coffeeshone Senior Member Joined: 29 Nov 2011 Posts: 34 Location: NY, NY Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Jun 25, 2012, 1:06pm Subject: Vario freezing up
Hello folks, In the few months since my last visit on the site I've spent many hours and pounds of coffee becoming acquainted with my new espresso setup. I realize I've developed a higher level of awareness by how lousy the espresso seems whenever I go to a coffee shop now.
I wanted to reach out for advice though. Recently my baratza Vario has frozen mid grind a couple times. The grind will clump up and then the thing just freezes. I looked at troubleshooting on the Baratza site and that problem leads you to a solution that a belt has broken on the machine. I know this is not the case though because the 2 times this has happened I've poured out the remaining beans, turned the settings to coarse and gotten it to fire up again. Problem solved.
This never used to happen though and I'm wondering whats going on and if this is a sign of some looming problem with the unit. I've only had it for about 6 months so I'm a little concerned. I used grindz yesterday and that seems to help for a couple shots, but then this same thing happened again this morning. Do I need to recalibrate the machine? New Burrs? I've only had it for 6 months, but it has seen moderate use (3-8 shots a day)
Posted Mon Jun 25, 2012, 5:31pm Subject: Re: Vario freezing up
coffeeshone Said:
Hello folks, In the few months since my last visit on the site I've spent many hours and pounds of coffee becoming acquainted with my new espresso setup. I realize I've developed a higher level of awareness by how lousy the espresso seems whenever I go to a coffee shop now.
I wanted to reach out for advice though. Recently my baratza Vario has frozen mid grind a couple times. The grind will clump up and then the thing just freezes. I looked at troubleshooting on the Baratza site and that problem leads you to a solution that a belt has broken on the machine. I know this is not the case though because the 2 times this has happened I've poured out the remaining beans, turned the settings to coarse and gotten it to fire up again. Problem solved.
This never used to happen though and I'm wondering whats going on and if this is a sign of some looming problem with the unit. I've only had it for about 6 months so I'm a little concerned. I used grindz yesterday and that seems to help for a couple shots, but then this same thing happened again this morning. Do I need to recalibrate the machine? New Burrs? I've only had it for 6 months, but it has seen moderate use (3-8 shots a day)
Call Baratza. They will help you far more than anyone on this forum. Nothing against the fine folks on this forum, but Baratza has a fantastic support team that will help diagnose and fix the issue.
mayong_md Senior Member Joined: 12 Feb 2011 Posts: 21 Location: Bacolod, Philippines Expertise: Just starting
Posted Mon Jun 25, 2012, 6:01pm Subject: Re: Vario freezing up
Hi coffeeshone. I believe I HAD the same problem just a few days back.
I experienced what you are describing. I did a lot of googling but ended up with nothing. I was prepared to open the Vario myself, since I am from the Philippines and surely, no Baratza service here.
I use the Vario with a pre dose of the beans I am to grind. I grind for espresso 95% of the time. My setting is coarse: 1 notch, fine: 9 notches down.
Here's the history of how my problem started:
- 3 weeks ago, I started hearing a different high pitched whine when I reach the end of the grind and beans are all ground. I removed the burrs and cleaned chamber with a brush and compressed air. The whining remained. I opened the back case cover as per instruction in YOUTUBE. I saw a lot of ground coffee in the chamber, maybe a teaspoonfull. Cleaned again with fine brush and air. Restarted, whine still there. So I gave up, but at least I got the grinder clean.
- a week ago, I had your same problem. The vario would stop mid grind. I'd press the start button on and off and this would restart the motor but was a hit or miss. I'd even lightly jolt the grinder and this would help. I figured something came loose when I cleaned the insides. I prepared to open the back again. Before I did, I checked the hopper "tang" that sets the micro switch. Mine was cracked and had a "play" that moved inward half a millimeter. I fiberglassed/epoxied this part and this helped the stopping, but for a while. So I checked the microswitch, and noticed that even if I manually depressed it, the motor would or wouldn't start. So I figured - maybe it was the switch. Maybe the inside connections. I sprayed the switch with contact cleaner and - VOILA!
NO problem since. Been about 4 days now and the grinder works without a hiccup. Oh, maybe once, but it was the hopper not seating properly.
So, hope this helps. BTW, I've had the Vario about the same time as you have. But have not used it as much as you have :-)
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