Baratza Sette - End User Reports - Page 69

#681: Post by **Spitz.me** » April 20th, 2017, 9:43 am

To be honest, I'm not sure why anyone contributes to the retention discussion by showing users how to deal with it anymore. People know how to deal with retention, we've been putting up with worse for decades. You're just putting up with it, which is great. We get it, the retention doesn't bother you. I'm not making a value judgement here.

I imagine I've been just as bad at continuing to beat this dead horse as some of the others, but we're too many pages into this thread for anyone to ask someone to prove their retention level or ask for their opinion on retention. It's a fact, the grinder retains about 2g if you're dosing for espresso. We don't need people to prove it's possible for this grinder to function differently. Rob doesn't have to prove anything, you can see his chamber is blocked with grounds, if it wasn't we'd be able to make out at least a few posts without light passing through.

I know that the Sette has been bang on for dose consistency and I love the shots I can get easily from it. These are not issues for me and are only really issues when it comes to dosing by weight prior to calibration and when the internals are real clean and have no retention build up.

I know for a fact that my first session shot runs noticeably faster than my second shot if I don't purge some stale grinds by throwing 4-5 beans in the throat to do some clearing. If you don't think that yield/time doesn't affect taste than you're kidding yourself. This is my experience.

#682: Post by **curmudgeon** » April 20th, 2017, 9:46 am

goodboyr wrote:Ok. Spent the day dialling in my new 270W. Added one shim as others have suggested. It is on a nice solid caesarstone counter. All feet are in contact. PF support adjusted properly as per this thread information. However, I was still getting dose weight inconsistency. I noticed that the PF support is attached to a face plate as it enters the grinder. This is not centered in the window in the grinder body. Big gap along bottom, no gap across top. I believe this is a cause of dose inconsistency because if this plate is in contact with the grinder body, then the load cell is not isolated from body vibrations. To test my point, I pushed down on the forks to try to slightly move this assembly down away from the top (not too hard a push to avoid damaging the load cell). This solved the inconsistency problem completely. But I assume it will reoccur because the gap is still the same ( I probably just cleared it away from touching). I've emailed Baratza with my findings. Hopefully there is a way to reposition this in the center of the window and even out the top and bottom gaps. See attached picture and look at gap at top and bottom.

<image>

I'm not sure where the post is at the moment, but I do recall reading a post where someone experienced a similar issue. Their solution was to open up the grinder to the point they could access the load cell. If memory serves, there are some shims or padding holding it in place, and you can move and shift them around to alter the gap.

#683: Post by **goodboyr** » April 20th, 2017, 9:59 am

collinsad wrote:I resolved my weight inconsistency issue (>1g variability) with my 270W and am now getting between +0.0 and +0.3g from my target dose.

After verifying the portafilter was properly adjusted (level, secure) I noticed there was an uneven gap on the top vs bottom of the fork assembly as it enters the grinder to the point where there was <1mm gap on top. Since I was also interested checking out the bending beam load cell I opened the grinder up by removing four T10 screws on the back, and a fifth under the rear rubber foot. I saw there was a shim under the load cell which I'd guess is to ensure there isn't any contact between the gauge glue and the grinder support but in my case, wasn't unnecessary. To better center the fork assembly I decided removed this ~1mm shim. As I was taking off the two T25 screws to remove the shim I found the rear bolt wasn't tight to start - I'd wager this was the real culprit of the observed dose inconsistency.

Putting it all back together without the shim it's now all sunglasses and rainbows: the fork assembly has a more even gap on top vs bottom, tight screws, and repeatable dosing performance. I hope this info may help others should they experience similar dose inconsistency.

FWIW, I too noticed some play in the lower burr assembly when empty. I believe this is likely a non-issue, at least for my espresso grinding, as once it's loaded with beans there is no perceptible play when manipulating by hand or look/feel when grinding. Instead of springs to keep the stationary center burr in contact with its supporting ring (Mazzer, et al.) it uses gravity. I believe the issue can be likened to the observer effect in physics: the grinder is out of tolerance when not grinding!

Found it! Thanks.....but I will wait to hear back from Baratza before dismantling my brand new grinder.......

