Removing interlock collar from a mazzer kony hopper... without breaking it!

[Kuban111]

Sorry I've been trying to avoid this topic far too long now. But the time has finally come to ask the question?


I would like to use the hopper interlock collar from my Kony but every time I try to unlatch it from the hopper I feel like I'm going to break that silly plastic retaining tab off, something that I definitely would like to avoid.

So I'm asking.... "How did other Mazzer or Kony users get to take this off with out breaking the plastic retaining tab?"


Cannonfodder - Dave, I saw that you did it successfully for the TGP.


I've been very happy using the funnel that came with the aeropress for awhile now, hey it works but now it time for a change.

Thanks for the help.
Michael

[caeffe]

I went through this with my Major.

The basic premise is you have to move or pry both tabs out of the way so you can then lift the hopper off. Since they are plastic they do have some give. The trick is to not pry them so much that they break.

Knowing this, here's how I did it:

I used two of those paintcan openers to wedge one tab at a time. I'll try and find a picture (or post one) once I'm home and have a digital camera but it's a widget that looks like a bottle cap opener on one side and a screwdriver that is curved on the other side. I used the curved screwdriver side to pry the tab enough to clear the hopper ridge. I ended up almost breaking one of the tabs, it still there but it's now very loose, a little more bending it will come off.

good luck...

[k7qz]

The trick is to not pry them so much that they break.

That is the trick all right. On my Kony I simply snapped them both off, lifted out the large hopper and called it a day. On my Major, I thought OK people on HB said they had removed their hoppers without breaking the tabs, so my idea was to gently lift the tab up with a flat blade and then slide something under it to keep it from popping back in to place. I was going to slide a thin, flexible plastic measure strip under each tab, but the minute I started to (ever so gently) lift the tab up out of the hopper slot on one side, it snapped off anyway. So much for that idea-

[Kuban111]

That is the trick all right. On my Kony I simply snapped them both off, lifted out the large hopper and called it a day. On my Major, I thought OK people on HB said they had removed their hoppers without breaking the tabs, so my idea was to gently lift the tab up with a flat blade and then slide something under it to keep it from popping back in to place. I was going to slide a thin, flexible plastic measure strip under each tab, but the minute I started to (ever so gently) lift the tab up out of the hopper slot on one side, it snapped off anyway. So much for that idea-

Sounds like I'm not the only one that's tried almost all the tricks in the book.

K7qz ....... Tried some thing along the same line except I was trying to get a #8 gauge gtr E string under it then pull up. Sorry that didn't work.

Huston we don't have lift off.


Caeffe .....Got to be honest sound like surgery but hey I'm going to try it out. Do you have pics of that tool that you used?


Thanks guy's sounds like I'm at the right club.

Sure appreciate all the help.

Ok who's got the you tube vid on the how too, fess up.


Michael.

[BradS]

That is the trick all right. On my Kony I simply snapped them both off, lifted out the large hopper and called it a day. On my Major, I thought OK people on HB said they had removed their hoppers without breaking the tabs, so my idea was to gently lift the tab up with a flat blade and then slide something under it to keep it from popping back in to place. I was going to slide a thin, flexible plastic measure strip under each tab, but the minute I started to (ever so gently) lift the tab up out of the hopper slot on one side, it snapped off anyway. So much for that idea-

Sounds like I'm not the only one that's tried almost all the tricks in the book.

K7qz ....... Tried some thing along the same line except I was trying to get a #8 gauge gtr E string under it then pull up. Sorry that didn't work.

Huston we don't have lift off.


Caeffe .....Got to be honest sound like surgery but hey I'm going to try it out. Do you have pics of that tool that you used?


Thanks guy's sounds like I'm at the right club.

Sure appreciate all the help.

Ok who's got the you tube vid on the how too, fess up.


Michael.

