I have a Vario and it grinds well but every so often, the display goes blank. The settings remain. I need to unplug it, replug it and then reset the timers until the next blank-out.

Is there a glitch anyone knows about?

I've been looking at a Vario, and may soon pull the trigger. The possibility of this sort of thing has been holding me back, though.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I have had my Vario since August and I have not had any problems at all...

Call Baratza, as this has been reported before.

It happened to mine as well. Baratza warranties the problem. They offered to ship me a replacement board with the "glitch" fixed or send me a new one and then I send mine back. I just had them ship the board/display and replaced it myself. It took 5 minutes and now I have all the fun new features!

I have the same problem and am awaiting a replacement digital board. Good news is that the new features are on the digital board so that's a bonus. They sent the instructions on how to replace the digital display which sounds relatively easy.

My Vario is about two months old, and just started having the display blanking problem a few days ago. It always happens during a timed grind. The display blanks, but the grind continues for the correct amount of time. I've been able to continue making fine espresso with the Vario, but the problem is annoying because when you unplug/plug to fix it, you lose any timer programs you've setup.

Baratza told me it's probably a loose wire in the display board. They offered to send me a new display that has had it's wiring thoroughly checked out, and they gave me instructions for replacement, which sound quite easy. I expect to get the new display in a few days.

The failure was unfortunate, but harmless for the most part. Great service from Baratza.

Hi guys,

Baratza told me it's probably a loose wire in the display board.

It always happens during a timed grind.

Doesn't sound like a loose wire, especially as it goes away when you reset the grinder.

Regards,
dsc.

I am eagerly awaiting the replacement faceplate.
No questions asked on Baratzas part which is comforting and frightening. It seems this will solve the problem(crosses fingers).

My replacement display board arrived today. It was a snap to install and the Vario is working properly now.

I disassembled the old display unit and found an obvious cold solder joint on one of the display leads:



The cold solder joint is on the left-most lead of the display. You rarely see such an obvious example of a cold solder joint. Usually they're more subtle.

I would speculate that the lead made adequate contact with the solder when it left the factory and for the first couple of months of use. After a lot of vibration from grinding, the contact area probably became intermittent, so that when the grinder was running the lead would momentarily lose contact with the solder. I would further speculate that momentary loss of contact on this lead causes the display to blank, and it will stay that way until initialized by the CPU, which evidently is done only at startup after plugging in the grinder.

Here's the rest of the board:



Note the coffee grounds between the leads of some switches and the white oxidation on some solder joints. These are also candidates for cause of the problem, but less likely in my opinion.

If my replacement display ever fails, then I'll touch my soldering iron to the cold solder joint, which will fix it, and I'll wipe down the board with isopropyl alcohol. I'm pretty sure the display will work fine after that.