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2024 Taipei Taiwan Coffee Expo Photos

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Huky 500 and Dwyer Magnehelic

Huky 500 and Dwyer Magnehelic

It’s been awhile since I played around with how the Variac voltage controller affected airflow using the Huky 500 exhaust fan. It was finally time for the final leg of this journey. The smaller 2000-00 series Dwyer Magnehelic gauge ended up pinning the needle, the next one up came from Ebay (2000-0 0-.50”water column).

I found some black plastic plugs on Amazon to start with, and really…

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Yang-Chia Feima 100n Coffee Roasting Video’s

Yang-Chia Feima 100n Coffee Roasting Video’s

Yang-Chia Feima 100n Coffee Roasting Video’s

Feima 100n Introduction Video

Feima 100n Introduction Video

Feima 100n 100g Test Roast Using Stock Thermometer

Feima 100n 100g Test Roast

Feima 100n 170g Test Roast Using Stock Thermometer

Feima 100n 170g Test Roast

Feima 100n 225g Test Roast Using Stock Thermometer

Feima 100n 225g Test Roast

Feima 100n Datalog Test Roast

Feima 100n Datalog Test Roast

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The Feima 100n coffee roaster is manufactured by Yang-Chia Machine Works Ltd in Taichung, Taiwan. My second generation Feima 100n was purchased from BellaTW Trading Co., Ltd , Taiwan and Asia distributor (except China). It’s the smallest coffee roaster produced by Yang-Chia,  and is designed for the home coffee roasting market.

Feima 100n Shipping Carton Label

The front of the machine has an opening for using an included sampling spoon. This design has the airflow going from front to back, out the rear exhaust fitted with a 3” flange. Heat flows around the drum and thru holes towards the front edge; out the slotted rear.

Feima 100n Roasting Drum

Slow Motion Drum Video

The single burner is angled towards the front of the drum, previous edition had the burner vertical. This change has resulted in increased roasting power.

Feima 100n Atmosphere Burner

Both roasting drum and bean cooling tray have axial fans with 3” flanges. A chaff bag is included for non-vented use.

Feima 100n Axial Fan

Roasting adjustments consist of adjustable heat and air. The gas knob has roughly three settings; high, low, and off. Air slider has 1-5 with half steps in between. The high/low choices with gas can present some challenges. Luckily the air control can mitigate some of the issues.

Feima 100n Gas and Air Controls

The thermocouple now has a mini-K plug, thermometer only reads in *C; after 200C displays whole numbers. Adding in a data-logging meter gives both a better range of temperature display and the ability to chart using Artisan Roaster Scope or Roastmaster real time data-logging. Thermocouple has a 5mm thick probe and a 8mm base held in place with a set screw.

Feima 100n Thermocouple 

The only practical way to charge the roaster with green coffee, is to use the included charging tube. It seems to have been enlarged and now can hold @170g. Naturally I’m in the process of finding out how much coffee it’s possible to roast at one time; 170g is not an issue.

Feima 100n Charging Tube, Cooling Tray, Chaff Bag, Sample Spoon, and Power Cord

There’s an additional viewing window along with a chamfered steel plate inside the door. A lot less chaff is dropping into the catch tray than version 1. At first I though the viewing window was superfluous as roasted beans can be dipped out with the included spoon. At least while new it’s easy to see the transition from green to light brown thru the window or chaff floating around. A nicely done improvement!

Feima 100n Roast Viewing Window

The drum shaft has been upgraded, two cap head screws secure the drum to faceplate gap; one on a keyed slot.

Feima 100n Internal Drum Shaft

Feima 100n Drum Motor

Feima 100n Lovejoy Coupling for Motor – Rear Bearing

  Feima 100n Instructions – Part of the roasting advice is for “double roasting” where the beans are partially roasted, cooled, and re-roasted again. I think this ends up being more confusing than it needs to be; illustrating an obscure type of profile.

