles from NASA and altho the center has a separate high
voltage lines running to the site, as a rule we get good power here in Clear
Lake TX, and hardly ever get power outages and low voltages.
I don't know if you like Tom's and Maria's Indian Mysore Blend(MNEB) but
this morning as I was drinking my first cup I was thinking about a comment
that someone made on the SM site or in the archives...this is a bold coffee
will reach right in there and jerk your tongue out. But reading Tom's review
I should have said that "there was a lush, dark cherry flavor that is really
unique."
Sorry guys, I haven't developed the delicate vocabulary that this avocation
requires and I'm due for some training in coffee tasting.
Best regards
Joe.
<Snip>
If you watch the voltage throughout the entire roast, you'll notice
that it will swing back and forth. In your case it will probably go
from 121 V to 115 V every time the heater coil is energized. The
roaster turns the heater on and off (and changes the fan speed) in
order to track the temperature profile so the voltage change doesn't
only occur at the beginning and end; it changes continually during the
roast.
As for your question, I have the exact same voltage drop (120 V to 115
in my case) and before I begin the roast, with no beans in the
chamber, I set it to the first preset and turn on the roaster. That
activates the heater coil right at the beginning. Then I set my Variac
to 120 and turn the roaster off. The input to the roaster will then be
around 126 V before starting. Then I proceed to fill the chamber with
beans, etc.
Personally I don't think that the 6-Volt difference will harm the
roaster in any way but let me stress - that's your call. IIRC, I asked
the Hearthware technical folks about a 6-Volt boost and I believe they
said it was OK, but no more than that. But I'm not absolutely sure - I
may be remembering something that never happened (too much coffee)!
Anyhow, after 7 months of roasting, it doesn't seem to be affecting
the iRoast in any negative way (yet) and with the procedure I
described, I never have to worry about under-roasting the beans. But
I suggest that you go through some roasts with the 115-121 difference
and see what happens with the beans. If they roast to your
satisfaction, you might want to just leave the starting voltage at
120.
Bob Yellin |