# Recommended Gene Cafe Mods



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

I've just bought a 2014 model Gene Cafe from a member here and will hopefully take delivery of it next week. I bought it to replace my home made coretto roaster for several reasons, primarily chaff collection and the ability to see the beans, as well as having a bit more flexibility over the control.

However, I'm well aware that the Gene has limitations in terms of temperature fluctuations and data logging etc, and I fully expect to have to modify it quite significantly. What I'd like to know is what mods I ought to consider based on my requirements, and in which order - there are lots of posts out there and it's a little easy to get bogged down without really knowing where to start.

So I have a vanilla Gene - the ideal end position for me would be that I can control the temperatures without excessive fluctuation, and log / observe the roast in Artisan. So I'm expecting to need to make the dimmer mods and drill in a bean mass probe at least. I have most of the Arduino bits already, but I see other people have gone down the wifi or bluetooth route, which makes sense given that the roasting drum rotates.

Can anyone who has done a few Gene mods advise me where they'd start, what they'd avoid, and point me to any guides etc? I'd really appreciate benefitting from other people's experience, and dare I say it, mistakes. It would also be good to be able to make the mods slowly, and see a decent improvement each time.

Many thanks in advance


----------



## johnealey

Hi PMB

http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?31347-Gene-Cafe-Modified-with-Bean-Mass-Probe

(Bottom of Page 2 of the home roasters thread, might want to have a look through the pages as lots of info in this section







)

general guidance and links to really good resources:

http://coffeetime.wikidot.com/roasting-in-the-gene-cafe

http://coffeetime.wikidot.com/gene-cafe-coffee-roaster

Power control mods for Gene:

http://coffeetime.wikidot.com/gene-cafe-dimmer-control-modification

If you look through the todays roast thread you will see that quite a few have done the Stage 1 mod which really changes the way the gene roasts, very repeatable.

Plenty of reading for you and if you want to post pictures and timings of roasts on the todays roast thread you will get some good feedback (use a log such as the online one here: http://coffeetime.wikidot.com/online-roastlog-application or if you click on the document picture at the bottom of that page will launch a PDF that most have used, if not wanting to log online)

Hope of help

John


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Thanks John!

That's good to read, because those are the mods that I had been leaning in the direction of. I think I'll start with the power control mods first and then do the BM probe, not least because I'm looking forward to being able to watch my beans roast for a bit, rather than staring at the temps in Artisan









Good to see Rob1 involved in one of your links - I followed a lot of his comments in the BM probe post on roasthacker.com so would be very interested in his input at some point.

Slightly dumb question - for those who have done it, where do you buy the 230v heater elements for the Gene? I looked on Bella Barista and all I could see was the whole unit for £70, so either I'm looking at the wrong thing or there's been more than a smidge of inflation in the heating element world recently...


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Hi All,

Would somebody mind reviewing my wiring for the dimmer mod - as far as I can tell it's all correct as per the Wiki, but I'm getting a problem whereby the heating element in the Gene is not being switched on at all - the unit fires up fine but the temperature just stays on ambient. With a bit of random pressing of the two way switch and the switch on the dimmer module, the Gene eventually throws an E4 error, which I guess means that the circuit is being completed but that Gene no likey. Fortunately it still works fine if I reverse the mod and put it all back together the way it should be but I'd like to get this working if possible. I'm not a natural electrician, so frankly I'm just following the pretty pictures on the Wiki rather than having any understanding what I'm doing. I have, however, been wearing rubber wellies when actually plugging any of this stuff in, since obviously I don't actually want to die.

For reference, the wiring diagram I've been following is this one from the Wiki:

http://coffeetimex.wdfiles.com/local--files/gene-cafe-dimmer-control-mod-stage-1/genemodcircuitdiagram1.jpg

In the pic below you can see the dimmer with wires attached to both L1 (left) and C (right):









Next pic shows the two way switch - wire from C on the dimmer is connected to L1 on the switch. Wire from L1 on the dimmer is connected to L2 on the switch, together with the blue wire going from the switch to the Gene. The brown wire going to the Gene is connected to C on the two way switch:









As you can see, the blue wire connected to L2 of the switch has a male spade connector, for connecting to the wire that leads to the heating element of the Gene. And the brown wire connected to C of the switch has a female spade connector which connects to the PCB board on the Gene where the connector to the heating element was just removed.

