After two years of steady use I felt it was time to replace the burrs in my Rocky. I have the new parts but I am not sure how to remove the lower burr. One article on cleaning the Rocky indicated that you need "special tools". Can anyone offer any advice before I start.
Thanks, JKT

JKT wrote:After two years of steady use I felt it was time to replace the burrs in my Rocky. I have the new parts but I am not sure how to remove the lower burr. One article on cleaning the Rocky indicated that you need "special tools". Can anyone offer any advice before I start.
Thanks, JKT

The lower burr is held in place by three flathead screws. Only special tool I've needed is to clean out the screw head well and use a tight fitting screw driver. You'll likely need considerable downward pressure with the screwdriver while simultaneously applying force to break the screw loose, being careful not to strip the screw head. FWIW I've replaced my Rocky's burrs 3 times in 4&1/2 years and never needed some special tool.

miKe mcKoffee wrote: FWIW I've replaced my Rocky's burrs 3 times in 4&1/2 years and never needed some special tool.

Wow 3 x in 4.5 years, that is some serious grinding!

Bob

CoffeeBeau wrote:Wow 3 x in 4.5 years...

Sounds about right for Rocky burrs. I recall that they're rated around 75 pounds (sorry, not sure where I read it). So (3 * 75) / 4.5 = 50 pounds per year, or slightly less than a pound a week. Back to the original question, I find it easier to lightly wedge a flat screwdriver blade between the bottom burr and the housing to prevent it from spinning, then turn the retaining screws with the other hand. Perhaps needless to say, remember to unplug the grinder!

HB wrote:Sounds about right for Rocky burrs. I recall that they're rated around 75 pounds (sorry, not sure where I read it). So (3 * 75) / 4.5 = 50 pounds per year, or slightly less than a pound a week.

Grind more than that a week but also it's just two weeks ago third replacement set plus the original set for 4 sets in 4&1/2 years. FWIW IIRC Rocky burrs are rated more like 200#, but you will not get 200# of quality grinding from them. A very noticable improvement in grind quality is seen changing at 75 to 100#. Manufacturers are overly optimistic when it comes to burr life, or have much lower standards than me!

Thank you for the tips, I was able to change the blades with no problem whatsoever. I did notice that my zero point changed significantly (from +4 to about -12), which I assume is just the machining tolerance in the overall burr thickness. I also did the pressure mod to my Silvia last night so I'm off in search of the "perfect naked extraction" .

HB wrote:Sounds about right for Rocky burrs. I recall that they're rated around 75 pounds (sorry, not sure where I read it). So (3 * 75) / 4.5 = 50 pounds per year, or slightly less than a pound a week. Back to the original question, I find it easier to lightly wedge a flat screwdriver blade between the bottom burr and the housing to prevent it from spinning, then turn the retaining screws with the other hand. Perhaps needless to say, remember to unplug the grinder!

Oh, I guess it is time to consider changing out my burrs. Good thing there is such a fine coffee/espresso resourse out here.

Bob

Bringing up an oldish thread, but I have just tried to replace the burrs in my Rocky and I no longer can actually find a zero point...the machine won't screw down enough for the burrs to touch. I measured the old burrs and the new burrs with my caliper, and found that the new ones are about 0.25mm shorter than the old ones. Would a 0.5mm total difference be enough for me to no longer have a zero? Tightened all the way down, I can't get a fine enough grind for espresso. Chris at ChrisCoffee (where I ordered the burrs) agreed with my musing that I must have done something wrong, but was not sympathetic and had no suggestions.

I suppose I could try a shim of some sort.

jtavan wrote:Bringing up an oldish thread, but I have just tried to replace the burrs in my Rocky and I no longer can actually find a zero point...the machine won't screw down enough for the burrs to touch. I measured the old burrs and the new burrs with my caliper, and found that the new ones are about 0.25mm shorter than the old ones. Would a 0.5mm total difference be enough for me to no longer have a zero? Tightened all the way down, I can't get a fine enough grind for espresso. Chris at ChrisCoffee (where I ordered the burrs) agreed with my musing that I must have done something wrong, but was not sympathetic and had no suggestions.

I suppose I could try a shim of some sort.

Rocky replacement burr's vary greatly. (At least my four different sets have.) My current set's "zero" is 18. You may just need to put the hopper on differently so the stop pin allows finding true zero, as in rotated to the next screw alignment one direction or the other. I had to with this set. This set is now 6 months old so will be replaced within the next 6 months and who knows what my zero will be next time! It's been zero, -2, +12 and now +18.

miKe mcKoffee wrote:You may just need to put the hopper on differently so the stop pin allows finding true zero

The problem here is that the burrset cannot be rotated tight enough to find zero at all, even without attaching the hopper. Just cranking it all the way down, the bottom burrs can still rotate freely.