I am in the practice of sweeping out the grounds in my SJ after every weighed dose, so I am able to say that the amount left in the throat is more than 'just a few grams'. That's wasted coffee in there that you aren't using. And, evacuating stale grounds from there on the following day, by pushing through new coffee, sounds like a mixture and or more grounds going into the trash. Its either that or you are making drinks from the grind.

I've got available to me a good 3d printer, and cad, and I have been tinkering on my SJ for about a year. When I get the time to do it, I am going to make a hopper funnel that overcomes the angles and catch points on the intake side of the SJ. Then, with a cylindrical hole to toss in beans, I have a piston that is a fairly tight fit. If it works as I intend, I should be able to create a flush of air downwards that will push out the grounds in the throat. As for the output side on my SJ, I made a metal plate (free!) as the backing motor cover. I used an aluminum beer bottle, inverted it and cut off the bottom. I put a hole in it to match the mouth of the mazzer and riveted it to the metal backing plate. wala, no mess, no sweep, no issues, and did I say free?

The darkroom timer looks like a nice add, but then, there are too many beans in the hopper to flush it with the piston design. I don't mind weighing. One of my fistful of beans is really close to 17g.

FotonDrv wrote:Turtle:

Did you consider using this for getting the grounds into a basket/PF?
http://www.espressoparts.com/MAZ_131?

I know you would probably have to hold the PF while it grinds and you are not interested in doing that, but did you consider this? I have a Kony-E that I use as a single doser and unless I use the anti-static screen it is sort of messy and certainly not accurate for dosing. But while using the screen grounds stay in the grinding chamber, about 30g worth, so if I am being picky I dump the first dose and retain the accuracy of the electronic doser.

But I mentioned picky, so if I dose into a basket that is sitting on a scale that sits on the PF Holder then I use the pulse button and get exactly what I need as displayed on the scale. Certainly not a speedy way to do it but it works. Now if Mazzer, or anyone who is motivated, builds a weight based switch for their Mazzer, like the Baratza W, then they would eliminate variables.

Stephen

I talked to a few people who had done the grocery spout mod and abandoned it for various reasons. The open top funnel is easier to keep clean and does not "catch" any grounds so all that comes past the screen drop into the portafilter.

I am pretty satisfied with how things turned out. The accuracy is as good as it was when I weighed each grind and "chunked" the manual doser dry with far less splatter of grounds.

I know it is not as accurate as my Vario-W but the grind consistency from the SJ is a little better than I was getting from the Baratza so now I have converted the Vario-W to steel burrs and only use it for pour over, drip, and press grinding.

I did put the finger guard in the doser as after using it for a while I saw no reason not to use it. The inside stays clean so it is not an issue being in there and as I see it only protects the fine a-stat screen from fingers and brushes.

I am not a die hard coffee fanatic. I enjoy my coffee and anything I can do that makes it more enjoyable is a win win for me and not making such a mess (and hearing about it from the wife) is a BIG enjoyment increase

I am new here, i hope you do not mind me asking....

I have SJ i am considering to convert to doserless as well. The question in my mind which funnel to use, MINI or larger Robur size? How did you decide on MINI? Also what is the distance between the bottom of your funnel to the PF fork in your conversion?
Thanks

I chose the Mini electronic doser because it was shorter and I could use the Orphan Espresso tall dosing cylinder to make up the difference in depth. I figured it was better to be too short than too long as I could add something to make up any problem but it would be difficult to remove or reposition things.

http://www.orphanespresso.com/OE-IPANEM ... _2540.html

Having used the Mini funnel doser alone for a week with the portafilter resting "on top" of the old forks I saw that having it too close to the funnel was not good so knew I made the right decision.

Distance between the bottom of the doser to the top of the Portafilter is 2" this drops to 3/4" with the cylinder attached to the portafilter

The combination of the Mini electronic doser and the OE cylinder is a perfect match

Thanks Turtle!

thank you. I think I will follow your lead.

I noticed you also have on/off switch. Mine is timer based. I suppose I'll wait changing the switch until timer breaks.

thanks again, Tony

Personally I prefer the mechanical timer switch at home single dosing. Turns itself off so I don't have to.

I have one of each. The timer is much easier to shift back to off than the switch, which offers some resistance.

tonyv138 wrote:thank you. I think I will follow your lead.

I noticed you also have on/off switch. Mine is timer based. I suppose I'll wait changing the switch until timer breaks.

thanks again, Tony

The timer SJ should work just as well as a manual switch with the external Auber timer box. Turn the SJ timer on then press the dose button on the Auber. The SJ grinder timer will cut the power to the grinder when the timer winds down. You will just need to wind the timer on the SJ before dosing but with the manual I need to remember to power it on, otherwise the Auber timer just runs alone

I set my bee house dripper on the timer yesterday and it did a double dose as I had forgotten to switch the grinder off. No big as I had the portafilter in the cradle so I didn't dump coffee all over the place. A grinder with a timer would avoid this as the grinder will power off on its own when the timer winds down. Anything that takes "pilot error" out of the mix is always a good thing

My grinder is made really by ASTOIRA. This is why I thought it was SJ. I was at the store today to discover that mine is smaller than SJ, it is a mini, BUT, the burrs are 64MM = SJ size.

Is there a way to determine the motor power on this grinder?

I have no labels - second hand and repainted.

Anyways, conversion parts are on order.

Thanks