Does this look right to you? And if so, any ideas why it's not working for me, or what I can do to test where the fault it? I have a voltmeter thingie, although I have no idea how to use it, and have generally felt it wise to avoid prodding electrical components with it unless someone has advised me how to do it without frying myself.

Thanks for any help, very much appreciated!


----------



## Rob1

Assuming your wiring is correct (double and triple check it), the gene won't work unless you turn the dimmer to provide it with enough power. I can't remember exactly but I think mine threw an error when going below 800w. Make sure the dimmer isn't pressed into the off position. Are you using a power and energy monitor?


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Thanks Rob,

I'm pretty sure the wiring is correct but I'm interested in your comments regarding the error below 800w. Mine threw an error when I switched the dimmer on, and from memory I'm pretty sure I had it turned down low prior to that, so maybe that's my issue.

Unfortunately I'm tied up for the next couple of evenings but I'll give it a try asap starting with the dimmer on and fully bright (which I now recall seeing in the instructions). I'v got a power monitor as well, so I'll give that a bash.

Cheers!


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Well, like all good men, I ignored everything else I should have done and cracked on with doing the things I wanted to do instead.

This has got me beat. I just fired up the roaster with the dimmer switched on and in the fully bright position. The two was switch was (I assume) off. At this point, there's no heat coming from the heating element at all, so already something is wrong. Then when I moved the switch to what I assume was the "on" position, the Gene threw the E4 error.

So as far as I can see it's either faulty wiring, a duff switch, or a duff dimmer.

The bloody Gene has been apart so many times some of the screws are struggling to bite when I do them back up again. This is a little bit depressing, for something that the Wiki said should be achievable in 30 minutes - thinking I might just not bother


----------



## Rob1

Well the roaster should work with the dimmer out of the circuit so I'd look at the wiring in the switch. Next time you have the gene open snap a picture of the innards. Assuming your wiring is actually connecting properly then the fault will be a connection to the PCB or heater box so I'd check your connections there (might just be the connection to the heater box).


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Will do, thanks Rob - it also occurred to me that it should be able to wire the Gene to the switch or the dimmer along and use the on/off mechanism of each to tell whether either component is duff. I think I'll drag a mate up who is good with this sort of thing and make him a nice cup of coffee while he gets to work. I value my hair too much to keep trying myself. And my life, now I come to think of it


----------



## DavecUK

The reason the Gene gives an E4 error fairly rapidly is because it sees a completely open circuit e.g. no heating element and no resistance at all.

It looks like you have done the wiring correctly, but the easiest way to check some of it...would be:

*1. unplug the Gene and leave it unplugged from the mains for the entire test*

2 Disconnect both your revised connections from the PCB inside the Gene. *Set your multimeter to the resistance scale* (and the option with beeper if you have that)

3. Place 1 probe onto each wire you disconnected. You might hear a beep/see a reading on the meter, if not, Flip the switch (light switch fitting), you should hear a beep /see a reading on the scale

*If you don't get a beep in 3. then your wiring is wrong somewhere*. If you do get a beep, *because you described the heating element not working for any position of the switch, *then there must be a fault in the gene, possibly the fuse/fuse holder.

This mod has been successfully completed from the instructions by a complete electrical f%%^wit....so it's going to be something silly going on and you should find this achievable.


----------



## PaulL

DavecUK said:


> This mod has been successfully completed from the instructions by a complete electrical f%%^wit....so it's going to be something silly going on and you should find this achievable.


I can confirm this to be true! And it still works several years later...


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

DavecUK said:


> The reason the Gene gives an E4 error fairly rapidly is because it sees a completely open circuit e.g. no heating element and no resistance at all.
> 
> It looks like you have done the wiring correctly, but the easiest way to check some of it...would be:
> 
> *1. unplug the Gene and leave it unplugged from the mains for the entire test*
> 
> 2 Disconnect both your revised connections from the PCB inside the Gene. *Set your multimeter to the resistance scale* (and the option with beeper if you have that)
> 
> 3. Place 1 probe onto each wire you disconnected. You might hear a beep/see a reading on the meter, if not, Flip the switch (light switch fitting), you should hear a beep /see a reading on the scale
> 
> *If you don't get a beep in 3. then your wiring is wrong somewhere*. If you do get a beep, *because you described the heating element not working for any position of the switch, *then there must be a fault in the gene, possibly the fuse/fuse holder.
> 
> This mod has been successfully completed from the instructions by a complete electrical f%%^wit....so it's going to be something silly going on and you should find this achievable.


