Cino Senior Member Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Posts: 78 Location: Georgia Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Old Krups Thermoblock Grinder: Rocky
Posted Sat Jan 6, 2007, 8:10pm Subject: Is my Rocky Broken?
I am trying to figure out if I have a defective Rocky. I rec'd it as a gift for Christmas. Christmas day I set it up and noticed a continuous grinding sound, like some beans caught in the burrs or something. I also thought I heard metal against metal on all settings, but I got it to go away by turning it off, tightening the hopper all the way to the stop, and then backing off. Then I was able to zero it and found a zero point at setting 4. It seemed to grind beans OK, but even w/out beans it was louder than had I expected and it always sounded like a few beans were still getting kicked around in the burrs, even long after the hopper was emptied. I figured that was normal.
So I put Rocky away until I could find a permanent location in the kitchen, which was today. When I set him back up, again I heard metal against metal at all settings. Again I spun the hopper all the way to the stop w/ the power off and backed off. The metal grinding sound stopped and I checked the zero point, it was still at setting 4. But I can still hear that sound that sounds like some beans are caught between the burrs.
It also has a pretty prominant hum. Quieter than any other grinder I have ever had, but louder than I expected from the comments I have read on this site. So I measured the sound level. With no beans in the hopper the A-weighted sound level is 64 dB at 12 inches from the grinder.
Does all of this sound normal or do I need to ship this thing back?
kinkbmxco Senior Member Joined: 30 Dec 2006 Posts: 126 Location: Olympia Washington Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Alex by Izzo Mk1 Grinder: Mazzer Super Jolly Roaster: Behmor 16000
Posted Sat Jan 6, 2007, 10:08pm Subject: Re: Is my Rocky Broken?
I just got my Rocky yesterday and I was having a lot of trouble with it as well. I followed some steps zeroing it out here on the forums. I first unscrewed the three screws in the hopper then pulled it out and removed that screw on the bottom of the hopper. I put that back on and then unthreaded the hopper. This is good to look at so you can see how it works (If you didnt know) I then carefully threaded the hopper back on until I couldnt tighten it anymore and backed off a couple notches. I noticed that after doing this I wasnt sitting on any numbers...I cant even see ANY numbers where my hopper is setting now. So I paid no mind to this and figured I had successfully zeroed it and I gave it a test run. I dropped some beans in the hopper and turned it on. Nothing came out, I just heard this awful noise and the beans were spinning around not grinding or anything. So... adjusted the hopper back some more! Same thing. Sometimes it seemed like the motor was jammed or something. It just wouldnt spin. I took off my hopper again thinking that ill just start all over and hopefully it will work. After taking it off I saw that there were some coarse grinds just hanging out on top of the bur and some whole beans. I vaccumed these out and I turned on the motor and watched the burr spin. It was working fine. I followed the same procedure I did before but the same thing happened. This resulted in me being incredibly frustrated and I did this same procedure several more times...Then one time it just worked for some reason. I dont understand what I did differently. Anyways the grinds are super fine now and I just adjust from there... Im scared to undo my hopper in fear ill run into the same problem haha. If I were you I would remove your hopper again...vaccum out any grind or beans that are in there, and try and zero it again.. My grinder seems to be working fine now. Sorry this isnt any expert advice... Im giving you my experience as a newbie who recieved his first real grinder yesterday. Good luck.
Posted Sat Jan 6, 2007, 10:11pm Subject: Re: Is my Rocky Broken?
I'm not a sound engineer but my gut says 64 dB sounds a little high to me. It isn't silent but I can't think of any kitchen appliance that is quieter. The microwave fan can drown it out.
I'm puzzled about what could be producing a metal on metal sound. That doesn't seem possible to me. At least, I can't imagine how the burrs could be producing it. You could try removing the hopper and inspecting the burrs. Some people have used teflon tape to snug up the burr carrier. I may have done that and forgotten.
Posted Sat Jan 6, 2007, 10:15pm Subject: Re: Is my Rocky Broken?
Well it certainly sounds like it should be shipped back. If the Rocky is completely empty from new or after a complete cleaning it runs with a relatively quiet hum. This is subjective of course since these motors are not silent after all.
