Malhkonig K30 Vario, can't adjust grind.

Grinders are one of the keys to exceptional espresso. Discuss them here.
raven
Posts: 9
Joined: 17 years ago

#1: Post by raven »

Hi
I just bough a Mahlkoenig K30 Vario on Prima Coffee, well actually 3 months ago but was out of the country and all in all couldn't really set it up until now. Anyways I just opened the box and everything was great, I read the manual, followed the instructions and prepared myself for calibrating the grind for my La Marzocco GS3. Everything was going great until I noticed the grind didn't change no matter what setting it had, I went to coarsest, to finest and I had the exact same performance on my GS3. I looked at the coffee and indeed it felt the same on both settings.

I proceeded to read the manual for the recalibration instructions. Surprisingly I didn't understand a thing it said, "I need an adjusting handle? Wheres the service kit?". I searched the internet only to find out the manual is out of date. Not only that, but its been out of date since 2011 according to a post on this forum (Mahlkonig K30 Vario zero adjustment). But that is not why I'm writing.

I removed the top cover following the instructions to recalibrate the grinder according to the post I found. I noticed the red marks for factory settings and that was exactly where the grinder was set, so proceeded to play outside those marks. I went a bit tighter and heard the wheezing noise you get when the burrs are too close, then started to calibrate on trial and error(you can't close the lid on point 0 only on the coarsest setting) until I stopped hearing the wheezing sound on point 0, that brought me back to the factory settings which is weird. So went back to try and grind again but I got the exact same result. The coarsest setting is exactly the same as the finest setting. I searched on the web and found nothing like this at all. I inspected the burrs and they are in fact moving separately, so this doesn't make much sense to me.

The machine was tested on the factory (I noticed brown debris on it when I opened it), but I suspect nobody really tested the variations on the grinding.

So, what do I do next? Do you have any idea of what might be the problem with it? I contacted Mahlkoning already and I'm waiting for their reply too.

Thanks for your help

malling
Posts: 2900
Joined: 13 years ago

#2: Post by malling »

Are the two small Allen hex keys underneath the hopper tighten or missing, if these are missing you Will have the problem you describe.

The upper burrs should not move an inch.

Please check if the fine adjustmeant mechanisme is broken.

raven (original poster)
Posts: 9
Joined: 17 years ago

#3: Post by raven (original poster) »

I don't see any Allen hex keys underneath the hopper so I suppose they are missing. Where are they supposed to go?

I don't think anything is broken. I've attached pictures.



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cuppajoe
Posts: 1643
Joined: 11 years ago

#4: Post by cuppajoe »

I'd contact the folks at Prima before messing with it further. I would hope it was still under warranty.
David - LMWDP 448

My coffee wasn't strong enough to defend itself - Tom Waits

raven (original poster)
Posts: 9
Joined: 17 years ago

#5: Post by raven (original poster) »

It is still under warranty. This doesn't, however, seem like the problem I should send it back for, I'm sure there is a simple solution to this. The allen keys sound like a viable one, and one I can solve myself. Anyways the warranty is under malhkonig themselves, prima coffee doesn't even stock them. The machine was shipped directly from malhkonig USA and I already contacted them, I suppose I'll get an answer from them soon too.

Thanks for your help

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hankua
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Joined: 14 years ago

#6: Post by hankua »

Good news is if you can't resolve the problem; Mahlkonig will probably send you a new one and issue a call tag for the problem grinder. At least that's what they did for me. :D

Flipper
Posts: 41
Joined: 11 years ago

#7: Post by Flipper »

Hey,

are u missing coarse results on the grinder? The grinder is set on the finest possible (left red mark is just next to the touching point).
With brand-new grinders it is possible that the machine seemingly produces only very fine grinds. It also depends on the coffees you use.
Don't forget, this is really designed as an espresso grinder, so the particle sizes u will get are really not very coarse...
The two pins underneath the lid are the connection to the grinding chamber. If you loosen the two allen screws within the spout entrance entirely this connection lid/grinding chamber will be lost. Then u will be able to turn the lid without changing any grinding size. From the pics this can be ruled out I reckon. Btw, u need this for opening the grinder when the chamber is blocked (e.g. foreign object)...
Have you tried to extract some coffee on the GS3 ? If the grinder is too fine generally you need to recalibrate it by turning the toothed rim (on the open in-build grinder) to the right for e.g. 3-5 teeth...
It is indeed possible that u don't "feel" the difference but the size is still changing...

contraflow88
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#8: Post by contraflow88 »

I know this comment may not contribute to the solution of the problem you are encountering however I just wanted say that this grinder very cool to look at and the components are very precisely engineered and its quiet surprisingly! I hope it all works out, you may begin about your business now! :D

raven (original poster)
Posts: 9
Joined: 17 years ago

#9: Post by raven (original poster) »

It is contraflow88, I just hope we get it fixed.

Hi Flipper, I'm actually missing fine results. I've tried grinding on the finest possible setting, point 0, 18gr for a double shot and my GS3 spits the 2 ounces I've got configured for the double shot in 9 seconds. I can't get anything better than that.

Now I know which allen keys where mentioned before, but they are there. I know the adjustment disc is changing something it's just not making any difference. I get the same result in point 0 and point 10, 12 seconds on my GS3 (well 9, cause I've got a 3 second pre-infusion programmed). If I where getting the times I needed I wouldn't really worry about the coarser setting but I'm not :(

Guess this wasn't an easy fix as I thought. I'll wait for Malhkonig response.

Thanks for all your help guys.

frank828
Posts: 302
Joined: 12 years ago

#10: Post by frank828 replying to raven »


make it wheeze at point 0. normally, you would never be grinding espresso at or near 0. I'm typically near the 3 mark after dialing-in. Going up or down a full number is usually as far as i need to ever adjust.

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