Grind of new Ascaso i-Mini i-2 NOT fine enough

Grinders are one of the keys to exceptional espresso. Discuss them here.
woyzeck
Posts: 3
Joined: 5 years ago

#1: Post by woyzeck »

Hi folks,

Like all of you I am in the pursuit of the perfect espresso shot. Getting close but not there yet...

I have a Rancilio Silvia version 2 and just bought a new Ascaso i-mini i-2 to get a better and finer grind. I found that my Rommelsbacher EMK 300 did grind fine enough.

Yesterday I bought two bags of fresh Espresso Roma beans at Simon Levelt: one bag of ground coffee for the Rancilio Silvia and one bag of unground beans. Obviously the same beans. I started with the ground coffee and calibrated the Rancilio Silvia by adjusting the Over Pressure Value such that a double shot of espresso came out perfectly (i.e. 2 ounces in 25 seconds). Then I tried to get to the same grind with my Ascaso i-mini i-2. I turned the knob all the way to the finest setting, but to my surprise the ground coffee at the finest setting is quite a bit coarser than the ground coffee from Simon Levelt. I spoke to a Simon Levelt representative and he claimed that the Ascaso should be able to get the same grind fineness. He also claimed that the machine will get finer after a week or two. Finally, he said that he would not have advised the Ascaso in combination with the Rancilio Silvia, because the Silvia is semi professionals whilst the Ascaso is not.

I bought the Ascaso because of its step-less knob and supposedly wide range. I am only looking to brew espressos so it thought the Ascaso would perfectly suit my needs. So far not so good.

Any help or feedback would be much appreciated.

Kind regards,

Webko

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slipchuck
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Joined: 7 years ago

#2: Post by slipchuck »

I had the i2 and can say that it is more then capable of good espresso. It can choke the espresso machine with no problem. Are the beans fresh? Make sure when you adjust the grinder to go finer when it is running



Randy
“There is nobody you can’t learn to like once you’ve heard their story.”

woyzeck (original poster)
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#3: Post by woyzeck (original poster) replying to slipchuck »

Thanks Randy. Yes the beans are fresh. Also, I have adjusted the grinder to the finest setting whilst grinding.

woyzeck (original poster)
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Joined: 5 years ago

#4: Post by woyzeck (original poster) »

UPDATE: I think I found the reason for the coarse grind. I looked inside the grinder and found that one tooth out of the 72 teeth is faulty. It seems like they have tried to cover this up by a rubber safety stop that prevents the worm screw from passing the faulty tooth. I have included pictures below. Has anyone ever seen this before?


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happycat
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#5: Post by happycat »

I see at least 3 damaged teeth that probably wouldn't engage with the adjustment screw.

Wow that's really terrible!
LMWDP #603

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slipchuck
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#6: Post by slipchuck »

I would take it back
Since it is plastic maybe you can bend that tooth back into place

Randy
“There is nobody you can’t learn to like once you’ve heard their story.”

HoldTheOnions
Posts: 764
Joined: 9 years ago

#7: Post by HoldTheOnions »

Couple thoughts. The giant holes right behind the teeth make me think it is designed to fail and break if turned finer while not grinding. Guessing that is what happened. Also, the screw engages 3 teeth, so a missing tooth shouldn't be a problem, I would just knock it out. The other teeth don't look bad enough to me to cause problems, but I could be wrong. Also a new burr holder is $9 plus shipping, so it may be easier to order the part (or get them to send you one) than to send the grinder back. https://www.1st-line.com/buy/ascaso-upp ... l-conical/ Good luck with it.