Today I just bought a Baratza Vario-W to replace my Rancilio Rocky. My machine is a Rancilio Silvia.

I set both the Macro and Micro sliders to their finest setting end up pulling 17g 2oz doubles in about 30 seconds (plus quite a bit of channeling and blonding very early). The pour starts in about 4 seconds. I would expect the finest setting to choke the machine.

I've read a couple threads on the forums that suggest calibrating the machine & cleaning the grinder. I've done both with no luck.

As for cleaning the machine, I remove the hopper & the upper burr. I blow out and vacuum till its pretty much dust free. I ensure the upper burr has no dust. I then verify the calibration using the method described in the manual, I even go so far as to having the macro slider slow down the motor at its finest setting.

At this point if I pull a shot at the finest setting it will choke the machine. I then adjust the Micro slider to the midpoint and the shot flows too fast (18 seconds). I then move the Micro slider back to its finest setting and it starts pulling the 17g/2oz/30sec doubles. I use an Espro Calibrated tamper, so I expect my tamp to be consistent.

When cleaning the grinder I noticed some odd behavior. The lower burr will consistently rise with the Macro slider moving towards the finest setting(this I expect), however the burr will not lower when moving the slider towards coarse unless I use my thumb to push it down. It seems like the burr gets stuck in the finer setting, but judging the actual behavior I see when pulling shots - this does not seem to be the case. Perhaps when the grinder starts the lower burr falls into place. I dont know.

I should add that I am using fresh beans. Black Cat roasted on 11/29.

Any ideas?

I've done a bit more experimentation.

So previously I would (these are all 17g doses):
1) Clean the machine
2) Grind at finest setting: Choke
3) Micro to midpoint: 18sec, 2oz
4) Micro back to finest: 30sec, 2oz

Now I've gone further:
5) Micro still at finest: 30sec, 2oz
6) Empty the hopper and run the grinder for about 15 seconds
7) Refill the hopper
8) Finest setting: 35 sec, 2oz

From these results I feel like changing the grind setting requires the grinder to be run for quite awhile to 'settle into' the new setting. However for whatever reason I'm never able to choke the machine again without cleaning it(removing upper burr + vaccum)

Is it expected I'd need to run through 30+ grams of beans when changing settings? If so, I think this would be deal breaker for me. Dialing in a bean would result in me going through half the bag.

Are you running the grinder while making the adjustments?

No i am not running the grinder when making the adjustments. I did read in the manual that if the switches are hard to move it helps have the grinder running. My switches move fine.

Could this be my issue? If so could you help me understand how the grinder works and why this is required?

Thanks for the reply.

Hi Barron,
The grinder will always "settle" in to a grind setting faster (using less coffee) if the motor is running when you do an adjustment (especially if going finer). In an earlier post you mentioned the lower burr not dropping down when you lower the lever arms. The Vario has no mechanical means to lower the burr carrier (in an auto, the valves ride on a cam also, but they have strong return springs to lower the valve when the cam lobe drops away); we rely on the beans between the burrs to force the lower burr down. This occurs instantly when beans are in the grinder. You should not have to clean the machine to get back to a choking grind, this is not right. Are you using hard and light roasted beans? If so, this could explain the need for a finer than normal calibration to achieve a choking grind. Our calibration instructions work for the average gourmet bean, but with peabodies and other hard coffees, especially if they are light roasted, a finer calibration will be required. If you are using a dark roasted bean and having these issues, then I would suggest we (Baratza) have a look at your grinder (you appear to be somewhat "local") or we can just get you a replacement.
Sorry for the hassle so far. Please email me (kyle@baratza.com) or support@baratza.com and we will take care of you.
Regards,
Kyle (President, Baratza)

Barron, when I received my Vario W a month or so ago, my first weekend of experimenting was quite a disappointment. Once I considered the hints provided by others and Baratza (Kyle and Craig - the rep for Canada), I am quite happy with the results. Baratza's support is great.

Thanks for the replies, I really appreciate it. Exceptional customer service from Baratza!

Given the new suggestions, I've tried the following:

1) Clean the grinder, set the sliders to their coarsest setting, refill the hopper
2) Start the grinder & move the macro slider to Finest
3) With the grinder still running, move the micro slider to Finest
4) Stop the grinder. At this point it looked like I ground about 20grams which I threw away.
5) I then grind 17 grams at the finest setting
6) Pulled a 30 second, 2oz.
7) Grind 17g again at the finest setting
8) Pulled a 32 second 2oz
7) Grind 17g again at the finest setting
8) Pulled a 32 second 1.75oz
9) Empty hopper, grind out remnants
10) Perform the calibration test. The macro slider has no effect on the motors noise. The micro slider has a definite effect, even below the midpoint.

