I am on the hunt for a decent grinder on a budget. I thought it may be an idea to phone round local cafés, bars and restaurants to see whether they might have any old equipment lying about that they want to get rid of... Looks like it may have paid off in a big way. I have a dilemma, though.

I went to a local bar today to speak the boss. He says he has a grinder he doesn't need and also a La Pavoni Zip that needs repairing. His deal is: if I can repair the La Pavoni then I get his unwanted grinder for free!

The dilemma? I am a complete newbie to coffee, hence needing a grinder. I have read endless hours of stuff online (it's becoming an obsession as I'm sure a lot of you will appreciate) so I'm not a fool. The fact I don't even own a grinder (except my small Gaggia MM) will tell you I obviously don't know a thing about repairing them. From what the boss says it's a case of jammed burrs.

I need some very honest advice: What could go wrong with me attempting to fix this grinder and do you think I could succeed?

Thanks all.

Grinders are basically pretty simple devices.

What's wrong the the Zip?

It's hard to answer your question without knowing what's wrong.

Also kind of curious to know what you're getting in return?

Randy

I'm not sure yet, I should hopefully be going to pick it up tomorrow evening. I think it's just a build up of oils etc. causing the burrs to not work. I'm not sure yet what the unwanted machine is but I can't wait to find out. Do you think I should invest in something like Urnex Grindz? I'm going to own a grinder sooner or later so I'll need it eventually anyway...

I agree they seem simple enough it's just that I don't want to harm it in any way. It's quite crazy really, he doesn't know me from Adam and yet he's going to let me take it away to try and repair.

I'll post back, maybe with photos, when I get it.

Good luck! There's quite a few threads that offer cleanup suggestions, e.g.:

• Deep cleaning of very dirty grinder
• Grinder Adjustment Stuck
• Need tips to unlock stuck adjustment of used grinder
• Really cleaning an old grinder

I found these by searching on "dirty grinder" and "cleaning used grinder". See forum search tips for other tricks.