Hello everyone

I've recently been lent a Compak K3 doserless grinder (this one I belive: http://www.1stincoffee.com/compak-k3touch.htm), it's used and it's going to be used in a commercial setting for single origin espresso. But I'm struggling with it, first of all it's extremely slow, and it seems not just in comparison to the humongous Mazzer (comparison would be futile) but painfully slow, I haven't had time to time it (!) yet but does anyone have an estimate to how long it should take to grind a 18-19g dose? It also clumps like screaming murder, so the end result looks like a pile of marshmallows more than a pile of coffee, is this normal with this grinder or could something be wrong somewhere?

Writing this makes me slightly embarrassed how much you can limit your knowledge when the equipment do your work for you

Hi. K3 is intended for home, not for a commercial environment. Yes, it's slow; and yes, it clumps a little. I don't remember how much time it takes to grind... about 14 seconds perhaps? (15gr)

I own a Compak K3 touch - my first foray into espresso grinders. It grinds 19.5g in about 15 seconds, as timed tonight. The grinder can clump, depending on humidity, coffee bean roast, etc; however, the clumps easily fall apart. I generally do some WDT and it's fine. I've never had a whole grind come out as "marshmallows", but more so a pile with some clumping. In the past I've been lazy and skipped dealing with the clumps, and I don't remember the extraction suffering noticeably, but that may have been my laziness or lack of experience. The grinder can be bad for retaining a lot of coffee - every grind I clean the chute out as part of my routine. I'd recommend taking the grinder apart and giving it a good cleaning to make sure you are starting with a clean slate.

Overall, I'm happy with it as a home grinder; it's served it's purpose for me quite well. It will have to be a pretty big step up if (translated: when) I upgrade. I'd probably move towards a Mahlkonig K30 Vario, but that may be a long ways down the road and I'd need to score a pretty good deal.

How 'used' is it? Could need new burrs.

You may want to try single dosing to reduce the grind retention

About 14 or 15 seconds for 18-19g