I'm being driven nuts by the Vario-W right now. When it works, it works very well. But when it comes to adjusting the grind, it appears the fine ("micro") adjustment lever does absolutely nothing.

I just wasted half a bag of beans carefully walking the grind from W to A. Adjusting while the grinder was running. The shots came out at precisely the same speed (too fast for my taste - 19g fills 60ml in 20s). The fine adjustment lever, quite literally, appears to not be functional.

After the first calibration, I was able to choke the espresso machine. To get there, I had to adjust well past the point where the motor is supposed to "labor". If I heard the motor laboring on the Rocky, that basically meant it was at setting zero and physically couldn't go any further lest the burrs just cut themselves up! But something is different with the Vario. Unless I go past the "oh the burrs are touching" noise I don't get a fine enough grind.

The manual (and posts here) call for doing calibration adjustments while the grinder is running. But as far as I can tell, the Vario-W can't be run without the grounds receptacle in place. There is some sort of cutoff switch. The manual doesn't explain whatever magic is needed to calibrate the W model while the burrs are spinning. So I am swapping the grounds receptacle in and out while trying to adjust.

Back when I had it calibrated such that 1A was enough to choke the machine, I noticed another idiosyncrasy - going from 1W to 2A was a massive leap! This means you had better use beans that average out around the middle, because if you need to adjust past the ends of the "micro" adjuster you're out of luck.

Anyway, this is pretty irritating considering the Vario-W is almost 2x the cost of the Rocky. The quality of the grind has been stunning, and resulted in a noticeable improvement in my shots. But the level of fiddling to get the grind correct is quite unacceptable. I'm persisting because when it works, it's amazing. But from this thread it's clear there are some design flaws that need serious assessment, to live up to the push button ease of use promise inherit in a weight based grinder.

Hi Luke,
Sorry for the frustration in working with the Vario-W. Let me start with posting instructions for calibrating the grind on a Vario-W (This is very different than calibrating the scale). With all Vario's it is critical that the grind calibration be done with the motor running and no beans in the grinder. I know of no other way to really fine tune the calibration. The unique part of calibrating the grind on a Vario is as follows:
Remove the grounds bin, press TARE (display will read 00.0), when ready with the calibration tool press any of the preset buttons (1,2, or 3) and then START. The grinder will now run (for up to 3 minutes) allowing you to complete the calibration routine according the instructions. When done calibrating, press the START/stop button to stop the grinder. After completing grind calibration, replace the grounds bin onto the scale and press TARE.
In the first few pounds of use, your Vario may need a few grind calibrations to be done as the adjusting spline wears in (not the burrs) . Once done with the "break in" period, need for re calibration is far less frequent.
When you used up a bag of coffee and only got 20 second pours, what beans were you using and how old were they?
In the example where you went from 1W to 2A, i would recommend (if you are starting at 1W) moving the Macro from 1 to 2 then the Micro from W to A. In the design of the Vario there is a small amount of overlap, meaning that the full range of the Micro is a bit bigger than one click of the Macro.
I find that 1 click on the Micro scale (with fresh beans) produces about 2-4 seconds shot time difference (all else being equal). If your Vario really goes full range on the Micro with no change in shot times, then something is really wrong (assuming good fresh beans). if this is the case please contact support@baratza.com and we will get you a replacement.
Regards,
Kyle

I had problems yesterday with my Vario and remembered this thread.

I've been pulling shots of Compass' Delirium for about 5 days now. Getting great results: 25-28g in 25-30 seconds, all taste fantastic. Setting on Vario was Macro: Espresso, Micro: 10 notches from bottom. Made an espresso in the morning without trouble. Then decided to make a pour over of another coffee I had lying around for the first time since I bought the grinder (i.e. I've only EVER used it for espresso). It ground for filter just fine, but when I decided to make another espresso a few hours later and after setting the two dials exactly where they'd been previously, I ended up with coffee spraying all over the counter; the grind was WAY too coarse. Even after setting it a few notches finer, it still resulted in coffee gushing everywhere.

I have since "fixed" the problem by cleaning the burrs (didn't know what else to do as calibrating didn't make sense because the motor was "laboring" before the macro even reached "Espresso"). It's now grinding finely enough (although on a different setting than before...?), but I don't intend to drink anything but espresso for awhile

Any ideas on what's going on?

I don't have a resolution for you, but I ended up returning my grinder in exchange for a traditional Vario (not the W).

