Important to keep in stock...especially for the longer lead wire model for earlier roasters. Like with any nichrome wire appliance, the nichrome heater wire burns out eventually. With a ten dollar toaster, you just throw it away and replace wirh a new toaster. Not too cost effective to throw away a $700 roaster when it happens. I've burned out three heaters over the years, but it's been almost twenty years! Should be an addendum to the instructions...."back to back roasting will shorten the life of the heater assembly".

As other reviewers have noted, repacing the heater assembly is relatively straightforward. Kudos to gene café for having spare parts available at a reasonable price and the clear video guides to follow.

The replacement heater breathed new life to my machine. I'm considering upgrading and may hand this off to someone starting out.

With the help of the nicely detailed video instructions, we replaced the 12 year old heater with this new one, and the roaster is back in business! It does take some time and care to take the machine apart and put it back together, but well worth the effort! I wound up buying a new machine while waiting for this part, then donating the old now-working one to a friend eager to start their own roasting journey.

Ordered as a spare for my Gene Cafe.

After 10+ years of medium duty, the heater went out. Kudos to the people here who provide great troubleshooting guides.

I ordered a new one, installed it in no time, and was up and roasting again quickly!

Although I'm looking at going to the next level (or two) up in roasters, the Gene Cafe has served me well and allowed me to enjoy freshly roasted coffee for many years now.

Replacement parts are reasonably priced and I like that they provide everything part you'd need without having to send the unit away for service.

Thanks!!