Hi all, 

 

I just had to post after reading and seeing all the talent and intelligence on the boards. My issue is a difficult diagnoses over a forum, but any help is appreciated. 

 

The company I work for has a Mazzer Robur E they bought last year as a trail grinder, in hopes to implement them in our 2 shops.  Long story short, I took it home, cleaned it out, plugged it in and hit grind. Shockingly after a hour of trying to dial it in. It was grinding a 20g in 9.6 seconds at best...  Also, the grinds where warm. Even after letting it sit a minute or 2 apart.

 

I know how great these grinders are and had the chance to play with one at intelgensia's lab in NYC. 9.6 seconds is not even close to what there capable of or what theres was producing... After talking with my boss, he said he had the same results hence why it has been collecting dust on our parts shelf... 

 

This leaves me with 2 conclusions. One, I am pulling a noob and if someone would be nice enough to walk me through a set by step on how to dial in this beauty. I would be very thankful. Two, this grinder unfortunately was manufacture defect or damaged in shipping.  Where would be the best place to get this fixed in the (NJ/NYC) area? Or is there something I can do my self to diagnose? I am a bit mechanically inclined or I like to think so. 

 

Thank you in advance for your replies. I look forward to adding what knowledge I have to barista exchanging! 

 

Peach 

 

P.S. I should have mentioned that when adjusting the grinder. The grinder adjustment ring took a little mussel and took 3 to 3.5 times to where I could begin dialing in.  I was think stripped threads on the adjustment ring....:(

 

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Anyone else notice a substantial vibration in that video? Hear the portafilter rattling on the forks? I don't use a Robur on a regular basis, but don't recall that kind of vibration.

 

Two other thoughts:

 

Are these burrs too new? I recently sold a Compak K10 conical, talked up how much faster it was than a super jolly. Unboxed it on the customer's bar and found that it was grinding substantially slower than it should have been. Kind of a let-down for the customer, and I was a little embarrassed. I'd forgotten that brand new burrs take time to break in and will grind far slower than you'd expect out of the box. Once that grinder had seen 50+ pounds of espresso the grind times were way better and the customer was really happy. You said this grinder had been collecting dust on a shelf - any chance these burrs haven't been broken in yet?

 

When you say that you had different ideas about extraction, any chance your idea includes grinding much finer? Doesn't appear to be crazy fine in the video (no visible clumping) but finer grind = slower speed.

 

All this aside, despite the fact that this grinder is no longer in warranty, it is disappointing that a piece of equipment as expensive as this is still not right. Having customers like you be publicly unhappy to this degree with a flagship product is not good for 1st Line or Mazzer. I'm interested to see where this goes.

Anyone else notice a substantial vibration in that video? Hear the portafilter rattling on the forks? I don't use a Robur on a regular basis, but don't recall that kind of vibration.

Good call Brady, sure does sound like the PF is vibrating on the forks, although camera microphones make all sorts of higher pitch sounds difficult to discern correctly.  Peach, can you confirm this?  If so, if you place your hand on the side of the grinder, is there a noticeable vibration on it?  Before speculating on the causes, could you confirm or deny this?

P.S. I should have mentioned that when adjusting the grinder. The grinder adjustment ring took a little mussel and took 3 to 3.5 times to where I could begin dialing in.  I was think stripped threads on the adjustment ring....:(

 

Have you backed the top assembly off to look at the threads?  This could surely be a source of vibration problems, and prematurely worn burrs if it is cross threaded.  If it was cross threaded, there should be some discernible marring on the threads, especially where the threads first come together.  



Jason Haeger said:

It does sound like dull burrs to me. Of course, if the threads have been stripped, it could have a similar effect if the burrs are only slightly off-level.

Brady and Keith,

 

Thanks for your input, it is so awesome of you guys. I can confirm that it is the protafilter vibrating on the forks. That is a crazy good catch! I didn't think that would matter, but could see if the threads became cross threaded. This could throw things off axis causing a vibration, correct? 

 

Brady, Thanks for all your knowledgeable input, really helpful. I ran maybe 20 pounds through it so far. As far as my grind particular goes, as a rough description, I run 18 g shots at 27 seconds. In that video I was close to that, but was so frustrated I was doubting my career as barista.. lol..

 

Keith, Thanks again! I have backed off the assembly and took a look at the threads, looks clean. The bit of resistance I am having when spinning the assembly back on made me assume that may be cross threaded... 

 

I have a Canon that I am going to take in to work and take high res photos of the burs and the threads. I may take another video showing me assembling it and include a rough dial in.  

Once I know what is wrong I have plans to connect mazzer directly. Not sure what my success will be but not going to give up!

 

I can't thank you all enough, totally awesome of all of you to take time to chat!

 

peach

 

Those are some fluffy grinds! Maybe you want to keep it the way it is? ha! I havnt seen a robur that didnt produce some clumps.

 

Maybe a picture of the burrs spinning would help?

Lots of speculation....

 

Remove the anti-Static screen from the dosing chamber. It is holding the coffee back, causing it to regrind, thus the warm coffee. A properly tuned Robur will grind 19 grams in 3.3 seconds.

hey guys,

 

Stopped by the lab today after my shift at the cafe.  I took some high resalution photos of the burs and the threads on the machine. Also took the best video I could of the assembly and grinding of the robur. Sorry for the shakiness and poor quality all i have is a iphone...

 

Very thankful to have you fellas to input. 

 

Here is the link for the video sorry for some of the background noise in the roastery and my wordy narrating.. been up since 4am and to much caffeine! Here is the Link:

Click Here for Video

Here are the high res photos below:

If you look at this next photo, on the threads there is a slight "ripple" in the top thread. I personally don't think its effecting it, then again i don't know what effecting it. lol

The tips of the burrs is the only thing I could chalk it up to be.

Hmm... that clicking noise from the burrs doesnt seem normal. (when you have the grinder running with no coffee). The vibration of the portafilter on the fork is normal, i verified that at work last week. And the two brand new robur E's at work(like a month old) spit out 19 grams in under 4 secs. Though there is a little more variance in the weight than normal(plus or minus one gram). This should subside after the burrs are broken in. Have you contacted Mazzer? I think they could trouble shoot this really easily. My guess is something internal, not the burrs. Everything looks amazingly new, like you said.

Remove the screen. The coffee is being held back causing the clicking sound. If you need help in how to remove screen. Give me a shout at terryz@espressoparts.com

I would take this suggestion very seriously. Terry knows a thing or two about these grinders :)

Terry Z said:

Remove the screen. The coffee is being held back causing the clicking sound. If you need help in how to remove screen. Give me a shout at terryz@espressoparts.com

Remove the screen. The coffee is being held back causing the clicking sound. If you need help in how to remove screen.

 

Terry, wouldn't removing the screen contribute to clumping and static issues?  I have customers with Robur's that have the screen intact and can easily achieve 3-4 second grind times. 

 

Peach, I would be curious if this solves the issue.  If so, does your cafe use darkly roasted beans, with large amounts of visible oil?  Perhaps this could cause enough resistance on the screen to slow down the grind time? 

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