Lifestar Senior Member Joined: 2 Dec 2005 Posts: 236 Location: Howell, MI Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Grimac Mia Grinder: Baratza Vario, Rocky, KAP Drip: FP, TV, Aerobie Roaster: HotTop P, I-Roast2
Posted Mon Mar 2, 2009, 1:31pm Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
The Vario showed up today. I set it up and ran some beans through it. I have not yet pulled a shot with it I will do that tomorrow morning when I have time to play with the grind and burn up some beans. However I do have some initial thoughts.
Manual should really say you have to turn the bean hopper until you hear a click. I put on my hopper and turned it enough to lock it in and then nothing. I would get the digital count up/down but no burr movement. It turns out there is a small switch that the hopper activates that allows the burrs to operate. That's a Duh once I realized but it took me a few minutes to figure out.
PF holder is a great idea but poor construction. The adjust screw is just into the plastic which on mine had some thread issues so that I could not unscrew it without putting a thin leaver behind it to allow the turning to run the screw out. Once it was out and I went to adjust it for my bottomless E61 PF I realized it was already in the top screw. Luckily there is enough room on the pf holder guides to allow it to slide in and have the screw rest on top of the plastic for a bottomless PF fit. Its is just to bad that out of the box I am having to gheto mod it.
quiet running :-)
clump free output. It will be nice not having to do the Weiss Distribution into a yogurt cup like I need to with my Rocky Doserless.
I will burn through some beans tomorrow and give a report. I have 2 lbs of Zoka coffee showing up for Friday and the weekend when I will really give it a tryout.
tivopaul Senior Member Joined: 11 Jan 2009 Posts: 10 Location: Kirkland, WA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: NS Oscar Grinder: Compak K-3 Touch Drip: Technivorm
Posted Wed Mar 4, 2009, 7:27am Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
Far less feedback so far on this grinder than I would have expected to see....given all the talk pre-release. Not sure how to think about that....are people underwhelmed with it....or just haven't received it yet?
mhoy Senior Member Joined: 4 Feb 2008 Posts: 183 Location: Sunnyvale, CA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Elektra T1 Grinder: Baratza Vario Roaster: HotTop KN-8828D
Posted Wed Mar 4, 2009, 8:46am Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
tivopaul Said:
Far less feedback so far on this grinder than I would have expected to see....given all the talk pre-release. Not sure how to think about that....are people underwhelmed with it....or just haven't received it yet?
DaveZ Senior Member Joined: 5 Jan 2009 Posts: 12 Location: Phoenix AZ Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Trying to decide Grinder: Baratza Vario Vac Pot: Yama Drip: Bunn, Keurig Roaster: popcorn popper
Posted Thu Mar 5, 2009, 5:31pm Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
Well....Good News, Bad News.
Good News:
UPS just dropped off the Grinder. Very nice packing, double boxed from Chris's Coffee.
Bad News:
Unpacked and put it together. Pressed the manual button and the start button and as expected, it started. This is my first grinder so I don't have anything to compare it to but it is quiet. With it running, I adjust it all the way to fine on the macro lever and meet with some resistance on the last 2 "notches" but it goes. Slight change in the sound, not a lot, but noticeable. I move back to the filter setting and turn it off.
It comes with a sample of Grindz and recommends you clean the grinder. I dump it in and start it. as expected, it grinds. I dump it out of the grounds bin and measure out 10 grams of beans. I put them in the hopper and start the grinder at the filter setting to find out where the grind is for my vac pot. Way to fine. I pull out the grounds bin, dump the fine grind and grindz residue and replace the grounds bin. Measure out another 10 grams of beans, dump them into the hopper and press the start button.
Nothing
No noise
No grinding
Just blue lights and the counter counting up.
I press start again and the blue light goes off and the timer resets to 000. I have tried the presets and the same thing. Blue light lights up, timer counts down but no grinding.
I remove the hopper, dump out the beans, remove the top burr and nothing seems amiss. i can turn the lower burr with my fingers. I reassemble the burrs, replace the hopper making sure to fully engage the safety switch.
