I picked up a used K30 ES (older grind chamber K30ES / 12 Nr 13776). DC13802 / SC 5024

I am using new Alex Duetto 2, Metropolis Redline beans. I quickly got nice shots with the recommendations on the bag using 21g and a triple basket on a naked portafilter. Grind setting was 1-1.5. Grind time was 5.3s.

I contacted Brian @ Mahlkonig to see the cost of new burrs, chamber upgrade, grinder replacement (all things I have seen posted online)

He replied back and suggested a new burr set. I called him, and I purchased a new burr set and installed it Monday.

I installed per the nice instructions on the Ditting site. Really simple, easy, straight forward. I spent a lot of time making sure I got the zero adjusted just right, hoping I might end up with more/higher numbered settings to choose from.

Instead, I ended up with less. I am now grinding between 0.5 and 1.0 for my espresso.

Grind time did shorten considerably with the new burr set, now only 4.3 seconds to get 21g.

Unfortunately, I have not got as good tasting shots as I did with the old burr set yet.

I have contacted Brian via email just 3 days ago, but he has not sent me a reply yet. It is approaching the weekend. I thought I would ask the HB folks for thoughts and insights.

I took a quick, poor video with my GoPro to show my zero setting.



I am not sure what I am doing/ did wrong.

I have the same issue. Brand new K30 Vario, grinding at around the 0.5-1 setting for normal 18g shots. I ran through the burr zero calibration instructions (which were very confusing because my grinder has flat screws, not hex screws), and ended up at exactly the same setting as before.

wsurfn wrote:I... Grind setting was 1-1.5. Grind time was 5.3s.

... I am now grinding between 0.5 and 1.0 for my espresso.

This is the same spacing 1.5 less 1.0 = 0.5
____________________ 1.0 less 0.5 = 0.5

The difference is where zero is on the slider vs where the burrs touch. I played around with mine for a while where the burrs touched at 5 on the dial. I liked it there since it is right in the middle. Thread the upper burr off - when the last thread no longer touches and it lifts off make a mark with tape or what ever is handy. Turn the upper burr in the air clockwise to get closer to have the burrs touch at a higher number or counter clockwise to have them touch at a lower number.

Think of turning a flat head screw with the intention of having the groove in the head laying horizontal when tightened. If you screw it in and it is vertical then you would take it out and try again after turning the screw 90 degrees.

Chris:

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I do feel better knowing that I am not the only one.

I got a fresh bag of beans today and got a pretty nice shot on setting 1.

I saw this on a search of this forum, but I cannot read German...

by blu on Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:13 pm

hello,
in germany are existing mahlkoenig k30's that can't grind fine enough (depends on weather ?). there are members of the german forum who weren't satisfied with the mahlkoenig support - as far as I know the problem isn't fixed until now (grinder has to be adjusted on 0 or 0,5).

http://www.kaffee-netz.de/muehlen...30-ein-mythos.html

cari saluti blu

Eric:

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I thought about this, and wondered if people did this to ensure they got the most range possible at the low (fine) end. I guess you just have to be sure you don't accidentally go to a low numbered setting that cause the burrs to touch.

I think I will consider doing this as well.

I saw a demo for the grinder on YouTube here...


This is the company (Mahlkoenig USA) saying espresso grinding happens between 1-4 (not 1-1.5 or 3.5-4.0).

Maybe my beans only have a 0.5 range...

I figure if you can get down to burr chirp then if everything else is right it will make dust that will choke an espresso machine.

FYI on the steps - next time you take off the top you will see a bolted in plate with teeth to mark the steps. Even without this track the top will move with the slider and the burr will move thanks to the three pins that sit in the tracks surrounding the upper burr. The machine becomes stepless if the spring loaded lever for moving the lid and adjusting the grind cannot move into one of the indentations on the outer track. On mine it will sit where it stops - probably it is held in place by the weight of the cover and a little bit of friction.

At the present time I'm also using Redline and my setting is right at 1.6, with Dolce it was 1.4.

wsurfn:

I don't know if you are more worried about the cup quality or what the grinder setting is reading, and I don't have a K30, so I can't comment on that.

That being said, on the several Mazzer's that I have replaced the burrs in, the first 5lbs or so, end up being very inconsistent grind wise, leading to inconsistent shots. Some people call it Burr seasoning, and some people claim it needs more like 20lbs of beans before the burrs get consistent.

This may be why you are not tasting as good of shots.

I want to thank everybody for taking the time to respond (feel free to continue...)

This forum (and searching coffeegeek's too) has been really helpful. I almost gave up on trying to make decent espresso a little over 2 years ago. I had not realized what it took to create it. The information here made my, seemingly daring and painful at the time, investment payoff. I had finally pulled the trigger on a nice machine and grinder (Silvia, later PID'd, and Rocky) and learned how to use it. After 2 years of daily success, I decided to invest more into my addiction. Basically, put all my chips in, and now I have my new Duetto2 and used K30ES. It is exciting. The ceiling, ease, and joy have all been raised. But, it definitely has not been simply plug and play. That said, through this forum, I have been able to solve almost all my small issues and I am on a new higher road. Thanks everybody for the support.

I am still experimenting with my setup. I have some personal observations/and followup questions I would like to post in the near future once I have a little time with it. I have noticed some change over time with the new burr set.

Thanks again for posting.