Hi all!
It was worth the wait! I have got the new redesigned chaff collector and it's an engineering masterpiece! I got it today from the European distributor. It's much bigger and heavier and it's possible to watch the beans easily during the whole roasting process. It's absolutely worth the cost! Here is a picture:
New_chaff_collector.jpg (89.82 KiB) Viewed 4715 times
I roasted below the kitchen hood. All air blows upward and with it the smell from the roasted coffee. This means for me that I got very little odour in the apartment. It was very easy to empty from the top. It was MUCH less chaff coming out from the collector on the counter top compared to the old collector and it seems to be of a very high quality.
Those of you that have got the new collector; what do you think?
Us in Aus are still waiting as I believe there are delays because there have been reports of multiple issues, some being the unit cracking when roasting, cracking when installing on top as the tolerances have been too tight for some roasters, and depending on the age of roaster can affect it. So it seems like things have been put on the back burner for now so these things can be recitified, I’m more than happy for the problems too be fixed, and clearly some units are working well for some customers so far! But I’m definitely getting impatient, considering I ordered on the pre-order date, was told Nov, then dec, and now Jan and no update as of yet
discoaus wrote: ↑Thu 05 Jan, 2023 1:43 am
Us in Aus are still waiting as I believe there are delays because there have been reports of multiple issues, some being the unit cracking when roasting, cracking when installing on top as the tolerances have been too tight for some roasters, and depending on the age of roaster can affect it. So it seems like things have been put on the back burner for now so these things can be recitified, I’m more than happy for the problems too be fixed, and clearly some units are working well for some customers so far! But I’m definitely getting impatient, considering I ordered on the pre-order date, was told Nov, then dec, and now Jan and no update as of yet
I may have been happy with my sample of the collector. It's very well engineered and I can see that it must have been expensive to manufacture. There is no problem at all to get it to sit on the roaster (mine is 2 1/2 years old) there is a good margin. When you want to empty it there is a bayonet mount on top. When the roaster is cold this is rather tight but not so much when it's warm as it expands. I think it will be less tight when it's wearing and I think it's possible to adjust if necessary. I have only used it with two batches and it worked very well. As I said it was worth the wait!
EDIT 21st of January: I have made 4 more roasts with the new collector and it works very well for me. It's like having a completely new machine. I'm opening and emptying it when it's still warm and it's not sticking. Now I can watch the whole roasting process! I couldn't be happier! I don't know anything about the "cable KL" though as I have an older machine-
Last edited by nrdlnd on Sun 22 Jan, 2023 5:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
So! My new glass chamber and boost package arrived in Australia 2 days ago!
The new chamber is built well! It did not slide onto my original plastic housing, but KL sent out a brand new replacement and it slides over this one nicely! Even though I have the newer 7E model, the tolerances obviously weren't within spec for the chamber still. My current gripes with the chamber is how hot it is! I have had to purchase heat resistant gloves just to be able to hold the chamber while unscrewing the top lip to be able to empty the chaff that's built up. It stays significantly hot for several minutes, so its not possible to make back-to-back batches unless you wear some heat resistant gloves.
I have been doing some testing with 200g batches of yellow bourbon Brazil beans on the Steady & Dark II profile. I have come to work out that the fan calibration, whether its mainly due to the larger batch size, but also the new chamber also, is that the factory calibration for fan speed is significantly too low to move the volume of beans, I had to increase this from 0.92 to 1.02, so I was able to get a consistent rolling of the beans throughout the entire roast, my only issue I'm still working on currently is the cooldown speed. The initial roll for the cooldown is fine, up until around 60c, where it starts to go into the slower stage, and the beans on the top portion seem to settle and no airflow looks to circulate these beans around, though I can feel air coming from the top of the chamber. My end temperature settles around 49c, whereas initially with my 100g batches I would get under 40c as end temp. I have adjusted the cooling speed in the calibration from 0.90 to 1.05, I have been able to drop the end temp from 52c to 49c with this change, but that's as far as my testing has gone. Whether this is the specific profile that causes this, or whether its purely the larger batch size not being able to move this around. I will continue to tweak this profile by changing the cooldown hi and lo speed in the profile its self rather than continuing to alter the calibration speeds.
Did they send any email when it was shipped, or did it just turn up on your door?
I also ordered the same day that pre-orders opened (20 July last year!). The last email on the subject in early Feb said they will be shipping all kits February and March, and I haven't heard anything yet. Definitely hanging out to get it!
Did they send any email when it was shipped, or did it just turn up on your door?
I also ordered the same day that pre-orders opened (20 July last year!). The last email on the subject in early Feb said they will be shipping all kits February and March, and I haven't heard anything yet. Definitely hanging out to get it!
Yep, had an email to say it was shipped. I was 1 of the first 20 to get the chamber in Australia so we have been beta testing them, with updated beta firmware along the way, lots of teething, but last correspondence that KL has posted on their socials is getting all the orders out in the next couple weeks. So hopefully this stays true, as their are alot of impatient people waiting, which is understandable
Hi all
My new chaff collector and boost ring arrived today. I agree with other comments I’ve read - the new chimney seems wonderfully engineered. It’s weighty and much more professional looking than the original. I can’t wait to try it out and have a window into my roast
Question - what’s the tolerance for needing to switch the plastic collar of the roaster to the smaller circumference version provided with the upgrades as a precaution?
I can place the new chaff collector onto the unit but I need to push down gently for it to go on. It’s a tight fit (friction) but it does go on.
Is that okay, or is that indication enough to switch the parts so it sits/places on there loosely? The manual and directions provided weren’t clear what should constitute changing to the backup part.
My guess is I should change the part, but checking what others have done.
