Diedrich ir 2.5

[Nakoda13]

Hi there forum
i have a 2014 diedrich ir 2.5 that I thought was working perfectly, however needed a cleaning, so I cleaned it as suggested in the diedrich manual, once put back together the air flow now is so much that now during roasting if I want to add air either 50/50 or through the roasting drum, I then have to add full gas to keep any temps up, or it will stall out, so then by adding the increased gas I am getting scorching and tipping happening now on my beans, I did call diedrich and they said that's normal to add more heat when they test the machines and add air. But prior to cleaning I never did this. Instead I would slowly decrease the heat as the roast carried on and would achieve a slow drop in ror almost down to 0 at the end of the roast!
Anyone roast on a diedrich 2.5 who can help me with this problem I am having??

 

[JohnD18]

I roast on a Diedrich 12K, so I am familiar with the Diedrich airflow system, and can try to give advice, but I am not sure how the 2.5K can relate to the 12K.
Personally, in my roasting style, I never jump from the cooling bin to 50/50, to 100%. I do smaller increments (25, 50, 75, 100) and it seems to smooth out the roast curve, and produce a more even, flavorful roast. I think this may also help you as you can keep the drum hotter, longer without such a dramatic increase in air being introduced into the drum at once. I would give it a lot of heat in the beginning, then slowly start introducing the air, keeping the temp up.

Did you not have this issue when the machine was brand new? It seems strange that the airflow is so strong that its stalling out. Also, check to see if all your doors/compartments on the machine are shut tight, and sealing. If they don't, the machine senses this and automatically kills the flame. One time my chaff collection compartment wasn't closed tight enough and when I hit higher airflows, the flame went out. Again, I am not familiar with the 2.5, but assume there are parallels. Also, call Diedrich back and get the tech dept on the phone, and insist to talk to someone very familiar with the mechanics of the machine. Sometimes the initial person isn't really an expert, but there is one woman in there that knows her stuff. It sounds like something that's not normal. Airflow shouldnt cause the burner to go out. If this were happening to me I'd be losing it with them.
Good luck. Keep us update on any solutions; I am curious as to whats going on.

 

[Nakoda13]

I roast on a Diedrich 12K, so I am familiar with the Diedrich airflow system, and can try to give advice, but I am not sure how the 2.5K can relate to the 12K.
Personally, in my roasting style, I never jump from the cooling bin to 50/50, to 100%. I do smaller increments (25, 50, 75, 100) and it seems to smooth out the roast curve, and produce a more even, flavorful roast. I think this may also help you as you can keep the drum hotter, longer without such a dramatic increase in air being introduced into the drum at once. I would give it a lot of heat in the beginning, then slowly start introducing the air, keeping the temp up.

Did you not have this issue when the machine was brand new? It seems strange that the airflow is so strong that its stalling out. Also, check to see if all your doors/compartments on the machine are shut tight, and sealing. If they don't, the machine senses this and automatically kills the flame. One time my chaff collection compartment wasn't closed tight enough and when I hit higher airflows, the flame went out. Again, I am not familiar with the 2.5, but assume there are parallels. Also, call Diedrich back and get the tech dept on the phone, and insist to talk to someone very familiar with the mechanics of the machine. Sometimes the initial person isn't really an expert, but there is one woman in there that knows her stuff. It sounds like something that's not normal. Airflow shouldnt cause the burner to go out. If this were happening to me I'd be losing it with them.
Good luck. Keep us update on any solutions; I am curious as to whats going on.

Thank you! For your input! I really appreciate it

I never had any problems like this until I cleaned the machine. Even my initial drop temps and bottom times have changed because it seems to be pulling air through the drum more!

For example
I would drop at 375, with full gas on for about 2:30 then I would drop gas say by 1/2"WC then add air at 4:30(280) to 50/50 and say at 5 min I would drop the gas again by 1/2 WC - my ror would be slowly dropping from every A30seconds to 10-8- 6 then at 370 I would add 100% through drum just as first start I would drop the gas again and let it cruise on through then it would be dropping like 4-3-2 then drop coffee! Was awesome, now when I get to 280 add air 50/50 I have to increase gas then full power of gas at 370 for 100%, temps dropping faster but now I see though that my beans are tipping or scorching because of the high heat that I have had to apply

I have been working with diedrich and they are trying to get it solved! Have been very helpful!!