Feima 100n Instruction Brochure

In the past the Feima 100n was available in a variety of cool colors, my favorite was yellow. Now version II is only available in black, and that’s fine with all the numerous upgrades/improvements. The only thing missing is the gas hose and regulator, which can vary from country to country. The hose barb connection is 3/8”, has some internal threads as well. It’s also possible to run the Feima 100n with a one pound camping propane cylinder adaptor, connected to a low pressure regulator. It’s plenty big enough for a one or two person coffee drinking household; or even a low cost sample roaster.

  Feima 100n Coffee Roaster Review The Feima 100n coffee roaster is manufactured by Yang-Chia Machine Works Ltd in Taichung, Taiwan. My second generation Feima 100n was purchased from 

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BellaTaiwan EVO-X 12kg Coffee Roaster

BellaTaiwan EVO-X 12kg Coffee Roaster

BellaTaiwan EVO-X 12 kilogram Coffee Roaster – First Look

BellaTaiwan EVO-X Control Panel

BellaTaiwan EVO-X Face Plate

BellaTaiwan EVO-X Coffee Roaster – Center (EVO-I WCE left * EVO-4s WCE right) at the Taipei showroom setup on the custom water powered air filter.

  BellaTaiwan EVO-X 12kg Coffee Roaster is a natural progression in the EVO line of: EVO-1, EVO-4, EVO-4S, EVO-6, and EVO-6S.…

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Bernoulli Law Formula for Coffee Roasting

Bernoulli Law Formula for Coffee Roasting

Bernoulli Law Formula for Coffee Roasting

This topic came up in the old “Huky Form” which is currently closed but still open for search results. https://www.hukyforum.com/index.php?topic=1091.0

If the maximum pressure is 3kPa does 1.5kPa produce 1/2 the heat output? Does 2kPa produce twice the heat of 1kPa? Maybe those assumptions are not entirely correct?

ROR, projected roast progress, trial…

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2018 BellaTW BellaTaiwan EVO-6 EVO-4s EVO-I 801N Mini500 Plus 200N & 100N Yang-Chia Coffee Roasting Machines

2018 BellaTW BellaTaiwan EVO-6 EVO-4s EVO-I 801N Mini500 Plus 200N & 100N Yang-Chia Coffee Roasting Machines

2018 BellaTW – BellaTaiwan – Feima – Yang-Chia Coffee Roasters at the Taichung Int’l Tea, Coffee, and Bakery Show (TCFB Taichung) Photos.

BellaTW EVO-6 Coffee Roaster

BellaTW EVO-6 Control Panel

BellaTW EVO-4S Coffee Roaster

BellaTW EVO-4S Control Panel

BellaTW EVO-4S

BellaTW EVO-4S

Yellow BellaTW EVO-I

Yellow BellaTW EVO-I

Yellow BellaTW EVO-I Control Panel

White BellaTW EVO-I 

White…

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Yang-Chia 800N / Mini500 Gas Train

Yang-Chia 800N / Mini500 Gas Train

From the LPG tank there’s a low pressure regulator, then the gate valve without a handle. The factory removes the handle on the gate valve so customers don’t blow out the bladder inside the pressure gauge. I’ve got the max pressure set at @250 mmaq using a small wrench or pliers. Gas adjustments are made with the needle valve which is very sensitive. The gas can also be shut off during a roast…

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Fustaer L1.5 Kg Coffee Roaster

Fustaer L1.5 Kg Coffee Roaster

Fustaer L1.5 Kg Coffee Roaster – First Look

Fustaer L1.5 Coffee Roaster

Fustaer L1.5 Kg Coffee Roaster is the latest creation from Taiwan DIY inventor Mr. Tsai. DIY002, DIY003, DIY005, DIY007 are also in his lineup of kit and mod friendly stainless steel small coffee roasters.

