12
Drying
: from Charge
to Yellow
<3 minutes
Grassy
3 to 6 minutes
>6 minutes
Leathery
Ramping
: from
Yellow to 1C-start
<5 minutes
Toasty
5 to 10 minutes
>10 minutes
Bready
Finishing
: from 1C-
start to Drop
< 3 minutes
Acidic
3 to 6 minutes
>6 minutes
Flat
Engineering
There are currently two main models, the M3s and the M6. The M6 is the larger of the two, with a
longer roasting chamber and more powerful heaters. Otherwise, they are nearly identical. The current
roasters differ from the original mainly because they have drums with perforated backplates.
The box at the back of the Quest roasters and the controls is substantively identical on all the models.
There are some minor circuitry differences depending on the way the fan control operates.
There are either one or two chaff collectors. The one below the roasting chamber is for ash and fine
particle collection. The primary chaff collector is the one at the top, which doubles as a bean cooler. An
external bean cooler is available as an option.
Roasting Chamber:
The diameter and build of the roasting chambers on Quest roasters are nearly the
same. The M6 roaster’s chamber is ~7 cm longer. Early M3 roasters had the trier on the left side; all
subsequent roasters have the trier on the right. Some roasters, possibly only some M3s models, have
insulated shells.
Heaters:
All Quest roasters use two U-shaped electrical elements located in the space between the
drum and the outer case. On some roasters, the heaters are underneath, on either side of the centre line.
On others, one heater is higher, diagonally opposite from the lower one. The heaters on 110-Volt and
220-Volt roasters are the same; in the 110-Volt roasters, they are connected in parallel, while on the
220-Volt roasters, they are in series.
Drums:
The original Quest M3 roaster (up to May 2013 production) had a clockwise-turning drum
thicker than that of the M6, MK-2 and M3s versions, which turn anticlockwise. Note that the drums are
not interchangeable, as the vanes must be oriented to move the beans toward the front of the roaster.
Some posters on coffee blogs have opined that some Quest models route the beans to the back; this is
incorrect. All the drums are open at both ends, except the M3s and the M6 drums, which have
perforated backplates. The M6 drum is the same as the M3s drum but ~7 CM longer. The drums in all
Quest roasters turn at a constant rate using a 30-Watt motor attached to a speed-reducing gearbox. The
shape, number and size of the drum’s vanes have changed over the years and models.
Air Flow:
All Quests have a 15-Watt variable-speed blower.
The airflow is identical in the original Quest and the MK-2. The blower exhausts air from the upper
chaff collection chamber through the slots at the roaster’s back. Thus, the chamber is a low-pressure