During the past few months I have been collecting Westbend Popcorn Poppery
Iis and have found some that get the beans VERY hot and others that do not
heat up enough to take the beans to the second crack. They all look new at
the thrift store when I throw down my $3-4. Has anyone else had this problem
and is there a solution?  Help please.
Thanks,
Timothy Hoke

At 2:08 PM -0500 8/03/04, Tim Hoke wrote:
<Snip>
Hi Tim,
There can be a fair amount of temp. variation from unit to unit. With ones that run VERY hot, see my tips in the archives for slowing down a roast. For the ones that aren't hot enough, try using MORE beans. Up to a point, adding more beans allows the heat to build up more in the bean mass. (Conversely, you can adjust for the units that run hot by using fewer beans). Adding more beans can have a huge effect on the heat. For example, if I roast 72 grams of beans in my ToastMaster, second crack comes about six minutes into the roast. If I use 100 grams, the beans are almost burned at four minutes.
Hope that helps,
Edward
p.s. If the Poppery runs really cool, you might need to bypass the thermal cutoff -- others on the list will know more about that than I.

I've noticed the same thing.  I have 9 modified Poppery II's and most
reach second crack around 8 minutes unless I slow them down.  The
Poppery II that attains the highest temperature is about to get split
wired.  I have very little electrical ability, but I know enough to
separate the fan and heater and place the heater on a rheostat. Well, we
will see if I have the ability.  I plan to finish the mod this weekend.
My son calls the popper the Hulk Roaster.

At 06:58 PM 8/4/2004 -0700, Edward Spiegel wrote:
<Snip>
that run VERY hot, see my tips in the archives for slowing down a roast.
For the ones that aren't hot enough, try using MORE beans. Up to a point,
adding more beans allows the heat to build up more in the bean mass.
(Conversely, you can adjust for the units that run hot by using fewer
beans). Adding more beans can have a huge effect on the heat. For example,
if I roast 72 grams of beans in my ToastMaster, second crack comes about
six minutes into the roast. If I use 100 grams, the beans are almost burned
at four minutes.
<Snip>
cutoff -- others on the list will know more about that than I.
At Ed Needhams site you'll find a page devoted to roaster modshttp://my.execpc.com/~n9zes/homeroast/roast.htmlwhich has a couple fo links to Poppery II modsd pages half way down.">http://www.homeroaster.com/homemade.htmland in there is a link to Chris Beck's pagehttp://my.execpc.com/~n9zes/homeroast/roast.htmlwhich has a couple fo links to Poppery II modsd pages half way down.
Cheers,
Johnny

I almost didn't make it into the ranks of the coffee roasting deranged
because I started on a PII which wouldn't get the beans to 1st crack, let
alone 2nd.  At the time, of course, I just thought that I wasn't doing
things right.  What to do about it other than chuck the ones that don't work
- don't know.
Stephen Jones

At 9:37 AM -0400 8/05/04, Stephen Jones wrote:
<Snip>
Question: how much green coffee did you put in the popper and how long did you let it go before deciding that it wouldn't get to 1st crack?
--Edward

I'm very new to this (only roasted 6 batches in my PII so far).  For my
PII, filling it with beans just so the tops of the vents are still
visible gives me the best result (about 1/2 cup depending on bean size).
Any more than that, and the beans don't move.  Any less than that, and
they actually start blowing out the chute.
From what I've read in other posts, each PII is very individualistic.
You just need to experiment and find what works best for your PII.  
I'm really happy with the results I get, even though it's not been
possible to get much beyond a City roast.  But where there's a will,
there's a way.
Hope this helps.
Brent

Stephen:  if you started on the pill no wonder you are having problems!
ginny
At 06:37 AM 8/5/2004, you wrote:
<Snip>

At 9:37 AM -0400 8/05/04, Stephen Jones wrote:
<Snip>
work
<Snip>
<Snip>
you let it go before deciding that it wouldn't get to 1st crack?
--Edward
I can't remember how much coffee I put in the PII that wouldn't work, but
I'm pretty sure it would have been about what was recommended.  I know I put
the same amount in the Wearever Popcorn Pumper that I got a week or two
later and it worked just fine.  By the way, next to the Poppery I, the
columnar 1250watt Popcorn Pumper is my favorite popcorn popper.  If you do a
search on ebay for item number 6111144566, there's a picture of the one I'm
talking about (I'm not the one selling it).
Have fun.
Stephen Jones

At 9:30 AM -0400 8/06/04, Stephen Jones wrote:
<Snip>
Hi Stephen,
Even among working units, the heat output is variable between units. So, the same amount might work great in a Pumper but not in a Poppery. The amount of beans has a tremendous impact on the heat transfer and the relationship is the opposite of what one might think -- more beans results in more heat and fewer beans results in less heat (up to a point). So, I wouldn't necessarily give up on the unit.
Also, it would be really good to know how long things went before you gave up on them getting to first crack. If at 15 minutes it had not got into first crack that would be a problem, but if at 6 minutes it was still working to first crack that would not necessarily be a problem although it would be unusual in a popper (but it would probably turn out one heck of a roast).
Best,
Edward