I just did that with a piece of .032" bronze wire (just happened to be what I found that was stiff enough). I bent it into a u-shape with sharpest corners possible, and just slightly wider than the tab. To lift the tabs, I ground down a right-angle scribe on a belt sander to be just small enough to insert beside the tab and rotate underneath it. Then gently lift the tab (with leverage) and slip the wire underneath the tab. Once both sides have the wire in place, the collar should slip off of the hopper without pulling on the wires at all.

Cheers,

Brad

[cannonfodder]

Sorry about the delay, I have been sick all week and not on the computer much.

I did get the hopper off the interlock without breaking the tabs, but it took some work and 4 hands. I used two short flathead screwdrivers. I would pry one side up until it just got to the end of the retaining clip. Then I would pull the hopper taunt and have the wife hold the screwdriver (to make sure the tab did not slip back down) and hold the interlock and hopper. Then I used another screwdriver to gently pry the tab over the other retaining clip and got it to pop off. It took several tries but I did get it off without breaking it. Since it was a loaner, I did not want to damage it in any way. If it were my grinder, after the first hour I would have gotten tired of messing with it and just snap them off.

[Kuban111]

Sorry about the delay, I have been sick all week and not on the computer much.

I did get the hopper off the interlock without breaking the tabs, but it took some work and 4 hands. I used two short flathead screwdrivers. I would pry one side up until it just got to the end of the retaining clip. Then I would pull the hopper taunt and have the wife hold the screwdriver (to make sure the tab did not slip back down) and hold the interlock and hopper. Then I used another screwdriver to gently pry the tab over the other retaining clip and got it to pop off. It took several tries but I did get it off without breaking it. Since it was a loaner, I did not want to damage it in any way. If it were my grinder, after the first hour I would have gotten tired of messing with it and just snap them off.

Thanks guys for all your help and reply.

Need to Zen out and chill before I attempt to do this again. Just don't want to get angry and break the tabs.

Maybe I need to take a shot of scotch before hand.

Dave.. I have to admit when I saw your photos on the TGP, I was so that I wasn't able to take it off.
Those photos hounded me for weeks knowing that some were in the world there was Kony without that monstrosity of a hopper attached. Yeah I know I have issues....



BTW Hope you feel better & a quick recovery thanks for taking the time to post.


Michael.

[McCann]

I just received my new Mazzer Major yesterday and this evening I decided to attempt to remove the interlock collar without breaking the tabs! I think that BradS has got the best plan and I believe the way I just got my hopper off is almost fool-proof and requires nothing more than a paper-clip, long-nose pliers and a small enough piece of wire such as a broken E string from a classical guitar. Here's a photo-essay on how to do it (please bear with me as this is my first every how-to and photo post to a website). I'm going to show 9 photos in a step-by-step. Hope this isn't too many!

[McCann]

Fish for the wire with your paper-clip hook....

[McCann]

Finally, here is the genius of BradS, with a simplification from myself:
1. Put the two loose wire ends through the loop and start to pull
2. Use some other tool to make sure that the wires are as close as possible to the end of the plastic tab.
3. Now use a pair of pliers to tighten the noose. Keep pulling until the wire starts to pull off the end. Stop when it is about at the middle of the tab.
4. Do this for both sides and then simply pull the collar off (you have to pull very hard!).

The idea is that the wires provide a sort of ramp for the plastic tabs to slide off the clear plastic edge. The tabs hardly move at all (only a millimeter or two) during the whole process so there is no possibility of breaking them off!



Now I'm going to retrofit my Major with the short Major Mini hopper as as others have suggested in response to an earlier thread I started: http://www.home-barista.com/forums/mazzer-mini-short-hopper-on-mazzer-major-t6250.html



- Mark

[caeffe]

Great job McCann!
I tried the screwdriver bit and also the plastic ramp technique, both were ineffective.
I was thinking of using dental floss but couldn't quite figure out how to 'pull' both sides at the same time.

