How (not) to clean the burrs - Page 2

#11: Post by **BodieZoffa** » January 30th, 2022, 6:32 am

millmountain wrote:Cleaned the Niche Zero today after about 3-4 kg and absent-mindedly took it to the sink and used soap and water. Then a niggling in the back of mind mind said, "Uh, wait. Why was it I've never done this before?" Too late, so I did a quick search and the first explanations were that the burrs rust very easily and are "a nightmare" to dry properly.

I toweled it off and figured water might have penetrated a bit into the screws and metal-plastic edges, so I took the hair dryer to it and then put it in the oven at 60°C (140°F) for a little over half an hour. (In the lab we typically dry things at 80°C for 1 hour, but I don't know the polymer type and wanted to avoid any degradation.)

Next time I will remember just to use a toothbrush and paper towels, but are there any other reasons not to use soap and water? I started grinding again already; is there still something else I could do? First person to say, "Spray it down with WD-40!" gets an award...

I've soaked quite a few burr sets in Cafiza/hot water, then give a good rinse and dry thoroughly. Either in a low temp over or using a heat gun. Burrs look like new and absolutely no ill effect regardless of the Internet B.S. warnings, etc. Normally a vacuum/brush is all I need, but for a few rather gnarly grinders I bought used that level of cleaning was needed.

January 31st, 2022, 3:48 am

Thanks malling and Bodiezoffa. I kept the oven at 60°C because it's a kitchen oven and not precise at lower temps. Thought if I set it to 80 it might go higher. I'm pretty sure the polymer on the lower burr could handle it, but I also didn't feel like being too paranoid. My main concern was rust developing in the screw threads and between the metal and plastic, but I didn't feel like taking them apart. The risk of damage seems low. I also thought just maybe somebody might have experience with a negative aspect of washing in soapy water that I hadn't thought of, but it seems if properly dried there is no issue. I also agree it doesn't really seem worth it. There's no need to remove the oil sheen, just to reduce build up (tightly packed fines) that would become rancid. The grinder does seem a little smoother after cleaning.

#13: Post by **Marcelnl** » January 31st, 2022, 4:53 am

why not just rinse off the water with some isopropylalcohol, or ethanol, that evaporates fast and without residue (when using the pure stuff)?

February 1st, 2022, 3:22 am

It's a good idea, and one I didn't even think of, but there are a couple of reasons. One is pragmatic, I didn't have any to hand. Another is it's not sure that the ethanol would displace all water that had penetrated into confined areas (screw threads and metal-plastic interface).