Elektra Nino Grinder - Page 17

by **gyro** on Thu Jun 11, 2009 8:15 am

It is early days for wearing in the grinders. Mine was performing beautifully at around the 3-4lb usage mark, then I ground another 2lbs of beans for someone through it (in one go)... Good news is that it will help to break it in a little more. Bad news, its still obviously got a long way to go. Afterwards, I wound two full revolutions of adjustments on the worm screw, way fast pour. Another two, still way too fast. Another one, still way too fast and now out of time as I had to go to work.

I have also learnt that my wrist 'clicks' once each revolution of the adjustment knob, and not in a good way.

Anyway, it shows that these big grinders do need time to settle in properly. My WAG would be in the neighborhood of 15lbs, but I expect some luck of the draw to be involved here also.

Cheers, Chris

by **michaelbenis** on Thu Jun 11, 2009 8:26 am

Be very carefull when not using these grinders as designed - grinding into a portafilter.

My wife can't be bothered with all the fuss and gets me grinding into an old Illy tin for her to make coffee using her old Moka pot. I had the bright idea of using the Nino for this to wear it in faster. Being a dreamy fool, the coffee crept up the tilted Illy tin before I realised it, backing up in the chute where it started clumping to a solid mass at the top

Not recommended!

I ended up having to take the whole thing apart, clean up the chute and top of the motor and change the little flap which had become slightly bent. It bent back OK and seemed to work fine, but I have new one on the way over from Italy to be sure.

So.... be very carefully that if not using the grinder to do a dose at a time, you do not let the grinds back up in the chute. :wink:

by **gyro** on Thu Jun 11, 2009 9:05 am

Hmmmm, pleased I wasn't in my usual daydream then! Good to know for the future, cheers.

by **EricC** on Thu Jun 11, 2009 9:28 am

I have both the Elektra Nino and the Versalab M3 as does networkcrasher.

I cannot speak for Mark (networkcrasher), however I find that at least as far as pulling shots, the Nino is easier and more consistent than the Versalab.

They do indeed taste different to oneanother, and up to now all i would say is that the Nino appears to be smoother tasting, but there again I have not directly compared them as I am really enjoying the Nino, and am only going from memory.

by **networkcrasher** on Thu Jun 11, 2009 10:14 am

michaelbenis wrote:I ended up having to take the whole thing apart, clean up the chute and top of the motor and change the little flap which had become slightly bent. It bent back OK and seemed to work fine, but I have new one on the way over from Italy to be sure.

I'm not 100% positive, but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to have a little bend to it... You can check out the pics I posted before where I have the flap laying on my work bench after disassembly.

by **networkcrasher** on Thu Jun 11, 2009 10:17 am

EricC wrote:I have both the Elektra Nino and the Versalab M3 as does networkcrasher.

I cannot speak for Mark (networkcrasher), however I find that at least as far as pulling shots, the Nino is easier and more consistent than the Versalab.

They do indeed taste different to oneanother, and up to now all i would say is that the Nino appears to be smoother tasting, but there again I have not directly compared them as I am really enjoying the Nino, and am only going from memory.

I've done a few A/B comparisons (not blind) and tend to agree that the Nino is a bit more consistent, but requires a little more involvement with the PF during dosing. If you tend to updose, it'll be a little more complicated. The M3 just fills up the PF, but then you have to pull it down and sort of watch yourself to keep the coffee from falling off the PF. I do like how I don't have to do my little "swipe" distribution on the Nino like I have to do on the M3 to fill in the volcano.

My Nino is still breaking in, but I find that it has a tighter, drier puck at the end of the extraction than the M3 does. The tastes are pretty similar to my palate, but don't that as gospel.

by **michaelbenis** on Thu Jun 11, 2009 10:47 am

Thanks for the consolation Mark, but mine was pretty seriously bent with a stress mark in the metal. The grinder must have been extruding dense grinds into compacted grinds for a few seconds before yours truly woke up :oops:

I had to bend it back to get it flattish as shown in your pic.

Cheers

Mike

by **shadowfax** on Sun Jul 12, 2009 10:10 pm

More than a month later than Mark, I finally took my Nino apart to see how cleanly it was around the chute area. It proved a convenient opportunity to snap some pictures that should further illuminate the great design of the grind path on the Nino.

The first thing that's really apparent is how tiny the exit chute is. The photo below makes it difficult to see, but try clicking on the Flickr link in the description and then selecting "All Sizes." You can see one of the sweepers there, and how it passes right up against the opening.

Front Panel Removed (Flickr Link)

The next photo shows the slide parts. The part on the lower right is the interesting one, it's a sheet metal tab that covers the exit to the burr chamber. It causes the coffee to be extruded out of a very fine opening (not unlike the Baratza Vario's), which seems to be the anti-clumping secret. I imagine that the absolute preponderance of metal in the design has a huge part to do with eliminating static.

Slide Parts (Flickr link)

Finally, here's the slide attached to the grinder body, showing how the tab fits.

Attached Slide (Flickr link)

by **EricC** on Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:18 am

Excellent pics Nicholas, love the cut down hopper.

by **shadowfax** on Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:52 am

EricC wrote:Excellent pics Nicholas, love the cut down hopper.

Thanks, I forgot to mention that. I cut it down with a Dremel and evened it out with some serious sanding and sweat. Supposedly in the future it will have a matching figured red narra lid. For now, I've stolen one of my wife's Corningware lids. :lol:

By the way, if you want an easy way to get into the Nino, the Xcelite S99 handle and 4mm allen head fitting are mighty helpful. The L-shaped allen keys are insanely tedious, and even the pocket-knife style allen set is cumbersome. Too much risk of scratching the finish up.

Also worth mentioning--if you take the back half of the body off, there are 2 screws holding the worm drive carrier against the outside of the burr chamber. Take those off and the worm drive is free; you can get the carrier off much more easily.


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