Here’s the new Fustaer L1.5 Kg machine being tested at Coffee Play in Taichung. Double Wall Stainless Drum, 47,250btu/h…

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BellaTaiwan EVO-6s7kg Coffee Roaster

BellaTaiwan EVO-6s7kg Coffee Roaster

Bella Taiwan EVO-6s 7kg Coffee Roaster

Brand New to the BellaTW Trading Co., Ltd is the EVO-6s 7kg Coffee Roaster with the professional upgrades. Like the EVO-4s professional upgrade it has a turbo burner heat option with a bypass switch stepping down the normal mode. VFD air fan motor with front panel controller, digital air pressure meter, BT thermocouple, ET thermocouple, and incoming drum air…

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Bella Taiwan EVO-4S Coffee Roaster

Bella Taiwan EVO-4S Coffee Roaster

Bella Taiwan EVO-4s 4 Kilogram Professional Coffee Roaster 2017-2019 WCE World Cup Coffee Roasting Competition Machine in Taiwan Here are some of the latest reported EVO-4S new features: 1.  Instant flame turbo: Combine with new flame technology, the flame turbo allows instant hot air to circulate inside the drum without burning the beans. 2. Inventive digital negative pressure: Exclusive digital…

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Cleaning The Yang-Chia 800N / Mini500 Coffee Roaster

Cleaning The Yang-Chia 800N / Mini500 Coffee Roaster

Finally got around to cleaning the 800n roaster; it’s been over two years since it arrived in Jacksonville. I’ve cleaned the air fan before, without removing any major parts. Actually it’s pretty easy removing the top tube with the air fan connected. There’s one sheet metal screw connecting the air fan to the chaff collector and four small hex head screws connecting the top tube to the front…

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Measuring Airflow in a Coffee Roaster - Dwyer Magnehelic

Measuring Airflow in a Coffee Roaster – Dwyer Magnehelic

This is the first Dwyer gauge I played around with last year (2012). Hooked it up to the exhaust, outlet side of the drum air fan. Pretty much a failure, it looked like a pitot tube would be necessary to read positive air velocity and the meter went on a shelf. A fellow Mini500 hobbyist has talked about airflow on and off for years and I was lucky enough to hear Willem Boot/Boot Coffee mention…

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KapoK Coffee Roaster Device Company, Kaoshiung Taiwan 

KapoK Facebook Page

KapoK Coffee Roasters – Easy & Friendly

Located in the southern Taiwan city of Kaohsiung is a small artisan coffee roaster manufacturer, KapoK Coffee Device Company. They produce three models that have the same design and appearance, from the smallest KapoK 500, midsize Kapok 1.0, finally Kapok 5.0; with a 8 kilogram capacity.

I sat down with manager Lin in his factory showroom where all three models are operational. There are quite a few unusual aspects to these machines from small details and bling  to practical/user friendly features.

Frank Lin – KapoK General Manager

Many of these stem from his design concept of “Easy and Friendly”. Easy to use, easy to clean, and easy to maintain. I was really taken aback with the “easy to use”. The very first roast went from start to finish on the initial adjustment or setting, charge to drop and it was with the gas setting on manual. This is a manual machine, the only auto settings are heat where the KapoK 500 runs the thermostatic gas valve on/off, KapoK 1.0 proportionally, and KapoK 5.0 low/medium/high. Pretty handy for warm-ups, phone calls, or other distractions; idle at your preferred temperature.

Thermostat Control Dial

Precision Swagelok Gas Valve

Pressure Gauge – burners can idle at 20 mmAq gas pressure

Ribbon Burners Assembled In-House 

The gas train is controlled by a vacuum gauge, the sensor is in the main exhaust tube; the absence of negative pressure closes the gas valve.

Gas Indicator Light and Vacuum Sensor

Geared Precision Air Control Knob

Variable speed air control on all three KapoK roasters, the knob has a geared two stage feel similar to what’s on a microscope. The usable roasting settings are from 1-6 with 10 increments in between each number. There’s an optional air pressure gauge with a pitot tube inside the main exhaust air channel. The showroom model’s gauge is calibrated to the air control dial (negative pressure).

Optional Air Pressure Gauge

KapoK’s come equipped with a complete datalogging setup including Bluetooth transmission, which was demonstrated in the showroom. Depending on the model there are two or three digital thermocouples. BT probe show incredible attention to detail.

