Hi,

I have a K30 with about 2 years of home use (4-6 shots per day) that started to clump more.

This grinder use to produce super fluffy and clump free grounds.

I have disassemble it completely and washed the burrs and vacuumed everything so it looked brand new.

Any thoughts on why I can't get the fluffy, clump free I was getting before ?

Time for new burrs ?!?

Thanks

Check the condition of the white nylon piece with the flaps located in the outlet hole before the chute. This is what breaks up the clumps.

I've had similar experiences to what Jonathan is noticing. I've found a lot of the clumping correlates to the changing of the weather; when it's cold and static-y, there tends to be a higher frequency of clumps and inaccurate timed doses. In fact, fellow HBer William (Ellejaycafe) posited the winter static as a likely culprit for the inaccurate dosing; perhaps whatever ~0.xg of a timed dose electrically clings along the chamber/chute and is held from the portafilter.

Similarly, I've checked the status of my silicone flaps and noticed no discernible degradation of their "structural integrity." I've toyed with the idea of making a flapper from a higher-resistant material (i.e. something as simple as plastic cup), because the back-resistance of the flapper is what aids smooth flow of grinds and accuracy of the timed dose.

Overall? Not totally sure how to remedy the clumps either

JohnB. wrote:Check the condition of the white nylon piece with the flaps located in the outlet hole before the chute. This is what breaks up the clumps.

Talking about #36 ?

That's it.

Yup, that's the one. I personally haven't needed to replace it for domestic use; I would like to find a way to reinforce it, however, to provide more resistance (I believe Colin Harmon's talk about the Mythos Clima Pro emphasized resistance as connected to the clump-ability of the exiting coffee).

Too much resistance and you have excess retention and staling which ruins everything. I have resorted to vacuuming my K30 after every use and I still have stale ground in the chute.

I find the only thing that produces a suitable basket of evenly distributed grounds without clumping is to collect the coffee in a Blind Shaker, then WDT vigorously with a small whisk in the portafilter that has the Orphan Espresso SS funnel sitting in it and tap/bang vertically on my Cafelat Splat 'Salvador Dali' inspired tamping mat.

I will soon be using a Mahlgut Dozer & Buzzer Tamper as well - if they ever arrive. That should take this obsession about as far as possible without also swinging around a live chicken, held by its feet, over my head!

I would say replace the flapper and see if it helps. They are super cheap. Just order 5 while you're at it. I have replaced mine 5 times in one year (medium volume commercial use)

I realize yours may look fine but when they get old they simply get stuck open and provide no resistance. The flappers are pushed open constantly, they just don't last that long.

Also, static is a real pain and there's not much you can do about that on most on demand grinders. Static is the bane of my existence during winter, it pisses me off daily.

And don't forget Jonathan that we had sone crazy cold temp in the last week in Quebec so that may be either the extreme cold temp with much lower humidity or the clump crusher but certainly not the burrs in such a low usage!