AllNight wrote:The machine got quite hot.

Not to worry. If you run it too long or it gets too hot, the Macap has a thermal fuse which shuts it down until it cools off. I have experienced that when I was bulk grinding for a friend, several pounds.

HB wrote:New grinder with poorly machined burrs

Yes that's it!

My burr reference code printed on the side is 4M135, not sure if that makes any difference.

Here's pics of my burrs... they have been vacuumed in place before removing; they haven't been brushed here.

Don't know what to say. There have obviously been a lot of these grinders sold with no issues. Mine and my friends both are fine after some initial hiccups. Something is not right for sure.

Can't you return it?

Maybe I am confused or don't understand. Pardon me if that is the case.

Are you starting to grind at zero point every time? Why? I never start at zero point, burrs rubbing (1.2 on my machine). Let me explain my process.

Most of my settings (same machine as yours) are:
Turkish: 1.6 or so
Espresso: 2.0-2.2, depending on the coffee
Pourover/Vacpot: 5.0 or 5.1 depending on the coffee/age of the coffee
Espro: 6.3-6.4
Press pot: 6.8-7.0

When grinding for Turkish, I turn the machine on. The setting for the previous grind was 5.0 for pourover. I block the hopper with the sliding gate, add my dose, and turn the dial down to 1.6. I open the gate and get a Turkish grind AFTER having been up in the 5.0 zone.

I don't start the machine at 1.3 to see if it will grind there. I am always working backwards to achieve Turkish. If I last ground for Turkish, I would turn the machine on, have the hopper gate closed, add the coffee, and turn it up for say an espresso at 2.1 (my starting point for espresso).

IF I started at 1.4, I am sure I would choke it even if I turned the dial up to up 7.0 after beginning below 1.6. I don't ever go below the 1.6 territory. It would serve no point.

Not sure that helps but did want to explain my process which results in no choked grinder and full access to all grinding levels needed.

This post was very helpful.

Once again (not surprisingly for me) most of my issues were due to user error.

Because I had used the Rocky for so long, and saw that both the Rocky and Macap use similar designs, I was expecting the Macap to work similar to the Rocky. With the Rocky, many coffees need to be ground at the point where you can actually hear the burrs touching in order to make espresso that pulls 2 oz in 25 - 30 seconds. So it seemed to make sense to start at the point on the Macap where the burrs are one step above the sound of them touching.

I worked with it again today and I got much better results, especially after the machine has completely cooled down from breaking in yesterday. I started at about 2.5 and used a coffee that I know pulls properly at the zero point on the Rocky. First try, I got an espresso that pulled 2 oz in exactly 30 seconds. Finally, something I can drink! It did taste noticeably better than what I usually pull with the Rocky. Much smoother!

I then used a coffee that I know has to go one step down on the Rocky, which pulls in about 22 seconds. (If I go a step further, it takes 35+ seconds, so that is the best approximation.) I used a setting of 2.3 on the Macap and it pulled in 27 seconds!

As Boldjava recommends, I kept the black bean gate closed, added the beans, turned the motor on, then opened the gate to make these. I didn't make any adjustments WITHOUT the motor running (interestingly, the manual states to adjust with the motor off on the stepped model, which seems wrong).

When finished for the day, I use a crevice vacuum tool to suck out grounds from the top, then to suck grounds out of the dispenser by using my hand to form a suction. This does a great job at clearing grounds. (I used this method on my Rocky.)

I also noticed that after the break in with the rice, there seems to be less static, and less mess. I weigh my beans before and after grinding and I notice a lot less waste with the Macap than with the Rocky, especially on first use after vacuuming.

So, I think I am finally at a point where everything's working properly. I just needed time to get a feel for the machine and I think the break in helped. And of course, everyone who replied here helped a HECK of a lot also.

Hopefully someone in the future going from a Rocky to a Macap might find this thread useful, at least if they are as dumb as I am.

samuellaw178 wrote:I think one of the bigger 'issue' here is the expectation - you seem to expect the Macap to grind at near zero setting (which is rarely the case for a well built grinder). Macap is built to a higher tolerance after all. For instance - with the burrs touching on the Rocky, the Rocky might not even grind as fine as the Macap at, say, 5 notches from zero.

samuellaw178 wrote:Try working from coarser to finer since you're single dosing.

samuellaw178 wrote:some home grinders need to be touching in order to grind fine enough for espresso. All the commercial grinders I've used do that well before the zero points. Thus, if I take the commercial grinder to the similar setting as the home grinder, it'll definitely choke due to the overly fine coffee ground.

See?　There you go. Glad that things are work now. Enjoy your new grinder, it is certainly a much better grinder than Rocky.

FWIW, if you single dose and only make a small grind adjustment (espresso to espresso), running the motor is not neccesary. I think Dave was refering to when changing from Turkish to espresso or from drip to espresso, then we need to run the motor.

samuellaw178 wrote:...

FWIW, if you single dose and only make a small grind adjustment (espresso to espresso), running the motor is not neccesary. I think Dave was refering to when changing from Turkish to espresso or from drip to espresso, then we need to run the motor.

I never have coffee in the grinder chamber when changing settings. I always have the grinder turned on when I am adjusting the grinder to a finer grind size.

AllNight wrote:...the manual states to adjust with the motor off on the stepped model

...

You sure you're reading it correctly? From 1st Line's website re: stepped models: "Please note as with all coffee grinders, it is very important to only change grind settings on Macap coffee grinders when the unit is powered 'on' and the burrs are in motion. If you do not do this, the burrs will 'gunk' up and require cleaning by you every time this occurs. Changing the grind settings when the burrs are not in motion will render the grinder to only produce very coarse grinds or no grinds at all..."

http://www.1st-line.com/store/pc/Macap- ... -p3960.htm

Yep, it says to adjust the stepless model only with the motor running, and the stepped model only with the motor off. Weird.