Thanks Dave, that's really helpful - I'll have a crack at that in the next couple of days and see what I can do.



PaulL said:


> I can confirm this to be true! And it still works several years later...


Ah now you see I'm feeling like the only &*^%wit who couldn't do it. It's a good job my wife doesn't read this forum


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Just a quick update, in case anyone thinks I've lost interest or accidentally frazzled myself









I've established that the problem lies either in the wiring or the switches, as expected - the Gene works quite happily when I reverse the mod, but the test mentioned by DaveC didn't produce any reading. I also tried a few different combinations to try to cover any misconfiguration I might have done, still with no reading.

I've tested the switch and that definitely works. So I suspect the problem lies with the dimmer. I'm going to hunt around for an old lamp or something that I can have a play with later, and also hopefully have a competent mate calling in for a coffee a bit later. So my expectation is that I need to buy a new dimmer (sadly I don't think I can return the old one now as the modifications have left it looking a little on the scruffy side - lesson learned, I'll test the next one before using it in the mod).

So many thanks for all the help so far - I'll update the thread again when I've got a bit further.


----------



## DavecUK

Check that the dimmer buttin hasn't been pushed in and the dimmer is switched off....most likely to be the cause.


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Nope, tried that Dave.


----------



## Rob1

You don't need to put a fuse in it do you?


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Rob1 said:


> You don't need to put a fuse in it do you?


There's nothing in the instructions to say that I do, but must admit that hadn't occurred to me. I'll have a look tonight - at least I could try replacing the fuse in case it's knackered. I'll try everything I can before forking out another 18 quid on a new dimmer


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Right, so another dimmer in, and unless I'm misunderstanding Dave's instructions with the multimeter, then I've got something wrong with the wiring, because I'm not getting any reading. Sorry for the dumb questions, but since we've already established that a complete f*&kwit can do this an increasingly less peaceful buddhist apparently can't, I'm willing to lay myself open to any amount of derision in order to find out wtf I'm doing wrong here.

So Q1, ref Dave's multimeter test. If I'm reading the instructions correctly, the Gene is completely separate from this test - all I need to do is take the two wires that exit the switch / dimmer combination from the switch, and touch the probes to them. These two wires would otherwise be connected to the PCB and heater wire of the Gene. And given no reading, try the switch and the dimmer switch in different on / off combinations. Is that right?

And Q2, which is frankly embarrassing but here we go - could someone check I've got this right, and not connected my leg bone to my arm bone, so to speak:

Wire connects dimmer L1 --> switch L2

Wire connects dimmer C --> switch L1

Wire connects switch C --> to Gene PCB

Wire connects switch L2 (shared with incoming from dimmer L1) --> Gene heater wire

Thanks for any sanity checks on this, very much appreciated


----------



## Robbo

As for Q2 - The wiring is correct

If you have done the continuity test described by Dave and got no reading then i would say the problem lies in

the circuit i marked in red below. When the switch links C and L2 you should have got a reading

You can rule out the heater and the pcb as it works fine when the mod is reversed

Disconnect and re-terminate your crimped male and female spade connections as you may have crimped onto the insulation rather than the conductor.

Secondly disconnect and check the connections at the switch as you may have screwed down onto the insulation.

One other check is to test each individual wire for continuity as you may have a break


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Thanks Robbo,

I already removed the spade connectors and tried that, but I haven't checked the switch connections or all the wires yet - I'll give that a go next.


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Finally got it working!

In desperation last night I popped down to Screwfix and bought a replacement switch - for £1.30 I figured it was worth a try. The old one must have been knackered after all. So now I'm all wired up, just need to get a bit of practice with it, and then this afternoon I'm going on a roast fest.

Thanks for all your help and patience everyone - it's genuinely massively appreciated


----------



## Robbo

Good stuff!

A good starting point is to set max 238 degs, leave the dimmer switched out until around 10 mins into roast or 1st crack. Then use the dimmer to stretch out the time and slow the rate of rise so it should only rise by a couple if degs above what it was at 1st crack. Have a look at todays roast thread.


