Lurker just finally signed up to ask this question: I have a Baratza Preciso grinder that I bought a little under 3 months ago. This morning when grinding for my second espresso of the morning, it seized--high pitch whine, bottom burr not turning.

I took it apart and cleaned everything out, and after that it worked while empty, but as soon as I dropped a couple test beans in it seized again.

Baratza troubleshooting pages led me to conclude the gear is stripped. Customer service told me, "This generally occurs when a rock fragment or unroasted bean gets caught between the burrs, creating excessive torque by the motor on the drive gear. This torque results in a tooth sheared off the drive gear." They aren't fighting that it's a warranty issue and are sending out a new unit (thank god for companies with excellent customer service policies), so that part's not an issue, but it does leave me with some questions.

How common is this, and how worried do I need to be about it happening again? I weigh out my beans for each shot, so I do get a pretty good chance to look at them, and I didn't see any obvious foreign matter. I didn't see anything in the bits that I dumped out cleaning it after it seized, either. Would an unroasted bean be obvious? I'm not even sure what I'm looking for there. Green?

Is it any indictment of the grinder that something so easily missed destroyed it, especially when it's still new, or is that just one of those things that could happen to anyone? For that matter, should it lead to any concerns about the roaster? These were Deep Cello Black Tie beans, a respectable operation I think, but it was my first time with them.

The gear is probably a unit that fails to save the much more expensive burrs, motor and electronics from damage.

Sorry to hear it. For what it's worth, I've never had a problem with any of the Deep Cello coffees I've tried.

wow, what a coincidence, I have a Preciso that is just under 3 months old too and experienced this exact issue today

I just emailed Baratza about it...I can tell you there wasn't a rock or green bean that went into the hopper though.

Thank goodness for the hario mini hand grinder I have since I will be out of commission on the preciso for a while...it's just a matter of a few test shots to get her dialed in.

wow, what a coincidence, I have a Preciso that is just under 3 months old too and experienced this exact issue today

This is not encouraging to hear

Saying the part's "designed to fail" to save more expensive parts sounds nice and all, but without knowing why it failed doesn't really help--if it's really going to keep breaking I'd need to get rid of it either way, at least once the warranty period is over. It really bugs me that I didn't find any sort of rock, either going in or coming out. If I could point to something definite like a rock I'd say, "well, coffee's a natural product, this kind of thing can happen, my bad for not catching it I guess..." I'd feel better. But this just feels like normal use and something I don't have any control over preventing happening again. Especially now that someone else is saying they had the exact same experience.

It doesn't help that it's going into the weekend and I have no spare grinder, so who knows how long I'm going to be uncaffeinated. *shakes*

there probably wasn't a rock if you didn't find one...there wasn't in my case...in addition, the exact contents went through the hand grinder without a hitch

that being said, I haven't seen a lot of complaints about this so it might not be a wide spread problem

also, do yourself a favor and buy a little hand grinder for emergencies (and/or travel)...the good ones are about $35 and they generally have a very nice grind...that's cheap insurance

p.s. Baratza support has been excellent in my experience so you can be glad for that aspect

do yourself a favor and buy a little hand grinder for emergencies (and/or travel)...the good ones are about $35 and they generally have a very nice grind

For espresso, though?

yes, the hario mini I have works great for espresso...in fact, I had to dial it up because my first grind was too fine

my replacement is on the way...

it's interesting that I read somewhere else that it is a known problem that has been corrected...interestingly enough the person writing about that had one that was about 3 months old as well...it may have been a bad mfg. run or something (that has now been corrected)

I guess we will see when our new grinders arrive.

I had the exact same problem at about 5 months. There definitely was not a rock or green been in mine, and I was using a commercial roaster's beans. Baratza promptly sent me a replacement, and I agree their customer service is top notch. I've had the replacement for a few months now, and so far so good, but I'm super paranoid now. I'm very careful, and I just hope it doesn't happen again. I have to agree that my hand grinder saved me, and was even able to properly grind the beans that led to the stripped gear in the Preciso.

I wish I knew what to do to prevent this from happening. It seems darker roasted beans are safer, but that's not my first choice.