After I ground some exceedingly hard beans recently, Ive become paranoid I somehow upset the balance of my pharos. Does this grind look to be too large to anyone other than me? Im slightly over 1/8th turn from where burrs touch enough to stop their spinning when the handle is spun freely, no burr rub at this setting. Shots run ~30 seconds and taste fine.

The Pharos alignment CAN get knocked out of whack by grinding hard beans, which is why I eventually settled on aligning it with the small bolts on the outer burr tight rather than loose like Doug sets them up, and using the voodoo daddy aluminum bolt covers to improve stability.

That said, your statement that "shots flow in 30 seconds and taste fine" is all that really matters. Until that's no longer true, I wouldn't worry about it.

If it tastes fine I wouldn't worry to much. The great thing about the Pharos is it can be physically "reset" quite easily. Following OE's tech update 5 works great, and update 4 can be used to go above and beyond. A required YMMV because am sure different equipment and environments are going have their influence, but a 1/8 turn from "zero" would guarantee a choke out for me.

1/8th of a turn sounds good to me. It can be a challenge to get better than that anyhow.

pShoe wrote: <snip> A required YMMV because am sure different equipment and environments are going have their influence, but a 1/8 turn from "zero" would guarantee a choke out for me.

Same here. Even for light roasts I'm still at 1/2+ turn out from zero. But if the shoe fits...

For hard beans in the Pharos, you can save yourself some injury if you grind coarser and dose heavier.

I decided I wouldnt worry about it till shots are spewing all over the place. Id read in the owners thread that 1/8 without rub is pretty good anyway. I adjusted the grind a little and Ill see how it performs in the morning.

1/8 turn with no rub is indeed pretty darn good. Although, the fact that you NEED 1/8 could indicate an alignment issue in itself. Either that or you are doing a particularly challenging coffee, or should be dosing more.

If the Pharos is misaligned you can actually see it. Pick it up by the crank, so gravity pulls the burrs together as close as they go. Now turn the body of the pharos (holding the crank still) and observe the gap between the adjuster nut and the bearing. If its highly misaligned you can see this gap growing and shrinking as it rotates.

Now, even if it is misaligned, like I said before until its preventing you from making good coffee, don't sweat it.

Nate42 wrote:If the Pharos is misaligned you can actually see it. Pick it up by the crank, so gravity pulls the burrs together as close as they go. Now turn the body of the pharos (holding the crank still) and observe the gap between the adjuster nut and the bearing. If its highly misaligned you can see this gap growing and shrinking as it rotates.

I checked it in this way, it is indeed well out of alignment. Time to read up on re-aligning a voodoo Pharos.

Half a turn is for tight ristretto, for normal double espressos a little less than 3/4 turn.