My serial number is 1554 on my bullet. All of the roasts I have done, other than the first 5 for seasoning, have been drinkable, if not down right very enjoyable. Sorry to hear your not having that good of a go at it
@TrickyDick. I think that you might want to change your charge temperature, and power up to 9 from drop. You have a lot of control with the bullet, regardless of whether or not it is an earlier model or not. My charge is 428 F. I let it preheat a little long, then drop my beans in, and power up to 9. Sometimes when the temp is a little low outside, it takes a little longer on the phases to hit their mark, but it's fairly predictable. I don't have much difficulty on hearing first crack, and I don't normally go to 2nd, but roasts that I have gone that long are still audible. Use that Trier!!! A couple seconds after you have 1st crack rolling, take that trier out and smell. Do it for every 10 seconds. You will be able to catch the changes. Drop the roast when you really like the aroma! Fine tuning from there is user preference. Really want to hear some good news from you on roasting!!!!!