HG-1 takes 200 turns... normal? - Page 3

Grinders are one of the keys to exceptional espresso. Discuss them here.
hvjackson (original poster)
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#21: Post by hvjackson (original poster) »

Thanks to everyone for your feedback! Instead of replying to a bunch of posts I will include some responses here:
  • I have disassembled and cleaned the burrs several times and they appear in good shape. The grinder turns smoothly and I don't see any wobble or uneven gaps. Nothing stuck, blocking the exit, etc.
  • Grinding is VERY easy, usually I can even do it one-handed. apparently that is abnormal (?).
  • Various people (and LWW themselves) have suggested that RDT may help or hurt. I have tried both ways with no difference. There does not seem to be excessive moisture in the burrs
  • I aim for a shot pull time of 25 seconds. As you all probably know it is a constant game of grinder adjustment to keep it there but it is usually pretty close. (I am not grinding fine enough to choke my machine or anything like that). when "dialed in" the grinder actually works very well for espresso.
Here is a photo of the grounds distribution when used without the lower funnel. It appears pretty uniform to me. Also to my eye the gap between the upper and lower burrs is uniform.


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TomC
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#22: Post by TomC »

This is all rather puzzling. No amount of brushing, scrubbing, cleaning, etc is going to change how the burrs behave. And you have a significant outlier from what everyone else is experiencing. My gut inclination would be to ask if the beans happened to be the largest Pacamaras even roasted, because it seems like they're just rolling around on top of the burrs. I haven't watched your videos yet, however.
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TomC
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#23: Post by TomC »

And I just watched your video. Looks like pretty close to 165 revolutions. Which even with a brand new grinder, is at least 100 too many.

Can you remove your burrs and take some close up photos of them? The more, the better.
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dominico
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#24: Post by dominico »

I'm looking at the top bearing in the video, is that amount of wobble normal for an HG1?

If brushing down the burrs didn't help them grab any then my only other guess would be that the burrs are actually at a setting which puts them very close together making it difficult for the beans to feed, but because they are misaligned you are getting a "normal" espresso flow rate from your grinds.
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TomC
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#25: Post by TomC replying to dominico »


Yeah, the top cap nut thing isn't dead center to the shaft, that's normal. I've seen others wobble way worse, but it bears no relation to the shaft.

I swear you could probably wax a normal set of burrs and still get the job done in less than 60 turns. No offense to OP, but my initial question was what direction he was rotating the crank arm :oops:
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chipman
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#26: Post by chipman »

Watching the video you load the beans and push them all into the burrs at once. Have you tried just sliding the beans into the funnel and let them slide in by gravity? I think the beans may be loaded so tight in the chamber that they get jammed together and can't fall into the burrs. Just a thought.

As a test you may want to try loading a a portion of the beans, grind, keeping track of the amount of cranks until your finished with your 18gm dose. See if that makes a diference in the total amount of revs you have to turn.

Katoci
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#27: Post by Katoci »

Did you try with just one single type of coffee? If not, try something else. I had the same issue, when my doughter put some extra water on my beans? (I know you tried it without rdt, but those beans could get some extra moisture anywhere)

hvjackson (original poster)
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#28: Post by hvjackson (original poster) »

chipman wrote:Watching the video you load the beans and push them all into the burrs at once. Have you tried just sliding the beans into the funnel and let them slide in by gravity? I think the beans may be loaded so tight in the chamber that they get jammed together and can't fall into the burrs. Just a thought.
I can see how it might look like that from the video but I was just nudging them down the funnel, not jamming them in. I really don't think the beans were packed in at all, there was plenty of room for them to move around. Also if the problem were with packing I would expect the grinding to speed up a lot towards the end, which it does not.

For those interested, I have attached photos of the burrs. To my eye they appear to be in good condition (free of obvious asymmetry and damage). Since I don't have anything else to compare them to, I can't comment on the smoothness of the surfaces or sharpness of the edges.

I have leaned on Lyn Weber support a little more and they asked me to send the burrs back to them for inspection and testing, which I have done. So the grinder will be out of service for a week or so. I will report back whatever they find (if anything). Thanks to everyone for your ideas and feedback.




chipman
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#29: Post by chipman »

This is a real mystery. Can't wait to hear the reason and final solution.

bmb
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#30: Post by bmb »

It's too much closed, how many turns from burrs completely blocked ? For espresso should be 1 to 1 1/2 ,,,,