Hello, grinders and pullers (or button pressers),

Does anyone have experience with both the Helor 101 and the Kinu M47? Which is your favorite and why?

BobM has both. His acquisition of the M47 is very recent, but I believe he is very impressed by the build quality.

Yes the build quality of the Kinu is in a class of its own. I've pulled 2 shots with the Kinu and about 8 with the Helor. I have not done a blind test comparison but taste is very similar between the 2. I do not think I could tell a difference.I haven't used either for brew. The Kinu Is my favorite because I love things with superb performance and build quality and the Kinu fits that description.

Thanks for the reply!

So the Kinu is a notable quality improvement over the Helor. I'd be mainly espresso too. Looking forward to hearing what you think after more time with them.

Thanks again!

I have a Helor 101. It has some design flaws, I'd try the other one if I was you.

Helor gets staticky. Apparently Kinu has some design to help with that, Helor can get loose, ruining your shot, you have to check wether the burr is wobbling or not.

Good to know. Thank You!

osel wrote:I have a Helor 101. It has some design flaws, I'd try the other one if I was you.

Helor gets staticky. Apparently Kinu has some design to help with that, Helor can get loose, ruining your shot, you have to check wether the burr is wobbling or not.

Can you elaborate on that? What is loose & ruining the shot? The burrs shouldn't be wobbling. Something doesn't sound right with your grinder and it's not fair to generalize to all other units.

Sure the Helor is not perfect, but neither is Kinu, no grinder is..Both are good hand grinders that will meet any usage requirement.

Static is present with Kinu as well, and RDT helps mitigate that. I get very little static on my Helor with no RDT at all but I've had mine for a long time (probably broken in by now)..

For example, in my strictly personal experience the top thingy that has that double prong tool for it to tighten or loosen it gets loose. In order for it to be tight it has to be tightened fairly well, but not too tight so that the handle doesn't turn freely... fine balance. Not something I would want to deal with in a $250 hand grinder. I totally respect anyone who will say I'm being unreasonable but I expect whatever that thing is (the thing with two holes) to be tightened correctly at the factory with no opportunity for me to mess it up by normal use. A couple of times I had burr simply get loose/wobbly/I was able to move it with my fingers from side to side. I find it unacceptable that I had to learn about using this grinder and troubleshooting such a thing on youtube from random people. The unit should come fully assembled and fine tuned AND should not come un-tuned from normal use. Tighten the thing at the factory and prevent it from getting loose.

There are no instructions on cleaning, if ever, I actually still don't know wether I'm suppose to ever clean the burrs in any way, no instructions on anything else. You have to go to a small impossible to find internet page to find out how many dots to set the grinder to for espresso etc. This information should be printed clearly on the first page of the instruction booklet: For espresso set 18-22 dots and adjust from there etc.

The thing about "burr alignment" is a mystery to me. How do I know if it's aligned? How do I align it? Does alignment change with regular use? How much use? Should the user align or check alignment at any point? etc. etc. etc.

Again, this is simply my newbie experience. Just my observations of what I think they can do better IMHO.

Cliffs:
- product should come with instructions, FAQ, instantly responding support, and design should be absolutely idiot proof.

I was under the impression the new Kinu has a plastic? container to help with static?

osel wrote:For example, in my strictly personal experience the top thingy that has that double prong tool for it to tighten or loosen it gets loose. In order for it to be tight it has to be tightened fairly well, but not too tight so that the handle doesn't turn freely... fine balance. Not something I would want to deal with in a $250 hand grinder. I totally respect anyone who will say I'm being unreasonable but I expect whatever that thing is (the thing with two holes) to be tightened correctly at the factory with no opportunity for me to mess it up by normal use. A couple of times I had burr simply get loose/wobbly/I was able to move it with my fingers from side to side. I find it unacceptable that I had to learn about using this grinder and troubleshooting such a thing on youtube from random people. The unit should come fully assembled and fine tuned AND should not come un-tuned from normal use. Tighten the thing at the factory and prevent it from getting loose.

There are no instructions on cleaning, if ever, I actually still don't know wether I'm suppose to ever clean the burrs in any way, no instructions on anything else. You have to go to a small impossible to find internet page to find out how many dots to set the grinder to for espresso etc. This information should be printed clearly on the first page of the instruction booklet: For espresso set 18-22 dots and adjust from there etc.

The thing about "burr alignment" is a mystery to me. How do I know if it's aligned? How do I align it? Does alignment change with regular use? How much use? Should the user align or check alignment at any point? etc. etc. etc.

Again, this is simply my newbie experience. Just my observations of what I think they can do better IMHO.

Cliffs:
- product should come with instructions, FAQ, instantly responding support, and design should be absolutely idiot proof.

I was under the impression the new Kinu has a plastic? container to help with static?

Fair enough. I agree Helor had failed their customer support if they did not set you right after the issue was raised to them. Your problem indeed stems from it not arriving in a properly assembled condition, which leads to more confusion & frustration.

I've had my Helor almost a year, and has dissembled/assembled it countless time (even used it as a pepper grinder at one point for experiment, so cleaning is necessary ). I can try and make some guide/clarification from my own experience on the issues you're experiencing, will that something you(or others) are interested in? Something like the user guide for Feldgrind grinder over the UK coffee forum. But I agree, there is a lack of comprehensive documentation/guide for new user.

But on the topic, I am sure both Kinu & Helor are excellent grinder fit for purpose. If it's not, something is out of the norm.

samuellaw178 wrote:Fair enough. I agree Helor had failed their customer support if they did not set you right after the issue was raised to them. Your problem indeed stems from it not arriving in a properly assembled condition, which leads to more confusion & frustration.

I've had my Helor almost a year, and has dissembled/assembled it countless time (even used it as a pepper grinder at one point for experiment, so cleaning is necessary ). I can try and make some guide/clarification from my own experience on the issues you're experiencing, will that something you(or others) are interested in? Something like the user guide for Feldgrind grinder over the UK coffee forum. But I agree, there is a lack of comprehensive documentation/guide for new user.

But on the topic, I am sure both Kinu & Helor are excellent grinder fit for purpose. If it's not, something is out of the norm.

Absolutely ^^^