Hello,

I'm sure most here already have a paintbrush to help with clearing the grinder out, but I just wanted to assure anyone who doesn't: head over to your local art supply shop and ask for their cheapest paintbrush with stiff(ish) bristles. The ones on mine are about right but a bit on the soft side. Now I will definitely be opening up the burrs more often (probably between coffees) to clear out the old stuff. On the Le'Lit a layer of coffee forms above the grind chamber sweepers and below the upper burr carrier, so it's certainly worth opening every so often.

Once again: get a cheap paintbrush if you don't have one! I might even get a second tiny one to get into the really small grooves in the burrs, but this one is good enough for now. I've attached a photo as well (note the screw in the removed upper burr marking the position it was in at my espresso setting).



Apologies for the poor quality photo... it's from a phone.

EDIT: I should note that I called 1st-Line asking for advice on how to remove the bottom burr, but Jim advised against that and suggested using grindz instead of removing any burrs at all. The advice makes sense, following the logic of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Remember that 'cheap' paintbrushes may shed broken bits of bristle, or entire bristles. I spent quite a bit of time fishing these bits out of my baskets when I used one to sweep out the doser on a regular basis. Speak to the sales folk and get them to suggest one that will *Not* shed parts. The extra five bucks may (YMMV) be cheap at twice the price.

A good alternative to a conventional paint brush is what's called an acid brush....
It's got short, stiff (usually black) bristles and a short (usually rolled or pressed aluminum) handle.
They're usually in the paint section or sometimes in the plumbing section of your local hardware store.
Did I also mention....they're fairly cheap...?!
Even cheaper if you go to Harbor Freight, et al --- "cheaper by the dozen"....:>)

Psyd wrote:Remember that 'cheap' paintbrushes may shed broken bits of bristle, or entire bristles. I spent quite a bit of time fishing these bits out of my baskets when I used one to sweep out the doser on a regular basis. Speak to the sales folk and get them to suggest one that will *Not* shed parts. The extra five bucks may (YMMV) be cheap at twice the price.

How did you know? The brush has already lost quite a few bristles and most are shorter than they used to be. Turns out that in addition to eating coffee beans, burrs like to eat anything that touches them as they are not too dull.

How did you know?

I spent quite a bit of time fishing these bits out of my baskets

I thought I'd covered that...

Dspresso wrote:A good alternative to a conventional paint brush is what's called an acid brush...

That's what I use to sweep the chute. Here's a photo:



One brush is good for months before it gets frizzy.

Psyd wrote:I thought I'd covered that...

Unfortunately internet doesn't convey my sarcastic tone. I'll check on getting an acid brush when this one runs out (in about one or two more cleanings...).

Thanks for the tip!

I use a "dust buster hand vacuum cleaner it works great to get out all the old grinds and pick up any loose grind laying about the machine! The cordless ones i am not sure about the one i have is corded and has lots of pick up power and makes clean up a snap use my hand to form around the spout so has a good seal

HB wrote:That's what I use to sweep the chute. Here's a photo:

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One brush is good for months before it gets frizzy.

Yeah that's the type of brush I use. I found them in the plumbing section at my local Lowe's home improvement store. They're typically used for applying flux for solder in the plumbing trade. Later!

spro745 wrote:I found them in the plumbing section at my local Lowe's home improvement store. They're typically used for applying flux for solder in the plumbing trade. Later!

Thanks for the tip. I'll check the hardware store instead of the art supply store.

I use an old car detailers trick. Take a cheap ( and when I sat cheap I mean inexpensive) 1" paint brush
and cut the bristles at a 45 degree angle. Works really good.
Give a little tug on the bristles when looking at brushes. Some of the the bristles will pull out from the ferrule
on the poorly made brushes.

The Acid brush from the plumbing section is the way to go. $1 and you get a pack of 5. Good little addition to my supplies.

I use a plastic handled long bristle brush, the brush will bend to get around tight spots and the long bristles get clear back into the burrs. Just remember to give the burrs time to stop when the hopper is empty before you stick that brush in there to clean. Some of the big grinders take quite a while to spin down when there are no beans in the hopper. My brush has a short bristle side and long bristle side.

Am I the only guy on here that owns a coffee brush? The acid brush is a nice idea but after using them for decades to apply flux & grease in my shop I don't know if I could use one around my coffee. Too many crusty acid brush memories I guess. Anyways here's a pic of my cleaning tools minus the wife's Meile vac. The short one came as part of my free cleaning kit when I bought the machine & I found the long one at Linens & Things. As you can see by the jagged ends its gotten a little too close to spinning burrs a few times but otherwise is holding up well. The chopstick is my favorite for knocking grounds out of the chute. Adds a nice "woody" flavor to the shot if the burrs haven't quite stopped spinning.

speedstar wrote:The Acid brush from the plumbing section is the way to go. $1 and you get a pack of 5. Good little addition to my supplies.

And with a pliers you can bend it 45° and re-crimp the bristles to get into the groups on smaller machines! I trim the length a bit to make them stiffer.
-Richard