oltimer wrote:So here it is, the update, and changes, but I'll have to wait till end of August before getting my grinder back and making any 1st hand comments.

After spending a small fortune to completely refurbish and update my K30 to be a Vario with the latest firmware I am probably NOT going to attempt this update.

I looks like the entire burr assembly is shaped differently; the mountings where the brass ring attaches have been cast in the new assembly housing and the same seems true of the mounting for the new spout.

So to do a modification to add these new features the entire burr assembly must be replaced. I'll venture to guess that it's cost-prohibitive based on my experience with buying Mahlkoenig parts.

list: CHF 260 ($240)
Not cheap but still less than the loss incurred from reselling the grinder.
I did get a decent discount and free shipping (but then I only got 5% off list for the grinder in the 1st place, instead of the going 20% in the US).

Here's from MAHLKÖNIG USA:

Hi Jeff,

Yes, there will be an update probably sometime in October that will be available. I do not have pricing on this conversion yet. Please check back later on for any updates. Thank you.

Brian Gendron
US Operations Manager

MAHLKÖNIG USA, Inc.

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: jeff michel
Gesendet: Freitag, 7. August 2009 22:51
An: info@mahlkoenig.com
Betreff: Update conversion of K30

Hi Brian,

I heard that there may be an up date for the K30. What would be the
cost and availability to convert mine?

Thanks,

Jeff

oltimer wrote:list: CHF 260 ($240)
Not cheap but still less than the loss incurred from reselling the grinder.
I did get a decent discount and free shipping (but then I only got 5% off list for the grinder in the 1st place, instead of the going 20% in the US).

I would do this. At that price, it would be a no brainer for me. The downsides and upsides of this grinder balance each other for what I paid for it. However if I could get less (fluffy) clumping so the coffee stays in the basket and better accuracy I would be as happy as a Pig in, well, coffee grinds!
Then again, mine can use a calibration adjustment to "zero the burrs" that I would like to be done as well.

I hope the mod is not much more than $300 US. If it is then I might have to pass on it .

K, now I opened up the case and pulled the motor and there is quite a bit of damage in there. Here is a PM I sent to Oltimer (Chris).

"Well Chris,

I got an entirely different reason my grind maybe off. My grinder appears to have been damaged during shipping (Shoot me your email and I will send you some pictures).

It is sort of a flaw in the design. The motor is shock mounted and the rubber grommets and skinny bolts allowed the motor to move at least a .275" (bending the bolt ends) and put a big dent in the capacitor.
If I was to ship one (with this new knowledge) I would try to have the buyer allow me to ship with the motor separate. Or I would pack something around the motor. Funny thing is, it still worked and was not visable to the eye!
I wonder how many have damage that people are unaware of? I will follow up in forum as well..."
[end]

This all happened without any damage to the boxes that the grinder was shipped in. Marks packing job looked great (dbl. boxed, packing, etc...) and I still have the boxes. It is almost like UPS dropped the box off the top of the truck and it landed perfectly flat on the ground. The housing looks perfect.

I am going to start a new thread with photos so people can be aware of what can happen.

The bolts that bent are not a part that can be gotten "easily" from Mahlkonig. The motor is made by RPM in Italy (any Italian connections out there?) and requires that the burr assembly be taken off to get the bolts out (bolts approx. m4 x 160 mm). IMHO, these bolt should be at least an M8 or greater since if the grinder IS dropped in shipping, this is what attaches the motor to the housing and having them bend is a real PITA! It also bent the pins on the lid that are used for adjusting the burrs. Even the Mahlkonig tec has not replaced those and I don't see anyway to do it easily. If the they do not line up once I straighten out the bolts, I may have to replace the lid or some home remedy (drill in new pins?).

More to follow:

All fixed. Bolts bend very easily (M4). Once you figure out the lid it is a breeze to work on. I hear from Oltimer the update is great! I really like this grinder and for me it is the best solution in my kitchen.

Pro's
1. Fast
2. Great grind (even the clumps are fluffy)
3. Design
4. Size (with mini hopper)
5. Ease of maintenance
6. Great company (Ditto to Ditting as well)

Con's (pre-update)
1. Clumping
2. Some mess with grinds outside basket
3. More coffee than I expected at top of spout (static?)
3. Better ship on a pallet
4. Looks like R2D2 (hey, I like it!)

oltimer wrote:Ditting KE 640 update (and K 30 too?) <image>

I spoke to Nancy at Ditting this afternoon. She told me that the updated parts are not yet available to Ditting in the States, and that she expects it to be at least 4 weeks (the arrival of their next container, contents not known...). She expects that they'll be retrofitting their existing stock of grinders when the kits come in, and it will be some time until grinders come from the factory with the new modifications already in place. She didn't know pricing for the kit, but thought (without any confirmation) that the retrofit may be a "warranty" item if one were to purchase a grinder now. Overall, she advised me to wait to purchase until the first wave of retrofit kits arrived. 'Jus keeping the thread alive

Digging this one back up from the graveyard. I've got a CMH, and I'm not thrilled with it. Clumping, annoying hopper design, not sold on the doser aspect, and my baratza vario has better flavor, less clumping and a more user friendly design. I am going to return the CMH and replace it with a K30 or a compak k10 (but I'm having a hard time trying to work around an 18" height requirement) so my question is - is the k30 better/different in the cup compared to the CMH? Are the grinds as fluffy and is the pour as consistent as the CMH?

The one thing I like about the CMH - is that regardless if taste, the pours are super consistent, where as with the vario they're slow at first, then speed up (which causes a lot of naked portafilter micro sprays).

Given your criteria I would take a look at the Versalab M3 before deciding.

I looked at the Versalab, but was turned off by lots of reliability comments. Since it's more expensive, and less reliable, it didn't seem like a good choice for me. Any comments or new data points to the contrary would be appreciated.