#684: Post by **McPickle** » April 20th, 2017, 11:15 am

Just go for it, it's very easy to take the shell off and put it back on. Plus, I would recommend doing it at least once in awhile to clean all the coffee grounds out of the inside. I recently opened a dead unit up after probably 25-35 pounds of coffee and there was some coffee grounds in there that you can clean out.

About retention, please ignore the one user saying it doesn't exist and the conversation won't continue to drag on. He's in some sort of weird denial about the 1-2g retention that this grinder has that everyone else accepts as normal (Including Baratza! Seriously, call and ask. The Sette was never marketed as a zero retention grinder in the first place!). Just do what the rest of us do and have a 1.5g preset that you run and dump before you do your full dose. Case closed.

#685: Post by **goodboyr** » April 20th, 2017, 1:20 pm

Thanks! Will do, and I will report back. Thanks for the helpful info. This thread is long.,....,but full of great info, some of which baratza should incorporate into their faq page.

#686: Post by **IMAWriter** » April 20th, 2017, 3:05 pm

curmudgeon wrote:the area I circled).

If that area is clear, great. However, I think the concern of many here is the fact that the chute is designed to impede the flow of grinds, as clumping kills static. Therefore, you'll never (hopefully) end up with a massive cake of grounds in the grind path, but you'll always have just enough (1.5g?) to impede the flow of fresh grounds and reduce the static buildup. The reduced flow is great for static, but the resulting stale grounds are not so great for brewing.

Yes that are was clear, others than some grains that remained (as I remember) at the very top. Let me have another dozen pulls and a maybe a # of drip through it, and I'll drop the burr agains. I'm actually curious to see, as I know have there newer adjustment assy and shins installed.
BTW, has anyone else noticed the grind need a wee bit of tightening maybe a week or so after the installation of 2 shims? The first few days, I went from 2C (1 shim) to 7C (2 shims). A week later I'm at 6 with the Micro set at it's finest setting. Admittedly, the MCAL lever is significantly more "sensitive" to grind fineness than was the Strega.

#687: Post by **IMAWriter** » April 20th, 2017, 3:12 pm

Curmudgeon...
Many here are pulling 18 gram shots with no issues...that aside...
I've set my (a) button to .2 seconds...to flush if I've been away more than say 1 hour. OK, I "waste" .6 or .9 grams...which is not really wasted, as you say it's stale. I'll buy that.
So, what's the big deal. Grinders costing 4 times more waste 6-12 grams, and folks regularly flush 10 grams out before a shot. I guess I see the glass as 1/2 full, others don't. Considering your User Name...haha

Seriously, my friend. 1.5 grams wouldn't stop ANYTHING, not with the force in which the grind is expelled. My gawd, man...18 grams in 4,1 seconds...right there with a Mahkonig K30. I know this, as I tested the Sette against it and a K10 Barista. (And a KyM manual grinder...for taste.) Whoops, and a Forte.

#688: Post by **goodboyr** » April 20th, 2017, 5:21 pm

Nice!!! So, I removed the back cover (its kind of a snap around, and be careful because there are two wires connecting the bin micro switch that are still attached). My load cell T25 screws were pretty tight, so that wasn't the issue. However they applied a white silicone rubber over the strain gauges and then along a strip. They didn't square off the application of this, so a bit of silicone rubber was on the surface that bolts the aluminum strain gauge beam to the housing. That causes the beam to sit at a slight upward angle, resulting in the plate not being centered in the window as discussed previously. So, with super amount of care, and an exacto knife, I trimmed this silicone rubber square and scraped it off so it did not interfere with the strain gauge beam mount. I've drawn a red arrow at that point before I did the trimming and cleanup. Note the after shot of the forks centered in the window compared to the before shot. And that totally solved the problem.

.

#689: Post by **IMAWriter** » April 20th, 2017, 10:44 pm

Wow, great stuff! Have you contacted Baratza with these photo? I'm sure they would be interested.

#690: Post by **goodboyr** » April 20th, 2017, 10:51 pm

Lol....that didn't last long. Worked great for a bit, now it reads 0 weight all the time. Guess I will call them.....but it will be a warranty call now. Very disappointing. However I'm sure that was the initial problem. Just not sure why it's reading zero with no error code. All connections seem fine.