How to determine the type of Cimbali Grinder?

[mhoy]

I recently picked a used Cimbali grinder that was used in a coffee shop for 6 or 7 years, (very used, I think I may need a pry bar to remove some of the old coffee in the grinder assembly).

It's missing a number of things: labels of any kind, dosing chamber lid, plastic tray under the dosing area and 2 rubber feet.

However it was inexpensive (and I just missed getting the Mazzer Super Jolly from Craigslist) which is my current requirement for an upgrade.

I'll post a picture later tonight.

Mark

[djmonkeyhater]

Until you got to the picture part I was gonna be impressed if someone figured out what it was.

[mhoy]

Can't make it too easy for the genius around here... the outside looks remarkably like a Cimbali Jr, and I don't think it's tall enough to be the Max.

Is there any area in particular I should take close ups of?

Mark

[HB]

A picture of the burrs and their diameter will narrow the field quickly. Judging from the age and your scant description, my guess is that it's the Cimbali Cadet (looks like the Junior with a taller hopper).

[mhoy]

See if this helps any.



Which way do I turn the burrs to remove them? They are very, very hard to move...suggestions welcome.


Bin


=-=-
Mark

[cannonfodder]

Well, the adjustment knob on the front is that of a Jr, but the hopper height, and doser full flap screams Max. I would guess you have one of the old DRM La Cimbali grinders. Your ruler is over the burrs, are they flat or conical, that will answer the question.

[MellowCat]

T'is a Cadet - Dan was right.
Same as the Junior but with a taller hopper and an auto-shutoff grind switch (for cafe usage).
There should be a nameplate on the bottom of the grinder.

[mhoy]

Unfortunately no name plate on the bottom of the unit, no serial numbers. Flat burrs.



I've not read up much about the Cadet, I'm hoping it's a reasonable grinder for espresso.
=-=-=
Mark

[mhoy]

I should have looked at the calibration ring a bit more closely before my earlier posting and I would have put it together. Larger numbers, coarser grind, turn the burrs clockwise to remove them. Mind you I needed to use vice grips instead of the adjustment knob.

Bottom couple of threads are coated in coffee goo. I can soak this part in cleaner.



How do I clean out the threads in the grinder though? Vodka?



Thanks,
Mark

[shadowfax]

I would personally avoid getting the burrs themselves wet, from personal experience with my old Super Jolly. Hardened steel is not stainless steel, and hence not rust proof. I would remove the burrs from their housing and soak what parts you can in a food safe cleaner that can clean oil.

I am curious what a whole lot of Urnex Grindz could do for you, but my honest bet is not very much. It looks to me like you will need to disassemble the majority of that thing to clean it thoroughly. Wow, that's amazing how nasty it is! I bet it cleans up great, though, less plenty of scratches (maybe?). It looks like it will be a fine grinder for Elektra till you can go conical!

[mhoy]

I would personally avoid getting the burrs themselves wet, from personal experience with my old Super Jolly. Hardened steel is not stainless steel, and hence not rust proof. ... It looks like it will be a fine grinder for Elektra till you can go conical!

The dose counter reads 4700+, perhaps it's wrapped around a couple of times because the burrs are not sharp and have numerous dings in them.

The upper burrs are looking pretty clean after a 15 minute soak in hot water and Cafiza. It didn't seem to hurt them, but I think I need to replace them anyway. The lower burrs are still in the machine, I can't get enough leverage to unscrew them. I'll have to get a socket wrench on the bolt and try again over the weekend if I have time. A second set of parts arrived from Stefano today for Elektra. Hmmm, which to work on... Elektra will probably win this as my wife would love to get some space back in the dining room.

Mark

[cannonfodder]

That would be a Cadet; Dan wins a hopper full of crusty old beans! I got a used Max that was in worse condition, I had to chisel the beans out of the grind throat with a screwdriver. I did a full tear down and clean, looks and runs like new.

I have cleaned burrs in JoeGlo with no ill effects. Those burrs are carbon steel so a prolonged soaking is not advisable, but a couple of hours will not do any harm. Just make sure you get them dry or they will rust. Use an old toothbrush to scrub out the cutting teeth, a hair dryer gets them dry quick. The burr carrier teeth, use the same toothbrush and just brush the gunk out but don't put liquid in there. Just use a dry towel. If the burrs have dings in them, you may want to look into getting a new set. It sounds like they are pretty used up and beat up burrs in even the best grinder will yield mediocre results. Don't handicap the T1 with a bad grinder, pick up a new burr set.

[mhoy]

While I don't have a hopper full of crusty old beans, I can supply an ounce or two from the throat of this one. I kind of scraped the beans out, didn't need to chisel them out. I can't imagine drinking coffee from this place. I think I'll need a wire brush to get the crude out of the burr carrier teeth. A tooth brush can't penetrate the goo, I used a screw driver and pryed off sections of oily rind.