Still no go.
I have called Baratza, 4:55 MST and left a message. I guess they may already be gone for the night.
I have checked the hopper several times and it appears the micro safety switch is in fact switched and the grounds bin is in place. I also tried the potafilter holder with the same results.
Posted Thu Mar 5, 2009, 8:31pm Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
Dave,
Just a quick check, in the first part of your comment you said you pressed manual and then start, the second you say you pressed just the start button. It's not too clear in the manual but I found that either the Manual button or one of the three bottom buttons have to pressed, then the start to get it to run (this was after I figured out the hopper safety switch had to be tripped).
DaveZ Senior Member Joined: 5 Jan 2009 Posts: 12 Location: Phoenix AZ Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Trying to decide Grinder: Baratza Vario Vac Pot: Yama Drip: Bunn, Keurig Roaster: popcorn popper
Posted Fri Mar 6, 2009, 7:49am Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
flathead1 Said:
Dave,
Just a quick check, in the first part of your comment you said you pressed manual and then start, the second you say you pressed just the start button. It's not too clear in the manual but I found that either the Manual button or one of the three bottom buttons have to pressed, then the start to get it to run (this was after I figured out the hopper safety switch had to be tripped).
Yes, I followed the same procedure. I just failed to mention that step. I also tried each of the bottom buttons. I even tried changing the preset time. Everything works; timer counts up or down depending on which function I am using, the correct lights light up but no motor.
If I press the manual then start or one of the preset buttons and see the timer counting and then twist the hopper to disengage and re-engage the safety switch, I can see the blue led's dim and brighten. I don't know if this is indicating the safety switch is indeed working and the problem is elsewhere or it is still in the switch.
DaveZ Senior Member Joined: 5 Jan 2009 Posts: 12 Location: Phoenix AZ Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Trying to decide Grinder: Baratza Vario Vac Pot: Yama Drip: Bunn, Keurig Roaster: popcorn popper
Posted Fri Mar 6, 2009, 5:46pm Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
Update:
Replacement grinder is on the way. Joe said they would get a replacement out today and they did.
After being told I was the very first person to have a problem with this new grinder, I started to wonder if it was in fact user error. I decided I was going to try everything I could think of to get it to work or at least be repeatable.
I was able to get the grinder to work, but not as intended.
If I press Manual and Start and the timer starts but the motor does not run, I press start again to stop the timer and reset it to 0. Next, I press either Grind Time button, the up or the down, for any length of time and then press Start, and the grinder will run. I have tried this several times and I can get the grinder to work every time if I press either Grind Time button, then Start.
It will also work if I press a preset button, then either Grind Time button and then Start. When I press Grind Time button to lower the time, a random time registers in the window and the grinder will run for that amount of time.
I am not going to pretend I know anything about control boards, but it appears there is a flaw in this unit.
IMAWriter Senior Member Joined: 4 Jul 2002 Posts: 5,462 Location: Brentwood, TN Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Nothing at the moment Grinder: Vario-W,Preciso-Esatto/KyM... Vac Pot: Adcraft SS, Yama 8 cup Drip: Brazen.Chemex, Hario, Clever... Roaster: Behmor 1600, CO/UFO combo
Posted Sat Mar 7, 2009, 3:06pm Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
"I will burn through some beans tomorrow and give a report. I have 2 lbs of Zoka coffee showing up for Friday and the weekend when I will really give it a tryout."
Lifestar Senior Member Joined: 2 Dec 2005 Posts: 236 Location: Howell, MI Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Grimac Mia Grinder: Baratza Vario, Rocky, KAP Drip: FP, TV, Aerobie Roaster: HotTop P, I-Roast2
Posted Sun Mar 8, 2009, 12:26pm Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
IMAWriter Said:
"I will burn through some beans tomorrow and give a report. I have 2 lbs of Zoka coffee showing up for Friday and the weekend when I will really give it a tryout."
Well the downside is I came down with the stomach flu on Thursday and my stomach is still chruning if I east anything stronger than toast. Wonderful beans showed up on Friday and I cant do a thing with them.
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