I'm wondering if when I cleaned the fan in the cyclone that maybe I bent some fins on them and changed the way the air is pulling from the machine? Maybe drawing too much or something.

That's about all I can think but a new fan is $400 ouch!

I will try some different profiles with air but was really liking them prior to this! Now it's like starting all over again!

Any suggestions??





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[Nakoda13]

Thank you! For your input! I really appreciate it

I never had any problems like this until I cleaned the machine. Even my initial drop temps and bottom times have changed because it seems to be pulling air through the drum more!

For example
I would drop at 375, with full gas on for about 2:30 then I would drop gas say by 1/2"WC then add air at 4:30(280) to 50/50 and say at 5 min I would drop the gas again by 1/2 WC - my ror would be slowly dropping from every A30seconds to 10-8- 6 then at 370 I would add 100% through drum just as first start I would drop the gas again and let it cruise on through then it would be dropping like 4-3-2 then drop coffee! Was awesome, now when I get to 280 add air 50/50 I have to increase gas then full power of gas at 370 for 100%, temps dropping faster but now I see though that my beans are tipping or scorching because of the high heat that I have had to apply

I have been working with diedrich and they are trying to get it solved! Have been very helpful!!

I'm wondering if when I cleaned the fan in the cyclone that maybe I bent some fins on them and changed the way the air is pulling from the machine? Maybe drawing too much or something.

That's about all I can think but a new fan is $400 ouch!

I will try some different profiles with air but was really liking them prior to this! Now it's like starting all over again!

Any suggestions??





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So after a long search I think I finally have things under control again, living in Canada on the prairies where this past month we have been in a cold deep freeze, -20c -30c and colder my roasting shop was according to wall thermometer 20c however I discovered that my infloor heat was not working properly so the air in the building was just cold! So I figured out what was wrong with my floor heat and now the temp is 23c so the floor was warm which warmed the air to a true 23c, once that was good my bean temp also warmed up so it helped with drop temps plus the air system on the diedrich is amazing and after cleaning it was really pulling a lot of air through which was cold air and cooling everything off in the roaster!! Duh!! Now all my roasting profiles are back to normal and when I do switch to 50/50 or 100% through roasting drum the beans are not loosing their temp!! Took a awhile to figure out but we are back on track and a good lesson learned, I chatted with some roasters in Australia who are going through a heat wave and are dealing with the exact opposite extremes to warm air and they are really adjusting their temps as well!
Thanks too Missy at diedrich for all her help and understanding to help me figure out what was wrong! And all the other roasters I chatted with via social media!!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JohnD18]

So after a long search I think I finally have things under control again, living in Canada on the prairies where this past month we have been in a cold deep freeze, -20c -30c and colder my roasting shop was according to wall thermometer 20c however I discovered that my infloor heat was not working properly so the air in the building was just cold! So I figured out what was wrong with my floor heat and now the temp is 23c so the floor was warm which warmed the air to a true 23c, once that was good my bean temp also warmed up so it helped with drop temps plus the air system on the diedrich is amazing and after cleaning it was really pulling a lot of air through which was cold air and cooling everything off in the roaster!! Duh!! Now all my roasting profiles are back to normal and when I do switch to 50/50 or 100% through roasting drum the beans are not loosing their temp!! Took a awhile to figure out but we are back on track and a good lesson learned, I chatted with some roasters in Australia who are going through a heat wave and are dealing with the exact opposite extremes to warm air and they are really adjusting their temps as well!
Thanks too Missy at diedrich for all her help and understanding to help me figure out what was wrong! And all the other roasters I chatted with via social media!!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good to hear you figured it out! I only have heat in my warehouse, and I can't run it while the roaster is running due to limited pressure. To deal with the changing temps (in the summer it can get over 100 F) I log every single roast on paper and computer, and make small changes as the weather changes, so there are no large swings.