You asked if I tried to align the burrs...I honestly wasn't even thinking about that when I swapped them.
I tightened the screws and it didn't appear to me as if there was much possible movement to work with.. on the other hand, by looking at the burrs and shining a light through the bottom, I don't visually see any differences in the gap between the burrs. But this may not be the right way to check; I really don't have experience aligning conical burrs.

I will say that I feel the results are getting a bit better the more coffee I run through it. Maybe I'm just getting used to the flavor profile, but some of the harshest bitter notes seem to be fading. There is still no question that my flat burr grinder produces a sweeter cup, but this does make a very thick, textured shot. I'm interested to try it on a lever when I get my Cremina back in service.

I didn't ask if you aligned it properly, my question was how did you do it in general. OK, you've answered me, you've just tightened the screws. OK, when I did exactly what you did, when I've rotated the handle I've experienced rubbing burrs on one side and they were free on the other (those are small margins, I can't see them, I can hear them). But never mind, if it's working good for you, it's better not to confuse you even more.
I am glad that shots are better, and seasoning burrs is quite normal, after a while shots should feel better.

Cheers!

drH wrote: I will say that I feel the results are getting a bit better the more coffee I run through it. Maybe I'm just getting used to the flavor profile, but some of the harshest bitter notes seem to be fading. There is still no question that my flat burr grinder produces a sweeter cup, but this does make a very thick, textured shot. I'm interested to try it on a lever when I get my Cremina back in service.

Any idea of the quantity of beans you ground before you noticed a difference? Thanks.

drH wrote:I will say that I feel the results are getting a bit better the more coffee I run through it. Maybe I'm just getting used to the flavor profile, but some of the harshest bitter notes seem to be fading. There is still no question that my flat burr grinder produces a sweeter cup, but this does make a very thick, textured shot. I'm interested to try it on a lever when I get my Cremina back in service.

Interested to know if you persisted with the Livi @drH and if so, how you are finding the experience of the Livi.

Updates from anyone about their experience of the Livi would be great too.

I ordered a Livi at the end of June, entirely because of this thread so thanks to all. There was nothing on the website to indicate the grinder was not in stock. Silly me for assuming. Parts required have been delayed and delayed again and again. Such is life with covid.

Valentin (owner) is not proactive in his communication but he is at least consistently responsive.

ETA is Christmas. (But I need to confirm which year )

Parts have now arrived at Malwani so pre orders are being filled.

Hi all,

I received a Malwani Black series, last year, and its alignement (but not only, the bearings, the magnets from the funnel, the wooden base also) suffered also from the shippment.
I asked Vincent how to realign it but it is really hard to communicate with that guy.

As I did not have any flexible wrench to unscrew the handle in order to look at the gear I figured out another way to realign it and it worked pretty well:

Unmounting the burr, to fixate the bearings that did not stop falling I noticed a thin steel/aluminium foil that stayed between the external burr and the structure. Vincent uses it to compensate the misalignement of the shaft.

Then by placing a blank paper beneath the burr (when it is mounted) you can see towards wich side the shaft leans.



Then unmounting the external burr you have to add "some" additionnal foils at the side you saw with the biggest gap.
By this way you can "lean" the burr the same way as the shaft.



I still think it is a gorgeous piece of art, but for a 1000€ stuff Vincent really needs to improve his service and that kind of details.
It is not normal to have to do such a work on a new machine.

The guys from Weber seem to pay way more attention to their customers.

Talking about Weber the WDT/burr wiper seems amazing, I would love to have a similar accessory for the Malwani, I think I can wait ages for Vincent to make that type of improvement on his Livi.
The Weber one should fit to the Malwani as they have the same burr diameters...

Did somebody already try it?

It's true what you say about the service and the packaging. I eventually sold mine to someone a bit more technically inclined who wanted to work on it a bit. The bearings on mine also kept popping out - if that didn't happen I think the alignment would have been fine. It was a beautiful machine and seemed well constructed, but the packing was so poor that it took quite a hammering.

I later purchased a Helor106 with the 71mm Mazzer burrs. That thing is wonderful, well aligned and makes great shots.

Brums wrote:Hi all,

I received a Malwani Black series, last year, and its alignment (but not only, the bearings, the magnets from the funnel, the wooden base also) suffered also from the shipment.
I asked Vincent how to realign it but it is really hard to communicate with that guy.

Did somebody already try it?

I have one on back order ETA March. So this could be an incredibly helpful post thanks.

I've heard very mixed reports about support from Weber (I have an EG1 but never needed support) and the spometheous review of the Key reveals the same issue you had (and DrH had) being an alignment issue with the Key. I'm wondering if there is a common design feature between the two machines that make them more susceptible to going out of alignment during shipping.

Interested to know how the Livi was packed if you are OK to share.

I have always had a response from Valentin to various emails since last June but sometimes it took a day or two, but aside from the slight delay he has responded 100% of the time and always very polite and helpful.

I'm grateful for your post.

@brums re the wipers. Hey they sound great in theory and give me a nice feeling when I flick the trigger off and on but in terms of dropping any retained grinds into the tumbler they do virtually nothing. Just like the two Niches I had, the EG1 drop clumps of grinds out periodically (2 grams or so) once the accumulated weight inside the grinder is too heavy to resist gravity.

tompoland wrote: I've heard very mixed reports about support from Weber (I have an EG1 but never needed support) and the spometheous review of the Key reveals the same issue you had (and DrH had) being an alignment issue with the Key.

Sprometheous was offered support, looks like he chose to sell the Key at a discount to promote his brand.