I've had the PL53 for a couple years now, and think it's a great grinder for the price, but that it's grind retention is pretty horrible. I used to spend a lot of time sweeping and purging, but have found that it's actually pretty quick to just pull the top burr off and do a complete cleaning in a few minutes. I usually try to clean out burrs and grind chamber at least every week or when I change coffees. There's a few tricks I've found that speed up the process, so I took a few pictures to make it easier for anyone else that has one.

1. Unplug the grinder, take off the hopper and grind chute (I don't use the screw that holds it on) and make sure all the beans are out of the throat and burrs.

2. Loosen the top 2 screws on either side of the grinder, just a turn or two. You don't have to do this to take the top off, but it makes it a lot easier.


3. Take of the grind adjustment knob (I believe it's a 3/32 allen wrench)


4. Unscrew the 4 screws holding on the top, the top should pop right off.


5. Undo the 2 bigger screws holding on the worm gear adjuster. Trying to take off the top by spinning the adjuster takes forever.


6. Mark the upper and lower burr carriers. I used a silver sharpie, and marked them at about the midpoint of my usual grind range. This way when you put everything back together it's easy to dial in the next shot, another big time saver.


7. Unscrew the top burr carrier, and count how many turns it takes. On mine it's 2 1/2 turns, which means when I'm screwing it back on it takes 3 turns if I start with the marks lined up (1/2 turn for the threads to catch, and 2 1/2 to get back to the same adjustment point).

Notice all the gunk stuck to the bottom of the burrs, that's not loose grinds, it's thick oily buildup that I have to scrape off (and that's only a week's worth).


These are the loose grinds that get left between the sweepers and the burrs. It's at least a shot's worth, they will just brush out, but if you don't take the top burr off there's no way to get to them through the front or top.




I noticed an immediate change in taste when I first cleaned everything out, if you've never pulled the burrs off and cleaned the old grinds out, or only do it once in a while, I'd definitely recommend trying to do it more often. With a little practice it only takes me 5 mins or so.


Putting everything back together is just the reverse, but make sure you've counted how many turns it takes to unscrew your top burr carrier, so you'll get back to the right grind setting. Also, I usually put the shoot back on before tightening down the top, to make sure that it fits in correctly.

Good luck, and remember a clean grinder is a happy grinder

Fantastic walk-through! Thanks so much. I dunno how I missed this yesterday. THis will also be really helpful for when the time comes to replace the burrs.

The first time I opened mine up I was very surprised to find all the coffee that sticks in there like that. I don't think knocking the grinder gets that out because I was obsessive about knocking/rapping the casing to purge (probably why I had so many hopper cracking problems with it). A good clean is worth it but I'm not sure how long the effect will last. The coffee will refill there quickly and stale again in a day or so.

Agreed, the first time I opened it up and gave it a good cleaning was right after a regular sweeping out with a brush and some good whacks, and there was still a good amount of grinds left (the first time I went way overboard, almost had the whole thing apart). If you really wanted to avoid any stale grinds in there you would have to open up the grinder everyday, which is way to much more work.

But 5 mins a week is definitely worth it for me to get out that gunky build up, I think that's the stuff that will really leave some off flavors in the coffee. I'll also clean it out when switching coffees, I think it makes it a little easier to dial in the new beans when you're not getting flavors left over from the last batch. I pull it apart while I'm letting my baskets and dispersion screen soak (the back of the screen can get a little messy too).

Great post Tristan, very helpful. For those who don't wish to take the '53' apart, simply (ha) turn the adjustment knob many times (keep count) to open up the burrs (for a coarser grind), then run the grinder. You'll be surprised how much compacted gunk comes out.

Fwiw, I find Tristan's method easier and better for seeing what's inside (also-2mm on the allen wrench). I agree that a weekly cleaning routine is a good system for this grinder, assuming you want great tasting espresso. I should have been doing this long ago.

I don't know how easy it is for other grinders, it seems to me that the interior build-up and cleaning is perhaps the main 'flaw' of the pl53. Then again for all I know maintenance is similar or worse for other grinders. Thus prompting me to ask....

How 'easy'/frequent is cleaning maintenance for grinders in the $400 up 'category'?

That is actually not bad for grind retention. I quit taking my grinders apart for cleaning. To much work and if you happen to cross thread the burr carrier, you ruin the grinder. Air compressor works very good. Set it at 100psi, point the hopper away from you and blow air into the grinds discharge chute. That will blow all that stuff out the machine without having to take it all apart.