Mazzer Major - now grinding very coarse - HELP

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caeffe
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#1: Post by caeffe »

HELP!!
My Mazzer Major is now grinding very coarse, even though it is still set for a fine grind.
I normally have it set at ~ 2 notches finer than "zero" (according to the sticker)

I've tried removing the upper burr and doing a rough clean to both lower and upper burrs - and replacing them back to my previous "normal" setting yet it still grinds very coarse - appears to be coarser than French Press grind.

Any thing i need to watch out for? When I get home from work I'm thinking of removing the lower burr also but was hoping to not have to do that. Any tips on how to easily remove the lower burr? Do I just need to grind some Urnex Grind cleaner in it? If so, were in Socal (orange county) can I buy some quickly?

I got lots of folks coming over for Thanksgiving tomorrow and they're expecting their latte and affogato's
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pizzaman383
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#2: Post by pizzaman383 »

If you've taken out the burrs and cleaned them (especially if you cleaned stuff out from below them) you may have changed the amount of separation they have at a particular point in adjustment. Even just tightening the burr-holding screws can do this.

This is just a fact of life for most espresso grinders. You'll need to change to the new meaning of the numbers on the adjustment ring.
Curtis
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caeffe (original poster)
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#3: Post by caeffe (original poster) »

Agree the setting could change a bit but to go from espresso grind to beyond French Press isn't what I was expecting. Ive removed the upper burrs a few times before and never had this issue. And BTW, I removed the upper burr because it seems that the grinder was now all of a sudden grinding very coarse
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JohnB.
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#4: Post by JohnB. »

Have you tried to rezero the burrs to make sure you have the adjustment where you think you do. It sounds like it is one turn out from the espresso zone.
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pizzaman383
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#5: Post by pizzaman383 »

Did you take off the lower burr carrier? The Mazzer Major has two dimples that fit around something on the shaft (since I don't have one I've not seen the shaft portion). If things aren't alligned properly the lower burr carrier can sit up higher; if they are set perfectly then the lower burr carrier will sit lower. Some other Major owner mentioned this kind of change in setting in a post some time ago.
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HB
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#6: Post by HB »

JohnB. wrote:Have you tried to rezero the burrs to make sure you have the adjustment where you think you do. It sounds like it is one turn out from the espresso zone.
That was my thinking as well. Some suggestions from Mazzer reassembly problem after burr replacement and New Mazzer Mini won't grind fine enough, excerpted below for easy reference:
HB wrote:The adjustment collar can be fussy if it's under tension. Put a tamper in the throat of the grinder and ask an assistant to push down on the upper burr carrier. This will relieve all tension on the collar. Position the collar and then slowly rotate it clockwise as if you were removing it. The collar will "drop" as the first thread of the collar passes its mating thread of the grinder. Continue turning a bit more, then reverse direction, all the while keeping it parallel (if you can't tell, crouch down and watch from the side; it will be obvious if its canted).


From Mazzer Mini Component Photos

Next time it helps if you mark the collar at the disengagement point. Once you've done this a few times, you'll easily do it yourself. Whatever you do, don't force it. The collar should turn with little resistance.
HB wrote:The "start here" sticker from the factory should be very close to correct:



Double-check that the sticker and zero point are about 1/4 turn apart:
  • Empty the hopper, grind out any coffee in the chamber
  • Remove the small restriction screw on the face of the adjustment collar
  • Turn the adjustment counter-clockwise until it won't turn further (turn it hard, it won't break)
  • Don't power on the motor (but if you do for 1/2 second, it should hum ominously).
It should not matter, but as a point of reference, there's a small screw on the face of the adjustment collar that prevents it from turning beyond a reasonable grind setting; it runs in the dark groove shown in the photo below. To remove the collar, you must first remove that screw. I mention this for those who may have removed the adjustment collar, threaded it back on, failed to turn it enough times, then put back the adjustment restriction screw. As a result, the screw prevents the burrs from getting close enough for grinding and may give the operator the false impression that they've hit the zero point when they're actually hitting the end of the adjustment restriction.

Reference: How to find the grinder true zero point and Mazzer reassembly problem after burr replacement.

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jfrescki
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#7: Post by jfrescki »

Whole Latte Love has a very good video on calibrating and cleaning.
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Randy G.
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#8: Post by Randy G. »

Run it and while it is running SLOWLY adjust to a finer grind until you hear the burrs just beginning to touch. Then back off about two or three notches and grind some coffee and see how that looks to you. While it changed? I can only guess. My thought is that it is a new grinder and the burrs are now broken in. Got any teenagers in the house? Maybe they moved the sticker...? :wink:
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caeffe (original poster)
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#9: Post by caeffe (original poster) »

So, I went ahead and took out just the upper burr and did a little more thorough cleaning using a stiffer brush. There wasn't much there. took the same brush on the lower burr without removing it. Reading Dan's link to zeroing the burrs I went ahead and checked the "zero" - it had the characteristic "ring" around zero/1, so at least I knew it wasn't way off or misaligned somehow.
I was quite puzzled why my grind setting changed. Turns out my son made a pot of moka coffee and changed the setting. Afterwards he did say he changed it back to our "normal" espresso setting.
Maybe when he readjusted it didn't quite go back. Anyways, I had removed the upper burr and replaced it into our normal espresso setting and got the coarse grind - hence my panic. Took it out again a 2nd time, cleaned it a little more thoroughly and was back in business. I was concerned that somehow the grinder got misaligned or worse, that something got into the grinder that should be there (like a pebble, or something hard) and damaged the burrs - thankfully not.

Thanks to all again for the replies and hope you all had a happy thanksgiving!
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Randy G.
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#10: Post by Randy G. »

caeffe wrote:... Turns out my son made a pot of moka coffee and changed the setting. Afterwards he did say he changed it back to our "normal" espresso setting. Maybe when he readjusted it didn't quite go back.
Maybe he had it at the same number but a full revolution off...?
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