Hi, everyone,

A single brainless move two mornings ago has resulted in a fairly intractable issue re-setting the adjustment collar on my used Mazzer Super Jolly.

In a moment of carelessness, I jammed the lower burr carrier. I then immediately pulled all the head parts off the grinder - I'm talking collar, top burr, bottom burr, and even the doser - in order to clear the obstruction. Amid my caffeine-free fervor, I had a second stupid idea: I would clean the unbelievably caked-up lower parts of the grinder with hot water and...cafiza. So I tossed *everything* into a bowl of hot water and cafiza, then scrubbed fairly well. Of course, when I ended up with a gray grease all over my fingers, I didn't think too much about it. I am, admittedly, a total dumbass.

Then the collar wouldn't screw back on, and jammed worse and worse the tighter I turned. Long story short, I have been through food-safe blender grease (the white stuff), one sheared-off adjustment rod and two bent M5 bolts, and am only just realizing that "cleaning" the gray grease off the upper burr carrier might have been the problem, since the harder I push down, the more torque it takes to continue turning the collar over that part.

If I can now unscrew that collar again without killing myself, what kind of grease should I use in there? Is it some kind of silica-based stuff?

I use Dow 111 mainly because I have it on hand for the Cremina and it's food safe. Others here have said SuperLube, and I've used that too. You don't need much.

Thank you so much for the recommendation! I went on Amazon for some Dow 111 - trust Home Depot to lack such a common silicone lubricant - and used it on the threads and the part of the upper burr carrier that makes contact with the collar.

Unfortunately, I find I can't seat the collar in the body threads in any way that doesn't result in an impossibly difficult turn -- and the difficulty starts pretty much immediately. There are two places on the very top of the body threads where it looks like they've been galled - the metal is so darn soft - and I worry that, somehow, that spells doom for the grinder as a whole. I'm sticking up a couple of pictures of those two small dents. Does anyone might know if this spells death for my grinder or not?

Agreed. If you have a fine file, just grind it down, but be careful not to hit the next thread below it or your work will perpetuate itself. If you don't have a fine file, you can probably get one or a set at Rockler, Woodcraft, a jeweler's supply, Fry's, a good electronics store or maybe even Michael's or Hobby Lobby.

Personally it might be a bit tough with a file. But, then again I'm a semi retired jeweler. I'd probably use a graver, small chisel, or a utility knife if I were to use hand tools. Otherwise I'd use a flex shaft (dremel) with an inverted cone burrs or maybe a sanding disk. Basically anything that allows you to remove the bit that is in the way and nothing else.

belegnole wrote:Personally it might be a bit tough with a file. But, then again I'm a semi retired jeweler. I'd probably use a graver, small chisel, or a utility knife if I were to use hand tools. Otherwise I'd use a flex shaft (dremel) with an inverted cone burrs or maybe a sanding disk. Basically anything that allows you to remove the bit that is in the way and nothing else.

Understood, thank you for the recommendation! So the point is to clear the thread path by grinding/cutting away the part of the galled thread above it that's intruding, without touching anything else. I expect a dremel tool will work the best given my relatively poor hand/eye coordination, but I'll look for small files also.

OldNuc wrote:That body is seriously dinged up and aluminum on aluminum will bind and gall everytime until cleaned up.

I hear you loud and clear. I was honestly a little shocked by how soft the body threads and burr chamber were. I don't quite understand why such a heavy-duty grinder would be made with such a soft metal.

That aluminum construction is an issue as those threads are a common failure point. The good news is they can be cleaned up if you can find the tools.