User Experience: Helor 101 Hand Grinder - Page 20

#191: Post by **wachuko** » March 15th, 2017, 4:56 pm

Bob_McBob wrote:I'm aware of the disassembly video, but it omits important detailed information for reassembly. Things like how tight the handle should be, how to centre the inner and outer burrs, how to deal with the two keys and prevent the outer burr key from flopping around, and so on. This is particularly important for the "contemporary" burrs which have a smaller outer diameter than the "conventional" burrs and are very loose in the seat.

I get it now.

Bob_McBob wrote:Everyone seems to be concerned about lubricant leaking from standard bearings, and indeed this is one of the selling points Helor uses for the ceramic bearing upgrade in China. I've seen forum posts from people who upgraded the bearings and apparently noticed an immediate improvement in the taste of their coffee. Meanwhile there are numerous hand grinders on the market with exposed conventional bearings that don't leak lubricant all over the coffee. I'm not sure why the Helor 101 is somehow the exception.

I ordered both the ceramic units (eBay) and the hybrid units (Boynton Beach, FL)... neither one has any type of lubricant. Will report back how they compare.

#192: Post by **Bob_McBob** » March 15th, 2017, 5:17 pm

maigre wrote:Why would the bearings change the flavor of the coffee in this case? Smoother revolution of the shaft during the grind?

The theory is that somehow lubricants from conventional bearings will contaminate the ground coffee and make it taste bad. Helor also touts the ability to wash the grinder under running water if you are using ceramic bearings and the stainless "conventional" burrs. It's basically just marketing to get people to upgrade to the more expensive bearings. They decided to only offer the ceramic bearings in the western market.

#193: Post by **wachuko** » March 15th, 2017, 5:19 pm

maigre wrote:That's the bearing that strikes me as having its donut hole diameter too wide for the shaft. Compare it to the stock bearings...

The photo is not representative of the actual bearing

. You have to go by the dimensions.

#194: Post by **maigre** » March 15th, 2017, 5:31 pm

wachuko wrote:The photo is not representative of the actual bearing . You have to go by the dimensions.

Got it. Thanks.

wachuko wrote:Will report back how they compare.

Please do that.

#195: Post by **ira** » March 15th, 2017, 10:57 pm

Bob_McBob wrote:Meanwhile there are numerous hand grinders on the market with exposed conventional bearings that don't leak lubricant all over the coffee. I'm not sure why the Helor 101 is somehow the exception.

I thought most of them use bronze bushings. This is the only grinder, manual or electric, I remember seeing with ball bearings in the grind path. While playing around designing a grinder long ago I spent a lot of time making sure that grease from the bearings could not contaminate the ground coffee and that a leak would be made apparent before the grease could ever get near the coffee.

Ira

#196: Post by **justgrindit** » March 15th, 2017, 11:39 pm

Bob_McBob wrote:I've seen forum posts from people who upgraded the bearings and apparently noticed an immediate improvement in the taste of their coffee.

As in they upgraded to ceramic bearings and they get a better grind?
<EDIT> Sorry, I missed the answer to a similar question above.

Now after seeing the issues that pop up with the bearings I'm glad purchased a spare set when I ordered my Helor.

#197: Post by **Bob_McBob** » March 15th, 2017, 11:55 pm

OE uses Oilite bearings, but plenty of high-end hand grinders like the Feldgrind, Kinu, Comandante, and Anonymous use standard bearings. The Feldgrind has almost exactly the same configuration as the Helor except the upper bearing is even more exposed. On Taobao you can order the Helor 101 with either type of bearings, but they strongly push the ceramic upgrade.

#198: Post by **wachuko** » March 20th, 2017, 3:07 pm

These came in... hybrid.. stainless steel race with ceramic balls. Still waiting on the full ceramic units from eBay.

#199: Post by **max** » March 20th, 2017, 3:55 pm

wachuko wrote:These came in... hybrid.. stainless steel race with ceramic balls. Still waiting on the full ceramic units from eBay.

<image>

Such a teaser to post them without comments

March 20th, 2017, 4:20 pm

Sorry... just wanted to make sure I shared the photos... Some folks wanted to make sure, size wise, it was the same one. I took the grinder apart to compare and share more photos. These hybrid are as smooth as the full ceramic units.

If anything happens with mine I will have these as spare as well as an additional ceramic set.

One more...