This problem could be the result a number of things ranging from a loose screw in the burrs, to a cracked burr or broken off piece of the burr floating around in there, to any number of other possibles including burr alignment etc. If you feel mechanical enough to take a look without screwing up the warranty you could investigate further. If so, you should disconnect the power, empty the bean hopper and then unscrew the three screws inside the bean hopper (to remove the bean hopper from the machine), and lift off the hopper.
If you visually still can't see anything strange you should unthread the top burr from the bottom burr by turning it counter clockwise. Once that is done you should be able to see if anything is loose lying around and/or if there is burr damage.
If you aren't up to this or if your examination does not turn up any obvious culprits you should return it to the vendor for replacement. Of course even if you do find out the problem you may want to return it anyway, especially if there is burr damage.
Kristi Senior Member Joined: 6 Oct 2005 Posts: 2,281 Location: Boston Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Evo w silvia wand Grinder: Macap M4 mod to d&s-less Roaster: (Jeff at Redbirdcoffee)
Posted Sat Jan 6, 2007, 10:18pm Subject: Re: Is my Rocky Broken?
Yes, take it apart as the kinkbmxco suggested. check for loose burr screws.
When nothing comes out it is because Rocky is initially set too fine - loosen it up a quarter turn, then try again. Then adjust finer as needed.
#--> I recommend Eric Svendson's adapter and thermometer for E61s (also Silvia) : easy surfing! # My photo albums have moved to http://picasaweb.google.com/krislema2
Derek87 Senior Member Joined: 15 Sep 2006 Posts: 61 Location: CA Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sat Jan 6, 2007, 10:49pm Subject: Re: Is my Rocky Broken?
just checked mine without beans: about 63-64 db from 12 inches. granted, mine is sort of in a corner so the sound reverberates, but that's about consistent with the prior post.
mine, however, does not have grinding or metal sounds...its just the hum of the motor and some quiet spinning sound. but most of the sound is just a lower frequency sound which i believe is the motors. grinding, if i recall correctly (i checked once because i actually have a case of hyperacusis) is around 74 db...much quieter than a whirley blade, but not silent.
actually, one final comment, the spinning is more prominent after i turn it off since the motor no longer is audible, but i can hear it spin down. my follow-up question is: how frequent (if ever) should the motor spindle be lubed? or is it even serviceable?
Cino Senior Member Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Posts: 78 Location: Georgia Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Old Krups Thermoblock Grinder: Rocky
Posted Sun Jan 7, 2007, 11:06am Subject: Re: Is my Rocky Broken?
Derek: Does the spinning sound you mentioned sound like scraping? That may be what I am hearing. I had assumed it was caused by something caught in the mechanism somethere like some beans or something - but if you are hearing the same thing maybe it is normal? Certainly the 64 dBA you are measuring is in line with what I am measuring.
I'd still have to investigate why I was getting the metal grinding sounds initially - the suggestions to open it up and look for loose screws sound like they may be the way to go. I'll check w/ the vendor to see if that is OK for me to do or if they simply want me to return it.
Derek87 Senior Member Joined: 15 Sep 2006 Posts: 61 Location: CA Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sun Jan 7, 2007, 2:47pm Subject: Re: Is my Rocky Broken?
i am not sure i'd call my "spin down sound" as scraping. at worst, it's a mild scraping but its pretty "gentle" and not harsh metal on metal scraping sound if that's what your asking. think of your vacuum cleaner when you turn it off...the brushes/etc still spin until friction slows it all down...that's what i'm hearing.
i am not, however, getting any metal grinding sound initially. like i said, without any beans, it hear primarily the sound of the motor humming...that's most of the 64 db i measure.
my grinder (now 4 months old) has performed well and has not given me any problems. very even grind and only the occasional "feed" issues [with or without finger guard] when i use oily beans.
Cino Said:
Derek: Does the spinning sound you mentioned sound like scraping? That may be what I am hearing. I had assumed it was caused by something caught in the mechanism somethere like some beans or something - but if you are hearing the same thing maybe it is normal? Certainly the 64 dBA you are measuring is in line with what I am measuring.
I'd still have to investigate why I was getting the metal grinding sounds initially - the suggestions to open it up and look for loose screws sound like they may be the way to go. I'll check w/ the vendor to see if that is OK for me to do or if they simply want me to return it.
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