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Mill City Roasters with Delta/Fotek controls (Manual Control Roasters) - Roasting Intelligence (RI) Setup

This manual covers the connection of the Mill City Manual Control Roaster with Delta/Fotek controls to Cropster's Roasting Intelligence

Written by Nikolett Takacs

Updated at July 31st, 2025

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  • Roasting Intelligence (RI)
    Roasting Intelligence (RI) Setup Customization and Preferences FAQs Roasting Intelligence (RI) App Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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  • Account & Administration
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  • Troubleshooting
    General Roasting Intelligence (RI) Roast machine connections
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Table of Contents

Specifications Requirements Supported measurements Roasting Intelligence (RI) Setup Installing the Roasting Intelligence (RI) software Establishing a connection to the machine Troubleshooting

Specifications

Requirements

  • USB cable
  • VCP driver (FTDI)
    • Windows 11
    • Windows 10
    • macOS X 10.9 to 10.14

Do not install third-party FTDI drivers on macOS, as it already comes with native support for FTDI devices. Installing additional drivers may cause conflicts and prevent your device from working correctly.

 

Supported measurements

  • Drum temperature
  • Bean temperature
  • Environmental temperature
  • Airflow (Hz)

Roasting Intelligence (RI) Setup

Installing the Roasting Intelligence (RI) software

  1. Download RI.
  2. Complete the installation process by following the steps provided.
  3. Double-click the Cropster icon on your desktop to access RI.
  4. Click the green Login with the browser button.
  5. You will be directed to the C-sar browser. 
  6. Enter your Username* and Password* and click the green Sign in with password button.
    Use the same credentials that you use to access the online platform C-sar.
 

Establishing a connection to the machine

The images below are for reference and may vary slightly from your screen.

 


Before you begin configuring your roast machine, ensure that you have added it via the online platform C-sar.

  1. SelectPreferences > Machine > Configuration
  2. To choose the Roast machine, click on the dropdown menu in the Machine section.
  3. Click the + Add connector option to choose your connector from the dropdown list.
  4. Select Mill City (all versions - Phidgets and PIDs/PLC) from the dropdown. 
  5. Click Select to add the connector.
  6. Navigate to the Machine > Measurements tab. All supported measurements will be displayed.
  7. To activate the measurements, simply click the green toggle button.
  8. Enable the desired measurements and choose Mill City (all versions - Phidgets and PIDs/PLC) as the connector type.
  9. (Optional) Change the order of the measurements by using theDrag and Drop icon and move it into position
  10. Navigate to the Machine > Configuration tab and click on the Gear icon in the Connector setup section to open and configure more settings.
  11. Select the Mill City Version, the Serial port referring to your roast machine, and the Temperature unit. 
    For the version, refer to the Temperature controller readout on your Mill City roast machine, and identify whether your machine is equipped with Delta or Fotek controls.
    • Version: Fotek controls (Standard control panel)
      • Serial port:
        Windows: COM 
        Mac: USB 
      • Temperature unit: choose Celsius or Fahrenheit according to the temperature unit displayed on the machine's temperature readouts.
    • Version: Delta controls (Standard control panel)
      • Serial port:
        Windows: COM 
        Mac: USB 
      • Temperature unit: choose Celsius or Fahrenheit according to the temperature unit displayed on the machine's temperature readouts.
  12. Click OK.
  13. Click Save to finalize the changes.

After saving the changes, RI will automatically restart. If the setup was successful, you will see the temperature values displayed on the right-hand side of the RI screen following the restart.

Learn more about the Roasting Intelligence (RI) Preferences. 

 


Troubleshooting

If RI indicates No source connected and/or you cannot see any measurements, please check the following: 

  • Did you choose the correct version?
  • Did you choose the correct serial port?


Bean temperature stall (RoR Valley)
You have successfully connected your Mill City with RI, but you are experiencing a consistent stall in the Bean temperature (shown as a valley in the RoR):


The temperature and RoR curves shown above were tracked during one roast, using a Standard control panel Mill City roast machine with Fotek controls.


Congratulations! You have successfully set up the Cropster Roasting Intelligence.

Your opinion matters. If you have further questions, feedback, or concerns, please submit a support ticket directly from support.cropster.com. 

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