Not sure I completely understand the technique - for me it's a moot point but for others hopefully they get it.
It seems to be an easier soln than the paint can opener.

BTW, here's the paint can opener i'm talking about:


I wanted something I can hold flat against the collar while I pried the other side also.
To make it easier to pull the hopper off, I put a little dish soap in between the hopper and the collar to act as a lubricant.

[BradS]

McCann - great job. I think you're too kind with the props - it looks like your procedure is even better. I have to admit also - I ended up not even using the interlock adapter. I unhooked/defeated the interlock switch and went with the mazzer mini hopper with vinyl tape "shimming" on the outlet. Once you get the dia. just right, it fits very well.

I finally replaced my Rocky doser with this new Major. I cannot believe how much better the grind is with this grinder. I also cannot believe how much more messy and wasteful it is. I'm off to work on that now - time to redesign the Mazzer doser for home use!

Cheers,

Brad

[cannonfodder]

Brilliant! Get that man a Guinness.

[Kuban111]

McCann, wow great play by play thank you for taking the time to doc. with pics.


I got it off with out breaking it!!!!!!!



I figured I was on the right track with the gtr string, your post confirmed that I was & just made it easier to follow.
After taking it off I decided that I might want the option of placing it back on and off without going thru this again. So I took out the dremel & cutout a slit on the plastic hopper lip were the tabs are aligned.
This makes it easy to slide in and out but still able to hold it in place. Sorry for the bad description but I\'ll post a photo of it soon.


Thank you all for the help.

Michael.

[caeffe]

Awesome idea with the slit! You can then twist the hopper to lock it, and then twist to pull it off.

[caeffe]

Oh, BTW - I do want to add that using just the interlock collar, I can put ~ 42g of beans in there and close the hopper slide. I think to the top of the interlock you can add at least another 28g. Since I use ~ 10g (europiccola) - 14g (NS Oscar) per shot, with the hopper slide closed I can get 3-4 shots.

So, with this in mind, I struggle the need for a "hopper".

[cannonfodder]

That is what I did when I had the grinder for the titan project. I would put a 58mm tamper on top to weight the bean column down, but the tamper will catch on the hopper/throat shutoff slider. I would add a few fresh beans throughout the day to keep the bean level, well, level. After the last shot of the day I would not refill it until the next morning. It worked quite well for me; however I did think it looked odd without something atop that big case.

[McCann]

Michael, that's awesome that the guitar string finally worked for you! I should have mentioned you in my "credits" along with Brad, since it was your post that gave me the idea to use the guitar string. At first I tried to use the guitar strings to pull the tabs out far enough, but the strings would break. Brad's wedge idea was the breakthrough. I'm loving the exchange of ideas on this site! Now I have to figure out how to mod my Major's hopper to sweep out the grinds better. Any ideas on that Brad?

- Mark

[BradS]

Hi Mark,

There are a lot of examples on this site for improving the sweeping action of the lower star with materials such as velcro or vinyl tape. I've only had this newer major for a couple of weeks, and I haven't completely settled on a solution that's worthy enough to post. Send an email if you'd like some general ideas. There's definitiely a need to improve (or eliminate) that doser, that's for sure...

Cheers,

Brad

[Kuban111]

I think moding is a part time job when you start getting all this equipment.
I never consider myself a real geek until I bought my first dremel kit.
Then I finally notice what I had become.

McCann......... thanks for the shout out.

Mods, so far on this kony.
Randy's mod
Andy's mod
My slit on the hopper mod

I too haven't decided what to do with the sweep vain yet. I've used vinyl before on the SJ but I think velcro might work out better. Anyone have any thoughts on vinyl vs. velcro or anything else.

As for a doserless mod I've been thinking about a clear view plastic in place of a backing panel.
Thought it would look cool.

I've got some great ideas from CPU case mod sites. That's how I learn how to cut out using my dremel.
I did the wifes Wii case.....

Michael.