Hi all I've been having issues getting a consistent grind from my Pharos. I purchased it a few months ago and had been using it for mainly aeropress and it was working great. I recently got a V60 so I tried to coarsen up the grind a bit, but have since been getting a very inconsistent grind. I'm getting huge chunks of beans (bigger than even what you would use for a french press) and so many fines that it has been clogging up my V60. I've tried anywhere from 2-5 turns from zero (going in quarter turns) and have had the same issues. Has anyhow else had similar experiences with this or know how to fix it? Thank you in advance!!

(Also on an unrelated note there was a plastic o-ring taped to the top of the pharos box when I purchased it. Does anyone know what it is for?)

Have you contacted OE about the problem?

I believe they included the washer for you to put between the split-collar and the bearing (not sure as mine didn't come with it). Their website has it separately and can serve as an explanation. I'm sure if you look it up you'll find it here as it's typically based on feedback from users.

As for the fines, could be the alignment or inherent to the grinder. If you do try to align it, make sure you have some oil for the bearing / shaft.

Those are oiltite bearings and do not require periodic lubrication. Do not clean bearings with solvent either.

I get that, however, from experience when you take it apart some of it tends to get on your hands and work area if you're not cognizant of it. It's best to have it and not take it apart / put it back together twice for a simple, but easily made, mistake. *shrug*

2-5 turns from zero? Does the Pharos 2 have a lot finer threads on it than my old version? If not, that is way too coarse. 3/4 revolution gives me fine drip grind.

I have two Pharos generation 2 grinders at the moment. One brand-new one I've borrowed from my father and on second-hand one I recently bought. Had the felling the second-hand one was producing a wider range of particle size. Did a small test to compare the two grinders: 3g of the same espresso-blend ground with each grinder. Grind-setting adjusted to create a similar flow-rate on the Caravel (coarse espresso grind;approx. 3/4 of a turn from zero) using approx. same grinds-weight. Put the grinds from each grinder into a fine metal tee-sieve. Tapped the sieve for 15 sec. into a first cup, then for another 15 sec. into a second cup and tipped the rest into a third cup (At the beginning of the tapping predominantly fines fell through the sieve. The longer I tapped, the higher the percentage of bigger grinds falling through the sieve). This gave me three cups with visually clearly different grind-sizes. The "rocks" in the third cup were way bigger then the fines in the first. I did two rounds and weighed the content of each cup. I used cheap scales with an accuracy of 0.05g, which is probably the cause of total weight after sieving differing from 3g at start.

• grind-size------new grinder------new grinder-----second-hand------second-hand
  rocks in g----------------1.15---------------1.10-----------------1.25-----------------1.20
  medium------------------0.50---------------0.50-----------------0.30-----------------0.50
  fines in g----------------1.25--------------- 1.30-----------------1.40-----------------1.35
  total after sieving-----2.90----------------2.90-----------------2.95-----------------3.05

The sieve


Fine grinds


Rocks.Same distance to the lens.

I suspect that the Pharos produces a very wide range of particle sizes, similar to the HG-1 in the grinder studies by Socratic Coffee (sorry, still can't link other threads). My feeling is, it's either the low rpm on the hand-grinders or the single-dosing-mode or both. Anyway, my little test (with all its limitations) makes me feel confident, that my second-hand grinder is not way out (new grinder has never been dissembled). Despite the similarities in this very crude test, the taste differs somewhat between the grinders, probably due to the burrs on the new one not being quite seasoned.

Interesting test. As consistent as your results were, I have a hard time believing that I could tell the difference between the two in a taste test unless another factor was involved such as water temp variability. I hope at least that the coffee was delicious.

I have a Pharos 2, haven't used it for anything except espresso so far, and so far it's been working beautifully.
In case you haven't already figured it out, the white plastic/teflon washer is supposed to be placed in between the bearing and split collar adjustment nut. It makes for smoother easier turning action.
In a previous post, Doug Garrott of OE explained why the Pharos or any other titan conical hand grinder would not perform as well in coarser grind setting. Due to the slower RPM of hand grinding, larger particles have a tendency to "wiggle" out between the large burrs without being ground down to the target particle size. My guess is this phenomenon is not seen in electric grinders because the higher RPM throws the particles around more and doesn't give those larger particles a chance to wiggle out, or at least to a much lesser degree. Why this is not seen in smaller burr hand grinders like the LIDO 2/3/E, I'm not exactly sure. The LIDO certainly has a solid reputation of providing good even grounds across a wide spectrum of uses.
I would suggest going back to a finer grind setting, ~1 turn from zero or less, and visually inspect the grounds for evenness. If the grounds are pretty even, then there is probably nothing wrong with the grinder, but it is just a function of using a titan conical hand grinder for coarse ground applications.
If you don't drink espresso or turkish coffee, my suggestion would be to sell the Pharos (you will certainly get a good price for it) and buy a LIDO 2 or 3. It will probably work as well as Pharos for aeropress or fine drip, and work even better for coarser applications like pour over and french press.
I have owned a LIDO E and can tell you that it makes an amazing cup using aeropress and Chemex. I had issues with burr rub at espresso or finer settings, but this was not a problem at all for aeropress and coarser.
FWIW, I've been making pour over coffee with the HG-1, and it tastes great! Some have suggested that the 83mm conical burrs produce less fines, but this hasn't been definitively proven.

MCALheaven wrote:Interesting test. As consistent as your results were, I have a hard time believing that I could tell the difference between the two in a taste test unless another factor was involved such as water temp variability. I hope at least that the coffee was delicious.

Even though this simple test shows some consistence, putting grinds through one sieve isn't going to prove identical grinds distribution in both grinders. Taste was good in both. The difference was just a feeling. Didn't do any blind testing. And of course there are plenty of variables to affect taste, though I do have a relatively fixed routine and monitor the temperature.