Need help removing doser from Mazzer grinder

#1: Post by **marcel** » March 7th, 2007, 4:10 pm

After being annoyed with the doser on my Mazzer Mini for a year now, I would like to remove it and jettison it into space. It seems silly, but I don't know how to remove the doser!

I've read that there are 4 screws, two on either side of the coffee chute, and two on the "floor" of the doser. The first set are no problem. Its the second set that have me stumped, because they have smooth screw covers on top. I've seen pictures of other people's Minis, and I've seen those exact screws (exposed) full of coffee grounds. I guess Mazzer noticed the "flaw" of having those screw holes exposed in the doser chamber, and did me a "favor" by putting some nice covers on there.

(Sorry about the quality, I only have access to a camera phone.)

How do I remove those covers to get at the screws? I can't see any obvious niche to stick a flathead screwdriver into... Also, is it as simple as unscrewing those 4 screws, or is there more to it? I noticed 2 more screws on the underside of the doser that take an Allen wrench...

Thanks for any advice.

#2: Post by **k7qz** » March 7th, 2007, 7:30 pm

You're right, those are caps. My memory banks told me Teme had a picture of a torn down Mini doser on his blog site (http://temesblog.blogspot.com/2005/07/m ... sweep.html) which showed the screws beneath their covers. Sure enough (from his site):

Knife blade rather than screwdriver? Something thin enough to pop them out without having break out your drill and tap set to back them out- Just a guess as my Mini is the doserless E... OK, one of you mechanics take over now.

#3: Post by **eastpresso** » March 8th, 2007, 9:42 am

You don't need to remove them in order to remove the doser. Just uncscrew the 2 hex screws (the ones next to the chute) and the doser will come off. The lower end is just hung into the grinder base. Please be aware that you will have to make some kind of cover if you want to use the mini without the doser. There are plenty of threads on how to do that, but maybe you change your mind and try this:

http://www.kaffee-netz.de/board/viewtop ... y&start=50

(Thanks for the link Teme)

Good luck!

#4: Post by **marcel** » March 8th, 2007, 12:10 pm

Thanks for the tips guys. Glad to hear I can just forget about the covered screws.

As for the gaping hole behind the doser, I purchased a cover from espressoparts.com: http://www.espressoparts.com/product/MAZ_206

I plan to just let the grinds shoot into my yogurt cup, ala WDT. If too much coffee misses the cup, I'll look into adapting a funnel or a taller cup instead of the personal-sized yogurt cup.

I've heard about static buildup, but if I'm using the WDT does it matter? Will the grinds still have a bunch of static when I'm trying to mix them around in the portafilter basket? I figured static leads to "boulders" of grounds sticking together, which my paperclip should easily break down. If not, then I'll reluctantly look into an anti-static screen to cover the exit chute, ideally such that I can easily swing it out of the way to clean the chute after each grind.

#5: Post by **k7qz** » March 8th, 2007, 12:27 pm

OK, that was easy!

Hey Bernhard:

Your pic has me curious. If I hadn't seen Teme's pics showing a slotted screw head (which I assumed was) under those doser floor caps, I would have thought the caps had to be removed to get to those screws.

Looking at your pic, my guess would be that threads are tapped into the doser body so that the allen head bolts will screw in from below. Those threaded "holes" then being covered from above with plug caps.

Just wondering which way it is- not that I'll ever move back to a Mini, more for future reference in my memory banks!

#6: Post by **eastpresso** » March 9th, 2007, 10:56 am

My guess is that the newer models all look like this one. As far as I can tell there are no 'caps' of any sort. Probably just bolts stuck through from the top and then fastened from the bottom (nuts are on the bottom).