blutch wrote:Did you have massive retention with your Apex I do?

I already explained with pics in the previous page.. No, what I mean my experience using RDT "before" I buy Apex I have several electric and low end hand grinder which is need RDT.

Orphan Espresso Apex Grinder

Trying RDT is the most easy way as Craig told Orphan Espresso Apex Grinder

I tried the wet spoon handle on tonight's cup. No change. Just as much static, just as much retention. I tried opening up to the coarsest setting and moved it cw and ccw and it didn't change anything. Grounds still stuck up in the chute and all around the lip to the chute. Three good bangs and I got all but .5 grams out. I went a little coarser on the grind and it was a really great cup.

So the RDT really don't change the retention, btw the cw and ccw and open and close the grind setting wasn't for your retention it's for the feeding problem when you're only using the funnel like my setup, now you are still using the funnel + spring auger right? So no need to do the cw, ccw, open close setting cause the spring auger already guide the beans especially with the funnel...

Do you want to try the deep cleaning? You can try follow the OE guidelines and if you had a time you can try to use your original setup the funnel only, maybe you can try deep cleaning after you brew session but don't banging grinder so you can see which area the coffee grinds stuck the most.
By following the OE guidelines as Craig said before you can compare are there any different with the OE guidelines.

Thanks for that clarification. I think this is the next step. It may be a few days before I can find the time to do it. I had such difficulties before, I'm a little gunshy to do it again.

I definitely have the same retention issues. I don't like keeping coffee grounds stuck in the grinder, so every morning I lightly bang the grinder on the table a few times along with using a brush and air blower in the chute. I get retention down to about 0.3 of a gram. If I didn't, my retention would be close to 3 - 5 grams.

My daily driver is 30g of coffee using RDT; usually on C-4 or C-5 for a V60.

I love everything about this grinder besides the retention. Definitely keep me updated if you find any solutions. I do find lighter roasts will create more retention than darker, although I primary drink light roasts.

I am researching how to get a bellows to work with the grinder, but the inlet shape is very unique. It's been frustrating.

The newer Apex grinders have a cover with a properly aimed hole and a blower to help get the grounds out. I also found RDT helped a lot, enough I don't think I worried about retention any more.

I bought the cover with the hole in it and the bulb blower offered by OE. I thought this would blow out retained grounds like a bellows, but it doesn't and wasn't ever intended for that. It is intended to move beans into the burrs. I don't have a problem with that because I use the spring auger. My solution is to bang the crap out of grinder after I finish the grind. I have mine mounted to a 2.5" heavy cutting board, so I am banging it while it is connected to that. It's often remarkable the amount of coffee that comes out of those burrs when I do that. I roast mostly medium-dark to dark beans, so they grind up pretty easily. The thing I don't understand is that my pour overs are stalling and getting very muddy lately and I've been on the same setting for months. I guess I need to go coarser, but I don't know why it would change over time. Any ideas on that?

michaeldscherr wrote:I definitely have the same retention issues. I don't like keeping coffee grounds stuck in the grinder, so every morning I lightly bang the grinder on the table a few times along with using a brush and air blower in the chute. I get retention down to about 0.3 of a gram. If I didn't, my retention would be close to 3 - 5 grams.

My daily driver is 30g of coffee using RDT; usually on C-4 or C-5 for a V60.

I love everything about this grinder besides the retention. Definitely keep me updated if you find any solutions. I do find lighter roasts will create more retention than darker, although I primary drink light roasts.

I am researching how to get a bellows to work with the grinder, but the inlet shape is very unique. It's been frustrating.

blutch wrote:I bought the cover with the hole in it and the bulb blower offered by OE. I thought this would blow out retained grounds like a bellows, but it doesn't and wasn't ever intended for that. It is intended to move beans into the burrs. I don't have a problem with that because I use the spring auger. My solution is to bang the crap out of grinder after I finish the grind. I have mine mounted to a 2.5" heavy cutting board, so I am banging it while it is connected to that. It's often remarkable the amount of coffee that comes out of those burrs when I do that. I roast mostly medium-dark to dark beans, so they grind up pretty easily. The thing I don't understand is that my pour overs are stalling and getting very muddy lately and I've been on the same setting for months. I guess I need to go coarser, but I don't know why it would change over time. Any ideas on that?

I've come to find that brewing pour over has so many variables that it's hard to pinpoint the issue sometimes. It could be from:

• bean density (light vs medium vs dark roast)

• grinder (some grinders / burrs create more fines then others)

• water temperature

• filter paper used

• brewer used

• amount of agitation used during the brew

• etc

re grinder - in Apex's case, it might be creating more fines from turning the crank too fast. The age of the burrs might also play a role here.

So I would evaluate each of those variables and change one thing to see if it has an effect. I think an easy one is to increase water temperature and see if that helps. If you are already using 210+ (Fahrenheit) then I might try lessening the agitation during the brew.

I find that, if needed, one bang is sufficient.

Thanks for those tips. I use various brewers and filter papers. I always do pourovers off the boil. Kalita, V60, Fellow, Tricolate are among my favorites. Yes, every one is a little different. I don't know about bean density. I use various beans, but since I roast my own they are usually on the darker side. I only use the Apex at home, but I use a Sette 270 at work.