After about 2 weeks of good results (micro adjustment at midpoint, 27s, 2 oz) using some Black Cat Espresso beans I'm now seeing the issue with a 3 day old roast of some Stumptown beans.

The finest setting is giving me about 25 second shots - which isn't bad but I have no more headroom. This is even after calibrating finer so that the motor labors on the low end of the micro adjustment.

I've gone through about $100 worth of beans between this Vario and the Vario-W... I have to return it and call it quits. Its very frustrating and getting a bit expensive.

I'm curious if everyone seeing these issues happens to a specific production run of the grinder where perhaps a small change was made. Is there any indication on the machine we can check to see if they came from the same 'batch'?

Perhaps I missed it in the replies, but have you tried adjusting the Vario with the supplied burr adjustment tool - an allen wrench with a fancy round handle?

I bought a Vario in December 2011 and as shipped, with certain beans, it would not produce fine enough espresso to get a good crema. I use a La Pavoni Pro. So I used the supplied burr adjustment tool, inserting it and turning it several times clockwise and this fixed the problem. I can get anything from press to Turkish, and the "finer" adjustment really works well. As the beans age from day to day, the pull gets a little lighter than I like so I just bump the fine adjustment up one notch and all is good again with the next shot.

I have a feeling the calibration was lost when I switched beans. I ended up re-calibrating whick took many full turns (5+) of the calibration tool. Is it normal that two different beans would need such a different calibration?

I am now at the point where the macro setting labors 1 notch from the top. I am pulling shots with macro on finest and the micro at the midpoint.

I'm curious to see how my next bag of beans works.

The fact you had to make 5 full turns with the tool to bring the grinder back into calibration means the primary/coarse calibration screw under the rubber plug (which is just behind the fine calibration hole) might have gotten loose and moved forward. They have good set of instructions on the Baratza site explaining how primary calibration works. Check that primary calibration screw as it likely needs tightening.

Seems like you have to go finer than the zero point (where motor starts labouring) to get fine enough grind. This seem to be the case for me (most of the time, and with fresh coffee too) and for a few other Vario W owners. I am still trying to determine if this is to be expected or we are hitting on a defect or a design flaw.

Thanks for the info about the coarse adjustment screw, I was unaware of such a thing.

More weirdness tonight...

I've been working through a bag of Black Cat just fine for about a week. 18g/2oz/27sec.

I pulled 4 shots throughout the day no problem.. Then about 12 hours pass and I attempt to pull a shot which results in a gusher.

As soon as I ground the coffee I saw something was odd because there was significantly more volume to the grind, so much so that I had to remove about 5 grams worth of coffee from the basket because it would not fit. I then proceeded to tamp like normal and ended up pulling 2oz in about 15 seconds, with quite a bit of channeling.

I thought maybe it was a fluke so I tried again and had the same result.

I am very frustrated with my Vario experience. When it works its great, but it only seems to work 50% of the time. I see numerous reports of people with similar issues -- but I see others who have nothing but positive things to say.

buurin wrote:I have a feeling the calibration was lost when I switched beans. I ended up re-calibrating whick took many full turns (5+) of the calibration tool. Is it normal that two different beans would need such a different calibration?

I am now at the point where the macro setting labors 1 notch from the top. I am pulling shots with macro on finest and the micro at the midpoint.

I'm curious to see how my next bag of beans works.

I didn't mention it but I also had to turn the calibration tool/wrench quite a few times - probably five or so which was a bit worrisome though now after your post I guess it is normal. I have found that I can get most any bean that is fresh to the right grind by putting the right slider on espresso and using only the fine adjustment. Most Northern Italian roasts (what I drink mostly) are easily dialed in by starting the fine adjustment in the middle and going from there.

Glad you got it working.

buurin, since you turned the fine calibration screw so many times, it is possible that the screw came off on the other side (above the lever) and after a few cycles may have tilted and thus leading to a much coarser grind. Do the following:

1. using the tool, rotate the screw 3-4 times back into the coarser direction and make sure it threads back in properly. Be very careful. Use a mirror to make sure it is in correct position to avoid damaging the threads if it has come out completely.

2. Do primary calibration as per Baratza's instructions. Your primary calibration screw is likely all the way to the front. If that is the case, loosen and move it backward by about 1/4 inch or ~5mm. Tighten it and then fine tune zero point with fine calibration screw.

I hope this helps.