HG-1 Prime user experience - Page 12

#111: Post by **EvanOz85** » April 17th, 2023, 10:19 am

cmin wrote:Been using mine for about 2 weeks, I had a darker roast that was pulling ok with some spraying and channeling. I have a med Brazil SO right now and my Prime is making a mess lol. Probably the worst spritz and channeling I've ever had from a grinder all these years (and I had an HG1 back in the day). All over me, machine, counter. And yes obviously wdt'ing, and even slayer mode or PI on BDB. Probably about 2lbs of beans through it so far. This is on ephq baskets which are very forgiving in general, especially ridged 14 I primarily use.

Think on Craig's site it said that was normal breaking in, but I've seen a few others even elsewhere day never had that issue. But I'm wondering if something is wrong, haven't checked alignment yet.

Crema also super thin, damn near disappears immediately, was thin even on darker roast. On other grinders the beans pull flawlessly.

I did have to align mine when I first got it last year after experiencing similar issues. Since then it's been perfect. Might be worth a shot.

April 17th, 2023, 2:26 pm

Wondering how you guys aligned. I read the instructions on his site but it didn't really make sense. How are you supposed to know how far to move in any direction for planar and rotational axis? Or if it's even wack on alignment in the first place? Not sure how to tell on this, unless I'm missing something? Flats I've aligned, still a pain in the ass, but have no clue with this grinder.

#113: Post by **chipman** » April 17th, 2023, 2:44 pm

There a few videos on youtube, and also here at HB showing detailed instruction on how to align the HG1, which i'm pretty sure should be applicable to the HG1 prime.

#114: Post by **Pressino** » April 17th, 2023, 2:45 pm

I'd like to hear from those who've shared cmin's experience. I've been considering getting an HG-1 Prime, this problem, if real, might persuade me not to.

#115: Post by **chipman** » April 17th, 2023, 3:12 pm

I've had one of the original HG1 from about 10 years ago. Love it, and if I were to be in the market for a hand grinder I would have the HG1 prime at the top of the list. I tried out one last year, and it was a joy to use. I don't think you should be dissuaded by a singular report.

#116: Post by **cmin** » April 17th, 2023, 8:20 pm

chipman wrote:I've had one of the original HG1 from about 10 years ago. Love it, and if I were to be in the market for a hand grinder I would have the HG! prime at the top of the list. I tried out one last year, and it was a joy to use. I don't think you should be dissuaded by a singular report.

I had an HG1 way back in the day, never had these issues with it (or my other conicals, even had a Pharos with Voodoo mods back then as well). Other guy above said he had same issues and had to align. Have no idea if it's a seasoning issue or something else, but wouldn't make sense as I talked to two others on FB and theirs pulled great out of the box with the only difference being less revolutions as it broken in. Mines an absolute mess lol, after a couple pounds of beans, two boxes of instant rice, and just bought another box of instant to run through and hopefully see a difference?

Beans pull fine on other grinders so that rules beans out. Even if I did a slow flow at like 1.5 bar for over 20 seconds the basket(s) still don't fill evenly as drops start forming and still channels and extract poorly. Even on ephq baskets which are the most forgiving baskets around and I've used them for over 10 years as love those baskets in general.

The fit and finish and feel of the grinder is top notch though. Chatting with Craig so hopefully we can figure this out.

#117: Post by **Chrispy513** » April 21st, 2023, 1:07 pm

Got my HG-1 Prime in about a week ago. Aligned it as best I could out of the box and worked my way through a box of minute rice to jumpstart the seasoning. Grinding definitely got a bit easier as I got through more of the box, and required fewer rotations for the same amount of coffee when I intermittently checked.

Overall very happy with it so far. It took me a while to dial in initially, I think because I didn't know exactly where to start for "espresso range" but now that I've got it in the ballpark I haven't had any issues. Still need to compare it head to head with my Niche on the same coffee, but I've been very happy with the flavor in the cup so far.

Ordered a walnut board to mount it to, but agree with others that even using the included silicone base to stick to the counter helps immensely with the effort required to grind. Will update with pictures once I get it mounted. Hoping to cut out slots for my tamp, WDT, etc in the base as well to better organize my workspace.

April 21st, 2023, 1:17 pm

Man I don't know what's wrong with mine. Craig even got on the phone with me and we disassembled, raised the burr and relocked in. Somehow the nut kept coming loose even though it was tighter than what it was now. Had pry 4lbs of beans now, and 4lbs of rice, and its a combo of almost choking and gushing at the same time, can't dialer finer or coarser or just gets worse and worse for either. Shots are awful, obviously given the extractions lol. And I had an HG1 before, makes it even more confusing to me.

I'm stumped, this sucks

. Craziest thing I even sorta joked with a friend (whom just got an MC4) I had ordered one like watch my luck I'll end up with a unit that doesn't work for some reason, just had that feeling like something is going to go amiss....holy facepalm lol.

#119: Post by **mborkow** » April 22nd, 2023, 10:34 am

Having to align a premium grinder out of the box is unacceptable.

#120: Post by **GregoryJ** » April 22nd, 2023, 1:10 pm

I've never tried to align mine, and I really like the results. There's no way to know what FedEx / UPS does to the box before it gets to you. Even if the outside of the package looks fine it could have had a very bumpy ride.