At least I know this will look great when done and part of it's done.



I've found the burrs online, but for the life of me I can't find the other spare parts.

Still looking to find the grind hopper lid, the plastic tray under the hopper and the rubber feet.

Hmm, might just try to convert it to a Cimbali Doserless Cadet.
=-=-
Mark

[Spresso_Bean]

Chris' Coffee was awesome about finding me some Cimbali parts that I thought I wouldn't be able to easily track down. Cafe Parts has some Cimbali grinder parts as well. I would guess that the Junior lid and feet would fit your grinder since the basic design appears to be consistent in many ways. If you wanted to make it doserless without it looking strange, you might try creating a chute between the burr area and the doser's bottom opening above the portafilter fork. That way you're just bypassing the doser vanes which you could just remove if you were going to modify it. There are probably a few ways to do it, but if you remove the doser, there's a big opening in the front of the grinder body that would have to be patched over with something that looks good, although matching stainless would be ideal (expensive, hard to cut).

[mhoy]

Been a while, but I had some time today to butcher up my Cadet a bit more....

If you turn the center bolt clockwise it will eventually let go...

The carrier is of course caked with coffee, I've already scraped some of it off...


The edge of it.


What was surprising is the aluminium housing is pretty clean.


Mark

[abaddonxi]

I recently rebuilt a La Cimbali Junior of a similar vintage to yours.

I replaced both top and bottom bearings. It was well worth the effort, the top bearing was so worn and jammed up with grinds that I couldn't turn it by hand once I removed it from the grinder.

It also made a significant difference to the amount of noise the grinder makes.

Cheers
Simon

[mhoy]

Simon: Great idea, a lot easier to do while it's apart. Mine seem to spin, but heck now would be the time.

I've a lot of questions for you though....

I don't know anything about bearing, other than inside diameter and outside diameter and height, what are the parameters on picking a replacement bearing? Also where did you get the replacements?

It looks like if I take off the snap ring the top bearing can be accessed. Once this is taken out, does the motor lift up to let you get at the bottom one? Or are they press fit?

Thanks in advance,
Mark

[stefano65]

Inside diameter,
outside diameter
( thickness is most likely 9mm )
AND OF COURSE the direction of the cut shown in the picture

can be a
68x43
68x40
64x37
54x32

[abaddonxi]

Simon: Great idea, a lot easier to do while it's apart. Mine seem to spin, but heck now would be the time.

I've a lot of questions for you though....

I don't know anything about bearing, other than inside diameter and outside diameter and height, what are the parameters on picking a replacement bearing? Also where did you get the replacements?

It looks like if I take off the snap ring the top bearing can be accessed. Once this is taken out, does the motor lift up to let you get at the bottom one? Or are they press fit?

Thanks in advance,
Mark

A few photos here:
http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1213423685

I replaced the old bearings with NTN 6202LLU/2AS the originals were GMN 6202. The new bearings have a rubber (or similar) shield around them, the originals didn't. As you've seen, ground coffee accumulates down there.

The upper bearing was difficult to impossible to turn by hand after I'd pulled it off. With the weight of the motor behind it, I could still turn the shaft by hand, and the motor turned over easily.

Also interesting to note that the lower bearing, although completely clean was worn enough to warrant replacing. Just on a hand spin it felt fine, but when compared to the new bearings, it was obviously worn out too.

I split the upper motor housing from the lower (4 long bolts) and whacked things with drifts and bits of wood, and such until it came apart. It didn't take too much persuasion to get the upper bearing out of the upper motor housing. To remove the bearing from the shaft I replaced the main bolt and used a gear/bearing puller with the pin resting against the main bolt. It put a tiny dent in the head of the bolt, I probably should have put something like a washer in between the shaft bolt and the gear puller bolt.

Getting it back in is a little more time consuming. I'd suggest a washer the same size as the bearing, and a socket, and a drift, and a hammer. This was the most difficult part of the mechanical repairs for me.

Oh, and to actually answer your questions -
The bearings are 11mm tall x 35mm wide x 15mm inside diameter.
I took the whole motor down to my local bearing shop, they did the measuring.
I asked for something with a dust cover. The bearings cost $7 Australian each. You could probably spend as much as you want for completely sealed food grade stainless, I thought the dust covers would do the job.
Both bearings are press fit onto the shaft. The top bearing needs to be pushed back into the motor housing, the bottom bearing seated itself.

Cheers
Simon

[abaddonxi]

Oh, and remove the grind adjustment worm gear assembly before you start hitting things.

I didn't break anything, but judging from the parts catalogue, others have.

Cheers
Simon