Endo Senior Member Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 804 Location: , location, location. Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: machine is < important than... Grinder: !
Posted Wed Nov 28, 2012, 5:53pm Subject: Re: Vario Won't Grind Coarse
Obrother Said:
A friend a I both bought Varios at the same time from different suppliers. We both are having problems getting our grinders to adjust properly for espressos. I couldn't figure out why, when I make an adjustment there is no change in the grind. Yes I was doing adjustments with beans in and motor turning. I finally figured out that I have to empty the grinder every time I want to make an adjustment or the burrs don't move. The procedure I use is the same as when doing a calibration minus the parts where you adjust the screw. I set both macro and micro to the bottom setting. Then move macro up to espresso setting... and the move micro up to setting I want. It is a this point I make my adjustment with the motor running and and no beans/grinds. I called Baratza and they are telling me this is NORMAL!!! I think not. There are saying that some people are finding that its better to pre-measure the beans for each shot and not to fill the hopper... and to make adjustment in between grinds with the motor running and no beans. This is not what I bought a vario for. Anyone have a good picture or diagram of how the varios adjustment mechanism works? I would like to see the part that slides the burr up and down. It seems like that's the part that is binding. Its the slides or whatever they are called.
That has been exactly my experience as well. Seems most Varios can only adjust one way. It can adjust finer, but not more coarse since the grinding force that pushes down the lower burr is too low. A slight misalignment of the lower burr bushings during assembly means you will never be able to grind more coarse without opening up the grinder and pushing down the lower burr with your thumb. (You will hear it click down in place).
In my opinion, this is a serious design flaw that somehow needs to be addressed. This is my 3rd (and last) Vario and if it can't be fixed, it will likely be sold to make room for something more adjustable and durable.
I hope they are able to fix these design issues in future models. The taste, compact size, convenience and customer support are all wonderful, but that means little if it can't be adjusted for grind size.
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