Hi there,

I have purchased a second hand Rancilio Rocky and in the last week it has started to misbehave. It seems that bean get stuck and the motor stops turning. The grinders are turning when there is nothing to grind, but as soon as a bean goes in it stops. Initially I kept the on botton pressed in for a few seconds then there was a slight burning smell. I am thinking that the motor is kaput! Is it possible for me to change his part? I've looked on some spare parts websites and cannot find a spare motor...

Back to the blade grinder for now!
Any advice would be muchly appreciated,
Clement

Have you checked the burr set condition? If they are worn out, the beans may jam up and stop the motor.

Thanks for that, great advice. How to I check that though? The burr seems ok when looking at them but no sure what technically to look for...

There could be a problem with the capacitor that is used to create a phase shift so that the rotor is pulled around by a rotating magnetic field. I once bought a 6kw generator for US$100 from a manufacturer's outlet. I discovered it did not work, but its only problem was it lacked phase shift capacitors. (Cost US$12). The generator cost $600 normally! Bad capacitors in motors will result either in motors that will not start or that are very weak.

I have tried testing the motor strength. When in is running without the top container, I tried stoping it by pressing on the central screw but it doesn't stop. To me that indicates that perhaps it is not so weak and that there my be another issue with it, but it may be a too rudimentary way to test that...

Just because burrs look good, doesn't mean they are good. New burrs are fairly inexpensive for most grinders.