# Gene Café not heating sufficiently - problem solved



## mathof

A week ago, I found that my Gene Café would not heat up beyond 210C. At first, I thought it must be the voltage because I had a washing machine going in the house at the same time that I was roasting. This morning, however, I tried again with no washing machine and a device to measure the voltage. Again 210C was the top temperature, reached after about 16 minutes, and then staying there until I hit the cool button at around 20 minutes. The voltage was steady at 238-240.

My first thought was that the machine needed a thorough cleaning, although I haven't used it very much in the 18 months I have owned it. I also turned to the owner's manual. Under Troubleshooting, it advised cleaning "the fan intake ports on top of the roaster using a vacuum cleaner fitted with a brush attachment". I did just that, and then tried another roast. Success! The Gene reached 199C in five minutes and 235C in 10 minutes, at which point I dialled it back to 230C.

Matt


----------



## hotmetal

Glad you found an easy fix. Now you have to tell everyone why you haven't done much roasting in the last year and a half ?


----------



## froggystyle

Dont forget the grill under the heater side of the machine, that can get clogged up also.


----------



## mathof

hotmetal said:


> Glad you found an easy fix. Now you have to tell everyone why you haven't done much roasting in the last year and a half


I'm slowly easing into this new activity. And my own efforts have been so amateur that I'm continually tempted to buy from the many excellent roasters that I have learned about through these forums.


----------



## mathof

froggystyle said:


> Dont forget the grill under the heater side of the machine, that can get clogged up also.


In fact, I vacuumed every orifice in the machine that can be reached without taking it apart.

Matt


----------



## hotmetal

Yes I must say, there's enough to learn without having to roast as well! There are so many great roasters on here that I am still working my way through the list. I can imagine once you know your tastes and brew methods, roasting would be very satisfying though. It's not an option for me cos of where I live but even if I had the space I'm not sure I'd want to add another set of variables and obsession to my coffee life! I'm sure once you've got the hang of it it's fairly quick and easy but until then I think there's a lot to learn, a lot of wasted beans when it doesn't go well etc. It seems a bit daunting. Hats off to those who roast successfully, whether for themselves or commercially.


----------



## DavecUK

You can also split the chaff collector and clean in between those 2 screens


----------



## mathof

DavecUK said:


> You can also split the chaff collector and clean in between those 2 screens


I take it you mean more than take the top off?


----------



## DavecUK

mathof said:


> I take it you mean more than take the top off?


Yes.


----------



## johnealey

Unscrew and remove all the screws in the chaff collector prising the bottom section gently apart and you will be suprised just how much chaff you may have missed by vacuuming alone ( also allows you to give the metal chaff screen a good scrub)

Don't forget the little dust filter under the base as well, if roasting in an outside environment can get a little dusty leading to temp issues.

Hope of help

John


----------



## mathof

johnealey said:


> Unscrew and remove all the screws in the chaff collector prising the bottom section gently apart and you will be suprised just how much chaff you may have missed by vacuuming alone ( also allows you to give the metal chaff screen a good scrub)
> 
> Don't forget the little dust filter under the base as well, if roasting in an outside environment can get a little dusty leading to temp issues.
> 
> Hope of help
> 
> John


That is very helpful. Thank you. One question: To clean the little dust filter under the base, is it sufficient to vacuum or should I unscrew something to get at the filter itself?

Matt


----------



## johnealey

Hi Matt

try shining a torch "at" it to see what it looks like prior to a vacuum and after, if still blocked then is a top of the main case off am afraid ( the guide to replace the heater unit is a good start as to how to find all the relevant screws to avoid dropping circuit boards by mistake  )

http://coffeetime.wikidot.com/gene-cafe-heater-replacement

Above written by @DavecUK and hopefully ok to link to; is a cracking resource for gene owners even if you don't modify yours.

Hope of help

John


----------



## mathof

It seems that I misidentified the true culprit that was causing my Gene to fail to reach desired temperatures. This is because I made the elementary mistake of not comparing like for like. When I ran a new roast, after cleaning the exhaust passages on the machine, I used a different coffee bean. The first beans were a natural Yirgacheffe, the second a washed Columbian. When I tried again the other day to roast some more of the Yirgacheffe, I found my problem had returned.

This time I diagnosed the problem as chaffy beans that were clogging up the outlet in the roasting the chamber. I had been using 250g for all my roasts. Yesterday, I decided to experiment by roasting just 200g of Yirgacheffe. This was much better, if not perfect. The temperature readout read 226C after 15 minutes, as opposed to 210C on the two 250g batches I had previously roasted. I haven't tasted the results yet.

After that I tried 250g of the washed Columbian. This time the machine reached the 234C max I had set in 12 minutes.

My conclusion is that the design of the Gene makes it much more sensitive to chaffy, natural processed coffees than I had realised.

Matt


----------



## johnealey

Hi Matt

glad to hear not an issue with your machine. "Dry processed" beans particularly require a smaller load as they produce quite a bit more chaff, should see how much chaff produced from some of the aged beans as well like Old Brown Java or Aceh's, which will interfere with the amount of airflow going through the chamber.

Am away from the guide that Davecuk wrote for Bella Barista gene purchasers but seem to recall this discussed in there about avoiding max levels of beans that fit the above criteria ( also a line on the chamber referencing max amounts in drum)

Had an issue myself the other night whereby i ended a 3 roast run with a 300g lot of Brasil Daterra full bloom,just really to avoid any odds and doohdads hanging around. I normally roast 250g at a time under power control so set the max temp at 243, it never gets to this heat and the heater never cycles in or out as you control the amount of power going to the gene to keep a desired temp. Imagine my suprise then when heard a faintly remembered sound of the heater cycling on and off taking me about 30 seconds of consternation till i realised the amount of chaff coming off the beans post 1st crack but just before second was blocking the outlet of the chamber thus the heater box sensor pre chamber was kicking in ( safety device for dumbasses like me choosing to ignore / forget the warnings that am very grateful for!) Temp reading from the outlet was showing 235 so clearly nowhere near what the heater sensor saying, saved a potential toasting / fire.

Pays to follow the advice in the book if you have it even if you 've been roasting with the gene a while.

John


----------

