+1 on opening up the grinder and using a brush once in a while.

Stick your nose in the empty hopper. Does it smell funny? Time to clean

Londonplug wrote:I am not an expert in any way but after a week or two my grinder starts to become inconsistant, and then gets to the stage where the grind has to be retightend for every shot so i do have to clean it , I do not actualy see what the Grindz cleaner is doing as it flys through in hardly a second so i take the top burr out scrape and brush both the burrs stick the hoover in and then reasemnble.Is this the normal time for the grinder to need cleaning?? and is manual cleaning the best way to do it?
I have heard of using rice but the only advantage i can see ove rthe likes of Grindz is the abillty to actualy run a decent enough amount through the grider to seem like it is cleaning it and at an afordable cost

Sounds like it's going wrong quite fast, but I'd be more worried about having to tighten it after every shot.

The only reasons I can quickly think of are a loose mechanism that's opening itself while you grind or some static buildup.

You'd think that if the mechanism was loose the same would happen within the first few weeks, unless you have a wide enough sweet spot not to notice -- or if some buildup affects it.

If the burrs are really worn, they might work in the beginning but buildup could dull some of that last edge it has. Having to work hard with dull blades would also help the machine to loosen itself.

Anyone have better guesses?


I can't think of anything better than manual cleaning. Using Grindz or something pretty much just does the same thing in a mechanical sense anyway. I guess a cloth or a clean brush could remove or soak up oils efficiently enough too. But, I'm no expert... just look at my original post :p

I don't clean my grinders very often, but I've used non-instant rice for over 20 years without a problem. I finally bought some Grindz some time back, and it doesn't seem to do any different of a job.

JohnB. wrote:Running beans through a dirty grinder isn't going to remove rancid coffee oils or the old decayed grounds packed in there. Ever clean up one of the Starbuck's Mazzers that have been selling on Ebay & Craig's list the past few years? I open the burr chamber & clean out my K10 at least once a month. Based on my own experience running Grindz/rice/ect through the burr chamber is a waste of time & only contributes to the buildup.

+1