My cheap and easy stepless Rancilio Rocky mod... - Page 3

#21: Post by **Jasonian** » June 14th, 2007, 7:34 pm

psycho_supreme wrote:hey Tim, a fellow CGer!

I love this mod, I checked it out while I was looking at your can roaster to investigate for myself.

-Matt

It seems that nearly everyone here is also a CG'er. Some just post more often than others, and some have stopped posting altogether.

#22: Post by **psycho_supreme** » June 14th, 2007, 9:16 pm

I see, I have just noticed you (Jasonian) and a few other guys that are super frequent posters.

but thanks for the insight.

#23: Post by **pravspresso** » April 1st, 2009, 1:08 pm

i'm kinda late..just saw this.

SO what exactly is going on here...when you tighten the clamp...it's pulling the hopper

against the housing and in turn the housing against hopper.

The release pin is down and it stays down? after the mod.

When you adjust the grind after the mod..your using two hands to grab the hopper and rotate it

while it's still being held with the clamps? That's gotta require a bit of torque to move it with your hands..

Anyhow..i want to do this mod. just looking for a clearer understanding of how it's working to bypass

the step mode.

cheers

#24: Post by **samgiles** » April 1st, 2009, 1:41 pm

Hi Praveen,
When I was using a Rocky I used a far simpler method. Find some rubber or plastic tube and cut it down one side. Remove the hopper. Slide the cut side over the lip of the metal casing and put the hopper back on. The tube needs to be thick enough to hold the hopper but not so thick that you can't screw the hopper into place. With the right thickness you'll have enough resistance to prevent the hopper from turning as you grind but still be able to turn the hopper manually to adjust the grind. I actually used 2 plastic wall plugs that I happenned to have lying around. The second one was just stuck in to hold the lock button down. I hope this makes sense.

#25: Post by **pbud** » August 2nd, 2009, 2:15 pm

Thanks, Tim...did this mod this morning and it's now stepless. I pulled two shots at the same setting I had it at yesterday (premod) and both were smoother and grind seemed a bit finer.

February 12th, 2010, 3:57 pm

I just bought a Rancilio Rocky v3 the other day. Very useful site here with all sorts of information! Thank you.

However, I'm confused... My Rocky's hopper turns smoothly and gives me the impression I can infinitely set it. Are older Rockys designed such that they click into place as you turn it? Or is my Rocky busted? Or do I not understand what stepped/stepless means?

February 12th, 2010, 4:32 pm

To turn the hopper, you have to push down on the little button, on the front right side of the grinder. When you have adjusted the grinder to your liking, release the button, and it holds the hopper/burr where you put it.

From the Videos Ive seen, you need to stop at a number. Meaning, if you stop between 11 and 12(for example), and release the button, the grind setting wont be locked into place, and most likely, once you grind some beans, the force of those beans pushing on the burrs, will move the grind setting into 11's "spot", or 12's "spot".

Hence, why most Rocky owners mod to stepless quite quickly.

Stepped- Pre Defined Grind Settings. You move the grind setting a certain amount for one "notch". You cant move it less then the space between two notches. So, your only usable grind settings, are the notches/numbers themselves. So, when dialing in, lets say grind setting "5" gives you a shot that runs just a tad too fast, so you adjust to setting "4". BUT, setting "4" makes the shot run too slow. This is why, especially with the Rocky,(but any stepped grinder), you need to not only make grinder adjustments, but dose adjustment. Since going down to "4" made it too slow, but 5 was too fast.. you can use a bit more coffee at setting 5, or a bit less, at setting 4. Adjusting dose AND grind is standard operating procedure when dialing in a coffee, but the downfall of stepless, is that the taste doesnt always dictate your dose change(as it should).. the way the shot flows sometimes forces a dose change.

Stepless- Either an adjustment, or a worm drive.. You simply have a knob, or a wheel, that you turn clockwise/counter clockwise. You can turn it as little or as much as you want. Imagine threading a bolt, into a nut. There is no certain amount that you have to turn the bolt into that nut; nothing is forcing you to make 1/4rotations at a time. this is why stepless is ideal, because when you need to make the most minute adjustments, you can. When I had my Major, sometimes I would make an adjustment so small, I would just lean on the adjustment collar in the right direction. Other grinders use a worm-drive, which allows one to make those RIDICULOUSLY minute adjustment even easier.. because instead of like your Rocky, or a Mazzer.. where 1 full rotation of the hopper/adjustment collar, equals 1 full rotation of the burr itself.. on the worm-drive, it might be 30 or 40 rotations of the adjustment knob/wheel, for the burr itself to make 1 full rotation. This might sound like overkill at first.. BUT, its not really when the coffee grinds for espresso are measured in Microns, and a change of even 10microns finger/coarser, shows a clear change in the resulting extraction.

Now, for what its worth.. The Rocky is a good entry level espresso grinder. There is no need to think to yourself "crap, I bought a bad grinder, and now I need to spend $600 on a different one".. NO. MANY people started out with the Rocky, and many people still use it today. In it's stock form, it will do a pretty good job. Eventually, you will find that you want finer control, and you'll start doing some of the popular mods to it. Like the one mentioned here, or wrapping the burr carriers/hoppers threads in teflon tape, the "Click-Clack" mod, the Continuous Grind Button Mod... The great thing about the Rocky(and Silvia), is the sheer volume of users out there... SO many mods have been done to those two over the years, for everything you can think of.