Bean Temperature Thermocouple

Artisan Roaster Scope using Bluetooth Communication

According to Manager Lin, There’s a new wave of young Taiwanese Artisan Roasters who are advancing the craft. We we’re honored to have one of Kaohsiung’s rising star’s attend our meeting; Yi-Fan of Wolong Coffee Studio.

Wolong Coffee Studio Facebook Page

Wulong Coffee Studio – Yi-Fan

Double Wall Stainless Drum

All three KapoK roasters sport double wall stainless drums and are assembled at the factory, the material choice is probably for sanitary considerations. The stirring vanes underwent extensive development using high speed photography. One set of vanes pushes the beans forward, another set of vanes pushes beans backwards, and the third set for mixing/ lifting. The vane locations were then mapped out for precise location with a template. KapoK drums also go thu several balancing procedures during fabrication, reducing vibration.

We got into a discussion of double wall drums and how they work. The gap between the two drum walls is sealed, conduction passes thru the outer shell, into the air space, and finally thu the inner shell to the beans. Comparing a single wall drum and double wall drum the temperature gradient/delta would be @ 100*C lower, double vs single.

KapoK Cooling Trays

  Kapok cooling trays have upgraded functionality and bling, standard. The stirring motor has a clutch and will slip if it jams. No scraping or rubbing, ejects every last bean. And the paddles stir and lift at the same time, for increased aeration.

Massive solid stainless two piece trim ring on the cooling tray; ground and polished to perfection. In fact you can’t see how it’s connected, the top edge was welded and invisibly finished. Another example of serious Bling on Kapok Roasters.

KapoK Roaster Bling

Cast Stainless Steel 

Control Panel – Left or Right Location Available

KapoK History

KapoK Coffee Device Company’s first roaster (Kapok 1.0) was in development from 2000-2007 and delivered  11/2007. Next was the KapoK 5.0 in 2010, with a one year development period, finally the Kapok 500 in 2012. Most sales are factory direct, except in the China market. They sponsor monthly group user meetings where owners can collaborate, cup coffee, and talk shop. An outgrowth of the camaraderie brought a roasting competition in 2014 and in 2016 one very lucky competitor won a brand new KapoK 1.0.

KapoK 500 – 500g Coffee Roaster

KapoK 5.0 – 8 kg Coffee Roaster

Rear Bearing Carrier – Front and read bearing can be easily replaced

Fun Trivia Fact

KapoK 1.0 bean hopper is patterned after a Tao Aboriginal Han from Orchard Island

KapoK Friends

Thanks for the warm welcome and hospitality, we enjoyed learning about KapoK machines, Kaohsiung, and tasting Lychee Fruit Honey!

    KapoK Coffee Roasters KapoK Coffee Roaster Device Company, Kaoshiung Taiwan  KapoK Facebook Page KapoK Coffee Roasters - Easy & Friendly…

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Visit to Yang-Chia Machine Works Coffee Roaster Factory

Visit to Yang-Chia Machine Works Coffee Roaster Factory

  BellaTaiwan Mini500 500g Coffee Roaster Yesterday we went for a visit to Yang-Chia Machine Works Co., LTD to see a brand new Mini500 500g coffee roaster ready for air freight; shipping to a home roaster in the United States. WOW, WAY TO GO! And Mr. Yang let me run the first test roast on the brand new machine, he had it plugged into a datalogging program; sweet! If I understood correctly, the…

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Rotate Fun 300 Coffee Roaster

Rotate Fun 300 Coffee Roaster

Rotate Fun 300 Coffee Roaster  Siangcyuan is the builder of the Rotate Fun series coffee roasters starting with the Fun 200, Fun 300 (gas & electric) , and lastly Fun 1200; located in Fengyuan, Taichung Taiwan. http://www.siangcyuan.com.tw In the showroom is a variety of home roasters including Behmor, Hottop, and Gene Cafe along with the entire line of Rotate Fun machines. What’s so unusual…