I have just finished cleaning my mazzer mini and have a question about the safety limiting screws on the collar.

I have found the point where the burrs touch, and have backed off from there. On my grinder it reads halfway betwwen the 0 and 1 on the chrome collar. Because of the placement of the holes for the safety screws on the chrome collar, if I screw all the way in the safety limiting screws to prevent the grinder from being adjusted so tightly that the burrs touch, the finest grind adjustment I can get is about two "ticks" lower than 2 [i.e., 1.8]. Maybe this will be good enough after I have cleaned the burrs, but one of the reasons I cleaned the grinder was that I was not getting the performance I wanted, and I sometimes wanted a grind to the "off limits," or lower side, of the safety limiter screw.

Here are my questions:

1. Am I doing this correctly? Or is there a way to screw in the upper burrs and chrome collar so I can get closer to the point where the burrs touch and still use (i.e., get the benefit of) the safety limiting screws? (I don't see how. The holes in the chrome collar "are where they are>"

2. Is it necessary to actually screw the safety limiting screws all the way in? (Or to put it another way, does eveyone do so to protect their investment in the burrs, or do some people who want a finer grind than allowed by the safety limiting screw just loosen the screw, thereby freeing the collar to turn as close as they desire?

3. Is the real problem likely here that the safety limiting screws are fine, and that if I am trying to get a grind that extra fine (by grinding so close to the point where the burrs are close to touching), the problem is with my dosing and extraction technique, and I sholdln't even be trying to overcome the limitations of the safety limiting screws?

Thanks

Andy

I would suggest simply not using the screw. Or, if you need to go finer on some occasions, loosen it then.

Thanks. But it think that the other one is redundant of the same "safety position." In other words, tightening it leaves you the same limitations as the first - no more and no less. Do you think I have this wrong?

Andy

But it think that the other one is redundant of the same "safety position"

It'll be a half thread different.

Or half turn, or 180 degrees, etc.

I'm going to preface this with one thing: I use my Super Jolly to grind for Aeropress coffee right now, because I don't have an espresso machine. I can't tell you exactly what I do because I don't grind in the finer range.

But I think I can help some...

From what I've read, I don't think that the collar's numbers directly correspond with a specific thread alignment on every grinder, i.e., you might have an unlucky problem that others don't. I believe that's why Mazzer puts the set point sticker in slightly different places on different grinders.

1. I bet you are doing it correctly. I can imagine a range of collar rotation on my grinder that would render the screw impractical.

2. I would refer to this thread in which someone virtually "slammed" their burrs together with the motor running and no beans. I think it was pretty much decided that the flat, parallel section on the rim of the burrs would be the only contact point, and damage was unlikely. Carrying that thought further, I don't see much risk in minor shot adjustments in a "close to burr touching" range.

Also, the collar is really pretty stiff on my Super Jolly. I think that accidental tightening is a minor concern - I only tightened my safety adjustment screw down so that I wouldn't lose it. Just my $0.02

3. This is where I am completely going on what I have read... According to a review of the Mazzer Mini by Mark Prince on CoffeeGeek, he described the difference in rotation from his zero point to a ristretto shot as rotating 1 to 1.5 hours worth on a clock face. He described the difference between the zero point and a normal shot as 2 hours worth. So by my mental math, you don't seem to be grinding too fine necessarily. I wouldn't blame your technique for pour times yet, unless you are getting channeling that extremely quickens the shot time.

I would say the quickest check would be to see how close you are grinding to the sticker with the set point. It's a rough guideline.

I hope that helps