HBchris wrote: perhaps needles were too long for basket?

Notice the bent ones are shorter ones.

Basket is a vst 25 and the depth of it is 30 mm. the long needles are 24 mm so plenty off space. I also made sure that i put the raker exact in the middle off the basket to not put stress on the needles.

Yesterday I also noticed that the bottom part with the rubber ring is slipping on the basket. The outside of this ring is chrome and not to tick so very hard to grab on while avoiding the hot portafilter underneath.

It would been nice if the bottom part would be a ticker and also rubberised like the top part.

How fast were you spinning it?

Any resolutions to the bent needles and/or slipping ring?

I'm curious to know how this happened and if/how Weber might respond to this.

User error? One-off defective item? Fundamental problem with the design?

Bent needles...just replace the problem ones with the extras (Moonraker comes with 20 extra needles), which are super easy to replace. In over 2 months of use, I have a slight bend in one. Weber does sell extras on their website.

The slipping chrome ring...I always hold the ring with my left hand while turning the upper section with my right hand. Seems easy enough for me.

My ring does not slip. I am able to grasp my portafilter handle with 4 fingers and thumb and turn the black section of the Moonraker without the chrome ring slipping. I do not have to rest my thumb on the Moonraker. Hearing reports of the mechanism being so tight that the device would slip on the basket while turning it worried me. Mine is fine. If it wasn't I was going to send it back. I was not going to accept "You are holding it wrong" if the device did not perform the way it does in the promo videos I have seen.

Same here - no issues with slipping. Also discovered that it works a lot better with smooth slow rotations instead of spinning it fast (which can have a centrifugal-like effect of creating a ridge on the edges of the basket). And yes, you do always need to be alert in how you place the device onto the portafilter and then back into its holder in order to ensure all needles are within the circumference. You get used to it, and should you bend a needle, very easy to straighten out or replace. Overall, very happy with it and the consistency it provides

lancealot wrote:My ring does not slip. I am able to grasp my portafilter handle with 4 fingers and thumb and turn the black section of the Moonraker without the chrome ring slipping. I do not have to rest my thumb on the Moonraker. Hearing reports of the mechanism being so tight that the device would slip on the basket while turning it worried me. Mine is fine. If it wasn't I was going to send it back. I was not going to accept "You are holding it wrong" if the device did not perform the way it does in the promo videos I have seen.

Chris,

Mine does not slip either. I've heard a few people have had a problem with the device tightening up on them, possibly a bearing lubrication issue that Weber has addressed. Actually I have to hold mine in place when using the SWD billet basket and the Pesado He basket since both of them have a flat rim, not rolled.

Bob,
That makes sense. I am using mine with the rolled lip basket that comes with the BDB. The shape of the rubber piece on the bottom of the Moonraker seems optimized for friction on a rolled-lip basket.

Trevor,
I too get the ridge of grounds around the edge of the basket. Seems to happen to me no matter what speed I spin it. I have not tried "painfully (to me) slow" yet I thought about lowering my dose to see if that has an effect on it but I like 18g of the coffee I'm using in that basket so I have not messed with dose yet. And I probably won't. The ridge is easily settled with a thwack of the bottomless on the wood bench top after spinning and before tamping. Hasn't seemed to effect my extractions. They've been consistently good; though, I don't have a refractometer.

When I use my VST baskets (not often), the Moonraker sits securely without the need to use my off hand.

As for the ridge along the edge of the basket, there is one needle that does not Spirograph and stays along the edge of the basket for whatever reason Weber determined was best. I don't see it much but maybe that's because I tap the portafilter with the Moonraker on top one time on my tamping mat before removing it, then the portafilter with the grinds once more to settle the holes made by the needles.