GDK Senior Member Joined: 17 Feb 2011 Posts: 92 Location: Ontario, Canada Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: MiniVivaldi II, preinfusion,... Grinder: Baratza Vario W
Posted Sat Jan 21, 2012, 10:33am Subject: Re: Vario Won't Grind Coarse
It is a cutout, my mistake. I have attached a picture with an arrow - cutout is barely visible but enough to give the idea.
I understand very well what you are saying about possibility of wobbling when fine calibration screw is sticking up and serves as the pivot. Wobble should not be too much while grinding as the load pushes down the lever firmly against the force side and that side is flat. Wobble may occur and lead to errors when settings are changed, especially if you go coarser with no beans in the hopper - lever would be loose for a while until grinding starts (or you push lower burr down by hand).
Here is the thing - I am consistently a few clicks finer than the zero point while you and others are a few clicks on the coarser side. The later is normal I think. I realize perceptible motor labouring may change depending on how oily the last bean were but I tried with a few different types.
The only remaining suspect that makes sense to me is lower burr centering. It seems that the holder and the burr are slightly moving sideways as they rotate. If burrs are not perfectly centered, they will allow larger particles escape even at the fines setting - which may be the reason I have to go so fine to get results. Another thing pointing to that is the fact that the grinder is shaking sideways as the burr spins, especially visible just before burr goes to a complete stop.
Posted Sat Jan 21, 2012, 11:01am Subject: Re: Vario Won't Grind Coarse
I am now uncertain as to whether it is a cutout or groove. Perhaps the plastic tooth is actually the pivot point without the fine calibration screw engaged. The other thing I believe is that the burrs are in contact well befor any motor laboring is heard.
I was at the same point as you yesterday having to grind finer than this "zero point" and getting hit or miss results. I remove the fine calibration screw and then it instantly went back to working the way it had for two years. It is easy enough to try doing that while keeping your primary where it is.
Then you have to check to see if are able to grind fine enough.
I did see a post somewhere about a sticker covering the fine calibration screw and the voiding the warranty if this seal is broken. I think this is for the Malkonig version? Based on my experience, I would guess this is because this adjustment can cause some problems.
GDK Senior Member Joined: 17 Feb 2011 Posts: 92 Location: Ontario, Canada Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: MiniVivaldi II, preinfusion,... Grinder: Baratza Vario W
Posted Sat Jan 21, 2012, 11:21am Subject: Re: Vario Won't Grind Coarse
Fine calibration is documented in the user guide, so I am sure it is intended for the end user in NA. You are right this may be a good enough reason to decide to seal it in Europe. I may follow your suggestion. I guess I resolved the inconsistency in a way but ended up on the wrong side of the zero point ;)
This thing is a cutout for sure, I am not judging by the pictures. My description on how the opening interacts with the tooth is not a guess but experience.
Posted Sat Jan 21, 2012, 11:54am Subject: Re: Vario Won't Grind Coarse
Ok. Cutout is what I remembered seeing too but I am not at the grinder now. If you look at the early posts of Kyle from baratza he discusses the addition if this fine adjustment screw.
Also, when you remove this screw I have feeling you will need to back up the macro several notches to be in the right spot for espresso. I have hunch that the mechanism is really overstressed where you are grinding past the zero point.
greekespresso Senior Member Joined: 27 Jul 2011 Posts: 172 Location: Ptolemaida, Greece Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Rancilio Silvia V3, Gaggia... Grinder: Mahlkönig Vario Home, Anfim...
Posted Sat Jan 21, 2012, 12:23pm Subject: Re: Vario Won't Grind Coarse
ArneJ Said:
...
I did see a post somewhere about a sticker covering the fine calibration screw and the voiding the warranty if this seal is broken. I think this is for the Malkonig version? Based on my experience, I would guess this is because this adjustment can cause some problems.
Posted Sat Jan 21, 2012, 2:04pm Subject: Re: Vario Won't Grind Coarse
One other thing to check is that the lever is centered on the metal cam. I can't get a good picture but with a good light and squinting I can see up there without taking anything apart. It looks like on mine it may be possible for the lever to twist just enough that it may get hung up on the plastic "guides". These look like they may be a fraction of a mm higher than the metal cam. I think this could potentially limit the ability to grind course and perhaps get pinched at the top creating some problems in the espresso regime.
GDK Senior Member Joined: 17 Feb 2011 Posts: 92 Location: Ontario, Canada Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: MiniVivaldi II, preinfusion,... Grinder: Baratza Vario W
Posted Sat Jan 21, 2012, 3:39pm Subject: Re: Vario Won't Grind Coarse
Good point. The guides are around 1mm high. BTW, I tried the setup with the fine calibration screw out of the picture and was actually able to reach the zero point as per manual by just playing with the primary calibration. No joy, unfortunately - I still had to go few clicks finer than the zero point to get decent shots. I reversed back to the old setting now - no difference in my case :(
Posted Sat Jan 21, 2012, 7:51pm Subject: Re: Vario Won't Grind Coarse
One other thing I noticed was that if I had the calibration set to too fine I could get multiple "zero points". That is to say as I march sequentially through the 230 settings there can be multiple points where the laboring sound occurs. This is because after the burrs first make contact the upward motion of the lower burr becomes restricted and the displacement per click seems to become smaller. The key for me was to find the first "zero point".
I would miss this first zero point if I followed the calibration instructions in the manual if my primary calibration was already set too fine. It seems I could move the macro all the way to the top without noticing a loading sond even though the first "zero point" was a macro click or two lower. Perhaps the micro adjust is stiffer than the macro adjust.
Endo Senior Member Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 804 Location: , location, location. Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: machine is < important than... Grinder: !
Posted Sat Jan 21, 2012, 9:29pm Subject: Re: Vario Won't Grind Coarse
GDK Said:
Endo, scrutinizer, Dana,
Any update on how you have dealt with the two issues described by Endo and others in this thread? I am experiencing them with my Vario W now and have spent quite a bit of time trying and reading. Endo's description is a perfect reflection on what I see.
I took mine apart but could never seem to get the lower burr to drop down without removing the hopper and giving it a push. I eventually gave up and Baratza Support took care of it for me.
Posted Sun Jan 22, 2012, 2:15pm Subject: Re: Vario Won't Grind Coarse
GDK Said:
Endo, scrutinizer, Dana,
Any update on how you have dealt with the two issues described by Endo and others in this thread? I am experiencing them with my Vario W now and have spent quite a bit of time trying and reading. Endo's description is a perfect reflection on what I see.
I use mine as a dedicated espresso grinder so I haven't needed to grind coarse. When calibrated according to manual I can pull ristrettos. Thus, there are no problems to be resolved. I do not view grinding at settings finer than the calibration point to be a problem using the grinder in this way is consistent with the instructions in the manual and information provided by Baratza (this issue was already addressed in a prior W thread).
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