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

That's pretty much what I did today - I set the Gene to 235 max and just activated the dimmer around 1c. What I did notice was that as soon as I switched the dimmer on I had a slight drop in temperature (~1-2 degrees) for about 60 seconds, before it began rising again so that I could start dialling back on the dimmer. That's hardly a worry given the vanilla Gene would drop up to 5 degrees when cycling the heating element on and off. I think it will just take some practice and getting to know, but I suspect my voltage isn't entirely stable as I roast in my garage on some seriously old wiring.

Either way, I've done two roasts today and on both of them I've got much better development and much more even looking roasts than anything I've done before - so without question it's a huge improvement. With a bit of practice I think I can do better still.


----------



## Robbo

It does drop by 60 or 70 watts when you switch the dimmer in. Thats normal but the bean temp will be different to the gene reading temp

You will benifit by buying a voltage/power meter and roasting by power wattage.


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Yes I've got one, but sadly not the one mentioned in the Wiki as they were out of stock everywhere. I just need a bit of practice with it, but I am seriously happy with today's roasts, because I had the confidence to go much longer after 1c.

Once I've go the hang of roasting by wattage, the next step is the 230v heater mod, but I think I'll have to try to buy one of those in from NL or DK because they're €45 instead of £74 from Bella Barista.


----------



## johnealey

Dependant on the dimmer type it could be really coarse so only small adjustments make a massive difference, which you will get used to over time.

Might be worth running an "empty roast" to see the effect that small adjustments can make and thus a rough idea of effect when actually roasting. No point marking the dial though as different voltages throughout the day will negate anything other than rudimentary marks.

Glad to hear you up and running though, now all you need to do is post some pictures and details in the todays roast thread for other to comment on.

John


----------



## DavecUK

The little Gene is the hardest to add power control to....funnty world isn't it. It's actually easier and cheaper to mod the bigger CBR1200 1kg roaster and the cheapest/easiest roaster of all to add power control to is the Amazon Daliian 1 kg. It only costs a whopping £5, a bit of 13 amp electrical cable (I used a bit of 32 amp single strand I had hanging about) and literally takes about 15 minutes.. Which reminds me I must post about power control on the Dalian and how I actually use it.

What is even more stupid...unbelievably so, is the Koreans refusal/ignoring a suggestion to put power control into the Gene Cafe as standard.

1. They could use a 200V heating element in all markets from 220V to 240V (same part/all markets...makes sense)

2. They could use a single 90V element in all countries that run from 100 to 127V (makes sense)

3. A power meter and power control can be integrated for less that £10

4. A usb port could be added and open code used so computer control is a possibility

5. Gene can be made to voltage sense and when you choose the power level, this is automatically maintained.

6. It will roast much better.

7. heating elements last much longer

8. The structure of the Gene is exposed to much less high temperatures (significantly so)! It's why mine looked to good even after quite a few years

For a total cost of around 25 usd of components they could do all this, as for retooling the case, they could add an external display module/controller for another $15 if they are worried about that cost. beats me why they won't do it as they will save on only having to stock 2 models for all markets?

P.S. I didn't even bother asking for Amazon to add power control to the Dalian, because it's so cheap and easy to add for those who want it. The chinese will probably raise the price by much more to add the thing.


----------



## Rob1

Um....point 5, Dave, how would this happen? Could be tempted to further modify my Gene with new electronics to control everything.

@PottyMouthedBuddhist - what was your voltage and what model meter are you using?


----------



## DavecUK

Rob1 said:


> Um....point 5, Dave, how would this happen? Could be tempted to further modify my Gene with new electronics to control everything.
> 
> @PottyMouthedBuddhist - what was your voltage and what model meter are you using?


I dunno how to do it, but I am pretty sure the south Koreans can easily do it....

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=current+voltage++sensing+control+chip&biw=1920&bih=926&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjTh7C9_JrSAhUFKsAKHVcEBjkQsAQIYw

At the moment your best control option is the MK1 human brain.


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

johnealey said:


> Dependant on the dimmer type it could be really coarse so only small adjustments make a massive difference, which you will get used to over time.
> 
> Might be worth running an "empty roast" to see the effect that small adjustments can make and thus a rough idea of effect when actually roasting. No point marking the dial though as different voltages throughout the day will negate anything other than rudimentary marks.
> 
> Glad to hear you up and running though, now all you need to do is post some pictures and details in the todays roast thread for other to comment on.
> 
> John


I will John - I actually had a good look through the thread yesterday but after seeing those pics I decided a bit more practice on mine might be a good idea first! I've always erred on the side of a light roast before, but the Gene and the mod have given me the confidence to go a bit further, and it looks like I might have gone a bit too far or a bit too aggressive yesterday. Still my best effort so far though.

