16 inches.

It would be close to impossible to use under an 18 inch cabinet even if you spoon the beans in; the clearances are too tight. There is no problem using it under a 24 inch cabinet either spooning, or replacing the monster hopper with a DIY job or the shorter hoppers from the K2 or K3.

another_jim wrote:16 inches.

It would be close to impossible to use under an 18 inch cabinet even if you spoon the beans in; the clearances are too tight. There is no problem using it under a 24 inch cabinet either spooning, or replacing the monster hopper with a DIY job or the shorter hoppers from the K2 or K3.

Regarding the shorter hoppers intended for other Compak grinders, I cannot recommend their purchase for use on the Compak K10 WBC.

When I first became the owner of a K10 WBC, I fabricated a couple of "hoppers" from miscellaneous plastic plumbing parts from the Home Depot. I should have stopped there.

Later, when I saw a picture posted on the forums of a K10 WBC with one of the smaller hoppers intended for smaller Compak grinders, I contacted the new USA offices of Compak USA, and was kindly sold one of these smaller hoppers, which I installed in my grinder. Shortly thereafter I noticed a rather large crack that started out on the bottom of the hopper and then extended upwards. I attributed this to the adjustment screw/bolt which secures the hopper in place, which I had never adjusted at all, and which I thought was too tight. Subsequently, I backed this screw off completely so that it no longer contacted the hopper, and I contacted Compak USA about this problem.

The kind folks at Compak USA sent me another identical brand new micro-hopper, which I installed. The set screw has never been tightened down, however this second hopper has now cracked in an identical fashion to the first one that I received, for reasons I cannot explain. It reminds me, a little, of the problems that people had with an ancient Inova conical grinder that used to be recommended eons ago on alt.coffee, and that grinder had the unfortunate behavior of eating its plastic hoppers. I am not aware of any problems with the original large hoppers that normally ship with the WBC K10 grinder.

My suggestion would be to either live with the gargantuan hopper that ships with this grinder, or to invest in $5 or $6 worth of Home Depot parts plus some epoxy to glue those parts together to make your own micro hopper, which will probably live a lot longer than the smaller Compak hoppers will in the WBC K10, and if damaged will not cost hardly anything to replace.

ken

Maybe I'm lucky, but I have the mini hopper and so far, no problems. Thanks for the heads up Ken, I'll be certain to handle it with extra care.


From Compak K10 WBC vs. Mazzer Robur taste test

When I received the first hopper, it was obvious that it fit tightly into the throat of the grinder, and later consideration showed that this was due to the factory set position of the set screw. According to Compak USA, Compak has changed the design of this set screw since my K10 WBC was made, and the set screw no longer protrudes as it did on my grinder. I didn't even know how to adjust the set screw as it is not obvious on the grinder and the 12 language manual that comes with the grinder did not address this issue. It turned out that A 2mm Allen wrench was needed to back the set screw off, which I did later after contacting Compak about the cracked small hopper:



Compak USA sent me a replacement small hopper. The set screw is now retracted as far as possible while still retaining enough pressure on the hopper that it is "stable," although not tightly fitting. I recently noticed that this hopper has also cracked. The crack is not as extensive as the crack on the first hopper, nor does it extend down into the throat of the hopper, but it is obvious nonetheless:



Considering that the small hopper cost me $52 and change, including shipping, I'd expect more from it. The crack on the 2nd small hopper is not as obvious as on the first one, and if you haven't closely examined your small hopper, you might want to do so before concluding that your hopper remains uncracked. It would be even less obvious if the hopper is full of beans.

Alternatively, if looks aren't everything to you, you can construct your own mini hopper for a few bucks using standard plastic plumbing parts you can buy at HD or Lowes, plus a bit of epoxy or other glue:



I verified that the plastics used are "food-safe," even if not labeled as such. There are 4 parts there which you could find at HD although I couldn't at this point tell you what they are. There is a functional hopper plus a removable top which serves to weight down the beans to reduce popcorning.

ken

Interesting as my short hopper from a K3 touch developed a hairline crack near the lever that is used to keep beans from going into the grinding chamber. It started as a small 0.5 inch crack that expanded over a period of weeks. It was not as low as that photo (I can post a photo if folks want to see it) but up to the throat that goes into the chamber. I too thought I might have tightened it too much but I never go past just contacting the other side of the wall to prevent rotation. It was still fully functional but Chris Coffee got another one shipped to me from Compak the next day.

There are actually two cracks in my old mini-hopper

Ken Fox wrote:The crack on the 2nd small hopper is not as obvious as on the first one, and if you haven't closely examined your small hopper, you might want to do so before concluding that your hopper remains uncracked. It would be even less obvious if the hopper is full of beans.

D'oh! You're right, it's also cracked.

All the cracks are similar in shape and in location, which suggests to me either that some sort of stress is being transferred to the mini hoppers, which exceeds the strength of the plastic in this area, that the fabrication of the plastic mini-hoppers is flawed in some way, or that both of the above are true.

ken