After two months of use, my (already beloved) IR-2 appears to have had a nervous breakdown. Understanding it is a bit complicated because we have had, what is for us, a heat wave, so I am roasting in morning temperatures that are about 15 degrees (F) warmer that I had been in the past. What had been happening, prior to this, was that the measured temp (not of beans, but of the outlet thing built in) seemed to reach the preset 350 in about 3 minutes, and then the fan would go through a change as both my programmed temp changed and the temperature of the outlet changed as well. Over the course of a four step profile, the fan would do this changing about four times, and I would end up with a temp measurement of about 480 for a 450 selection. Now, I am not getting that 3 minute change, and it does not reach 350 (when the fan actually does change) for about 6 minutes. The measured temp at 3 minutes in is less than 320. I get another fan change at a temp of 380, but then at 415, it stalls--which is what I assume that vroom, vroom noise is indicating. When the temp goes up to 320, the stall stops for a moment, and then resumes. I have been too scared to let it continue, when that happens. At that point, I am 9 minutes in to an 11 minutes profile, and the temp I have set for that point is 450. I used a bean I roast sorta dark for this experiment, and I was at Vienna. I did a roast using their Second Profile and had similar results. Stopping it with 3:37 remaining, a measured temp of 390, and roasted to full city. No vroom, vroom yet. I've written to Hearthware, and I assume they will replace it, but any thoughts? vicki |
Vicki, The vroom, vroom thing sounds like normal activity, the fan rapidly cycling to maintain a set temperature. Mine does that all the time. But maybe it is not doing it at the correct (or expected) temperature setting. If it were not for the failure to reach even the 350 of the 3 minute default, I would ask if you've re-entered your program and tried it again. I've had instances where my machine seems to lose the program entirely or maybe grab the wrong one... The fact that the machine is reaching only 320 at 3 minutes in is definitely wrong. So either the heating element is not putting enough heat in, or the fan is blowing harder than it should be. You might try blocking the airflow momentarily with an oven mitt to see if the heating element has the capacity to raise the temperature to a more normal level. (don't set your mitt on fire ) While there have been many comments about the iR2 being affected by ambient temperature, it is hard to imagine the roast temp being *cooler* on a hotter day. It sounds different, maybe wrong, that you say that previously you were getting 480 for a 450 selection... I'm thinking from your previous comments that you don't use a thermocouple and you're referring to the temperature readout on the panel. My machine almost always shows an indicated temperature within 5 degrees of the programmed temperature, except of course during the default 350 period. Good luck, and keep us posted. Michael |
Thanks for your response, Mike. I'll reprogram that profile, and see where I am then. I did try the preprogrammed profile 2 and had the same slow ramp-up, though it reached 350 at 3.5 minutes in. I'm thinking it is not that the profile was lost, as it did read out at 11 minutes, and it is the only 11 minute profile I have on the machine. I was pleased to hear that the rapid fan cycling is a common occurrence. I had not had that happen in my previous roasting experiences. In truth, this odd thing is not all that awful, assuming that it is not just step one to complete failure. It delayed first crack by a a couple of minutes, and lengthened the time between first and second crack by a minute and a half (on the Vienna roast I mentioned). I'll definitely keep you posted and I will try blocking the fan as you suggested. Vicki Michael Wade wrote: <Snip> |
On 7/5/06, Vicki Smith wrote: <Snip> Vicki, I'd be interested in hearing if you can taste any difference resulting from the increased roasting times. Thanks, Brian |