@Dave - it's amazing to think that such a small overhead would produce such great improvements, yet the manufacturer won't do them. I guess they've got their reasons, but all the time they aren't implementing customer feedback is time that somebody else might be.


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Edit - sorry @Rob1 - I didn't see your post, but started to answer it anyway:

While I think about it, quick question on the energy monitor. The one mentioned in the Wiki is unavailable everywhere in the UK at the moment, so I bought this one instead:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Plug-in-Energy-Monitor-Power-Meter-Electricity-Electric-Usage-Monitoring-Socket-/231083500237?hash=item35cda662cd:g:TRcAAOSwEetV7r8S

It is a little over-excitable when I make any changes on the dimmer, so it's a case of dial back a bit, let the reading settle, then dial back some more. Is this the case with most similar products, or is there a better alternative I could look out for?

Ref Rob's question on voltage, I don't know what mine is - I looked online for how to measure it, and there seemed to be a lot of old sparkies on there suggesting that it could be done with a mutlimeter, but in the hands of someone like me it was likely to result in a short flight across the room, followed by a hospital visit or imminent death. I decided discretion was the better part of valour at that point


----------



## johnealey

The "excitable" element of your post above leads me to think the dimmer element is quite coarse in action i.e. small movements = massive changes. You will get used to this and the gentle touch with the fingertip , so nothing overly to worry about and as you say as long as it settles somewhere will be a massive improvement on a gene with no power control.

Measuring device you have will always be safer in novice hands than 2 probes from a multimeter (I used to use one to measure the voltage at the same time as the energy plug was showing me wattage drawn). The key thing about the advice to use a specific plug was to allow repeatability from one roaster to another so if I posted use 900w at minute 11 for example then you would have a fair level of confidence that applying the same 900w would have roughly the same effects as any variances in under/over reading would at least come from the same manufacturer. If you bear this in mind or are only looking to repeat your own power readings for repeatability then the type of plug does not factor as much as you are comparing like with like, so to speak.

Hope of some help and you will soon get the hang of both translating any power level reading from others to your machine and teeny tiny movements on your dimmer control.

John


----------



## johnealey

p.s. looks like your plug should be able to measure voltage by cycling through the options, make a note at the start prior to switch on and at some point just after turning on to see what, if any, effect the electrical load of the heater is making on the reading and write these across the top of your log. I used to cycle through wattage then voltage writing both down against temp and time to spot any variances causing a shift in expected draw (plus temp of roaster at start on top of sheet to cover all bases)

John


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Fantastic tips, thanks John!

I've done all my jobs for the day, so think I might have a bit of a play now and maybe roast a batch of Yirgacheffe - I've got loads of it so can afford to sacrifice a bit for the learning curve. Great to know that my meter will do - I'll just spend a bit of time getting used to it's variances and apply them as you say.

Properly tooled up now, so I'll need to find another excuse for trashed roasts soon


----------



## DavecUK

PottyMouthedBuddhist said:


> great improvements, yet the manufacturer won't do them. I guess they've got their reasons, but all the time they aren't implementing customer feedback is time that somebody else might be.


Manufacturers rarely listen/or ask what customers want. I remember a thread on here some tie ago, in which people really believed car manufacturers gave people what they wanted....rather than created a need, or were dragged kicking and screaming reluctantly producing what the market demanded. Not in response to what people wanted, but only in response to falling sales. In a sense a bit like Izzo did in the past with their machines and appear to be doing again with the Duetto.


----------



## PottyMouthedBuddhist

DavecUK said:


> gave people what they wanted....rather than created a need


That's a very good point. A few years ago, the idea of a man exfoliating or using hand cream would have been pretty much laughable. Now it seems like most blokes under 40 treat it as a necessity


----------



## PaulL

Whereas most blokes over 40 spend that time shaving their ear and nose hair, not quite the marketeers dream though is it!

Same f*@&whit that managed the power mod on the Gene also managed it on the Dalian (with sage advice from DC as usual)


----------