Am I perhaps moving the sliders too quickly? Admittedly I was trying not to waste so much coffee, In 12 hours I've already gone through about 16oz of fresh beans.

I really don't know enough about beans to give any info about them. I am using Intelligentsia Black Cat Classic Espresso Blend. The fact I am able to choke the machine immediately after cleaning leads me to believe my calibration is correct for the bean -- at least initially it is, perhaps it's slipping?

Kyle -- Yes I am local. I live in Mill Creek and work in Redmond. I bought the grinder from Seattle Coffee Gear. Would you recommend bringing it to SCG for debugging or to Baratza?

Thanks again
Barron

I'm not saying there's nothing wrong with your grinder, but it sounds to me like your calibration isn't right. You should be able to choke the machine even with a 14g dose with both sliders at the finest setting.

You haven't said how you are doing the calibration. For one thing, do not do it with beans in the hopper. Do it with the hopper and machine completely empty.

Try this:

1. Empty the machine of all beans and (once again) clean the burrs and burr chamber.
2. Turn on the grinder and move the Macro slider to the finest setting.
3. Move the Micro slider to the middle of its range.
4. Now use an allen wrench to adjust the calibrating screw behind the chute.
5. Adjust the screw until you hear the motor begin to labor. Stop.

After calibrating, run the grinder and move the Micro slider fully down. Slowly raise it. When you reach the middle of the range, you should hear the motor start to labor. If not, follow steps 2-5 above. If after repeating the steps you can't verify the calibration (i.e., the grinder starts to labor with Macro set to finest and Micro in the midldle), then something in the grinder may be slipping (e.g., the motor belt.) In that case, get Kyle to help you.

Note: The calibration above might not be fine enough for low doses of certain coffees. When I calibrated my Vario with the Macro level set to finest, I found that it ground a 14g dose fine enough with the Micro lever in the middle, but I felt that the remaining "headroom" (half the Micro range) might not be enough for all coffees or for single doses. So I re-calibated with the Macro lever one notch down from the finest setting. This gave me plenty of headroom (choking the machine was no problem.) However, the tradeoff was that the grinder could no longer produce the coarsest grind for French Press. That was no problem for me because I don't do Press, but I usually have to set the Macro lever one notch coarser to get the right grind for drip. No big deal.

Thanks again for your suggestion. I perform the calibration using the steps you've provided (also found in the Vario-W manual)

I performed another test tonight.

1) I calibrated the machine a bit finer than suggested so that the finest macro setting would produced a slight laboring of the motor. The micro setting would further affect the motor's noise throughout its entire range.
2) Pulled a 17g shot. 2oz in 1:15. Drips started around 15 seconds
3) Pulled a 17g shot. 2oz in 1:15. Drips started around 15 seconds. With a solid stream around 40 seconds
4) I then turned on the grinder and moved the Micro setting to the midpoint
5) Pulled a 17g shot. 2oz in :20. Drips started around 5 seconds.
6) I then turned on the grinder and moved the Micro setting back to the finest setting. I ground about 8 grams at this step.
7) Pulled a 17g shot. 2oz in :32. Drips started around 7 seconds.
8) Pulled a 17g shot. 2oz in :33. Drips started around 5 seconds.

To me, this seems like going from coarse to fine is not behaving as expected.

FWIW,

Others have described a "seasoning" or "break-in" period with Varios (similar to other grinders). Some say you must run about 5 lbs through the grinder before it stabilizes. In my case, there was some inconsistency out of the box and I recalibrated about 3 times over the first week or two. Even then, it would not choke a shot at the finest setting. However, after 3 weeks to 1 month of daily use it settled down nicely and is fairly predictable (in my case repeated shots might be very close to about 1/4 oz off in volume for roughly the same duration...not bad for a lower cost grinder and there is probably some variability in my prep technique as well). Shot flow and taste are much more consistent vs my Rocky. Post break-in, I could then choke a shot within the normal "headroom" provided by the normal calibration.

Given the collective experience reported here and elsewhere, it may be a bit premature to run the grinder through precise tests as you are doing and expect consistent results. I think the grinder works best when calibrated per the manual and dialed in for the preferred shot (not to try and choke) and then make minor adjustments to more precisely dial in (i.e., the less you play with the levers the more consistent it will be, however, you will tend to get longer shots as the hopper becomes less full and therefore may need to adjust finer or add more beans to hopper). Then run it for a few weeks at least to see if performance stabilizes. Then run whatever tests to evaluate performance. If the grinder truly has a problem then you will still get the same support then as you would now.

Pat