Cleaning Cimbali Jr. grinder - Page 2

#11: Post by **RAS** » December 22nd, 2008, 11:54 am

Sorry for the late reply - family got into town this weekend, and I had no time to "screw off".

Thanks Marshall - the "tab mod" does work great. And, yes, I'll take pictures of the piece I attached to the lid. To clarify though, I removed the original fixed-tab and used a different piece of plastic that I attached to the lid. The piece I used is from a rectangular food storage container (cheapo-type you get from the supermarket). Hot-melt glue holds it on very firmly. The piece I have is cut bigger than the original tab, and it does an excellent job of deflecting flying ground coffee.

Other mods that I've done have also improved the day to day use of the grinder - the best being the addition of the tube inside the hopper-to-burr area. That is discussed here: La Cimbali Junior Grinder Mod - Hopper Throat Extension

#12: Post by **cafeIKE** » December 22nd, 2008, 3:36 pm

You may want to keep an eye on the zero setting. See Cleaning the LaCimbali Max Hybrid

#13: Post by **RAS** » December 22nd, 2008, 3:56 pm

Thanks Ian. I read your comments back when you originally posted them. The throat mod I made seems to be doing great. The grind is still amazing, and the mod has continued to keep things pristine inside.

I did re-read the discussion you reference, and you are right that the build-quality of these grinders leaves lots to be desired. The Junior I had before my Max was a joke, as far as the burr-alignment goes. Good news was that Chris Nachtrieb took care of the problem, and I upgrade to the Max. My Max is spot on, and after a year of somewhat limited use (weekends only, and not much use during the summer), I'm still quite happy with it. Bottom line is that I'd buy one again.

Sorry for going OT on this one!

#14: Post by **RAS** » December 23rd, 2008, 1:56 pm

Here's a picture of my modified lid. You'll notice a small cut-out on the right side that is necessary for the rod that rotates around with the doser mechanism.

I cut the piece of plastic from an inexpensive food container I got from a Pavilion's supermarket (part of the Safeway/Vons family). You can see a small bead of the black hot-melt glue I used to fasten it. This works great, and can be removed later if you choose to do so.

#15: Post by **gbastiani** » April 13th, 2010, 11:33 am

I have done this mod on my Junior, and I use a acid brush to clean out the chute, but I've read on another site about using Velcro on the vanes in the doser to help in sweeping out the doser. But haven't found it on this site and how about doing this procedure, has anyone done this.

#16: Post by **JohnB.** » April 13th, 2010, 1:13 pm

The Velcro is a common alternative to the electrical tape mod & is mentioned here in several of the Mazzer grinder threads. I have the velcro on my SJ lower & upper vanes as well as the lower vanes of my K10WBC doser.

#17: Post by **JuniorS** » April 16th, 2010, 1:32 am

The plastic flap under the doser lid looks like a great modification as I find it frustrating to clean my Junior chute. I currently use a small bent bottle brush but you cannot see how clean the chute is after cleaning.

The flap on my Junior seems to not only stop the grinds from flying around by directing the coffee into the vanes but also turns off the grinder when the doser if half full and restarts the grinder when the doser is getting empty. Obviously a feature to cater for a commercial environment but in a home environment this later feature is not required. Can someone advise how I can remove the flap in front of the doser?

#18: Post by **RAS** » April 19th, 2010, 1:27 pm

To remove the flap on mine, I used a Dremel tool with a cutting disk. In addition to cutting the plastic, this will also melt it a bit... Not a big deal though. Once the piece is removed, you can use a utility or other craft-knife to clean up the edge. Once you remove the flap, you'll have perfect access to the exit chute.

I can't help you with wiring around the switch that automatically starts the grinder when the doser level falls below a certain point, but my guess is this should be a simple matter of connecting the two wires on the poles of the switch. My guess is that an "open" is what activates the switch. Bypassing, or shorting out, the switch should do it.