Posted Mon Aug 6, 2012, 11:58am Subject: Virtuoso Preciso going bad
Alright, so I may be beating a dead horse on this forum, but I did a good bit of searching before deciding to post just to see what others have experienced. I purchased a Preciso back when they first came out, when I changed out my old Gaggia to a new Gaggia Classic. The grinder worked good for about 2-3 months, then the micro adjust ring broke. Not a big deal, sent me a new one right away, replaced it and fixed my issues. . .
3 months later, it lost the ability to grind fine, no matter the setting the beans continued to come out extremely course (Think drip grind on setting 1). I emailed my contact at Preciso who has been grade A+, and he said that they have had issues interenally with their grinders losing their ability to grind fine. He asked me to calibrate and photograph document, I did, and as soon as he received the images, boom new grinder in the mail. . . Alright!
3 months later, again, my grinder motor became stripped and made horrible sounds, failing to produce any grind. I took a video, sent it to my contact and again new grinder . . . Rock on, I think . . .
Now, I'm stting another 3 months along the lines, and again my grinder is back to coarse, very uneven grinds that cause my espresso to pull like a bat out of hell going for the worlds fastest 2 ounce pull at 8 seconds using an intense amount of tamping pressure from my rattleware tamper. . .
So now I'm back to emailing my contact this afternoon when I get back home and can calibrate it one more time. . . I guess after all that the questions I have are this:
1) Are there known issues with this grinders reliability over time with heavy (home) use? 2) Has anyone else experienced a course grind on the finest setting and found a simple at home fix? 3) How often does the average user clean their grinder burs? (ex. weekly, by the pound, by the bag, etc)
I will say that the wear did not happen instantly, I found myself constantly having to put the grind setting finer and finer (9 h original dial in point if memory serves me right).
and 4) Is there any customer service out there that compares to Baratza? Seriously, these guys are top notch, but I'd rather the invisible customer service that I never have the need to contact over and over . . .
Intrepid510 Senior Member Joined: 30 Dec 2010 Posts: 302 Location: California Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Aug 6, 2012, 12:14pm Subject: Re: Virtuoso Preciso going bad
I got one of the first ones too, and it worked well for a year and then I got the same problem as you. Tried a few fixes, nothing worked and got a new grinder in the mail. 6-7 months in on the new one and we'll see where it goes.
However, I suspect my issues arose after using a few batches of very light roasted beans as espresso and now won't grind light roasts for espresso in it. I just think it can't handle something too hard for extended periods of time so fine, hopefully it lasts longer. Also do you have the new gear drive? Seems to be working so far for me.
Short of you putting the top burr in wrong, I don't think there is much to do other than get a new grinder from them personally I think the burrs in it touch and dull quick when doing light roasts.
Oh and I barely clean it, less touching the better imho.
Posted Mon Aug 6, 2012, 12:58pm Subject: Re: Virtuoso Preciso going bad
The newest grinder has the old mech. it was a refurbished unit that I received (new to me). Once I get in contact with my rep, I will see if he can promise me a 2.0 getting shipped out. . .
I've been using medium - dark roast, no city roast, verdes, or blondes. No charbucks, or big box brands. . . Most of the beans were roasted within 1 week of grinding, and 3 weeks old would be the oldest ground.
redkiosk Senior Member Joined: 13 May 2012 Posts: 156 Location: Chicago Metro Area Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Illy Francis-Francis X1 Grinder: Baratza Preciso w/ Esatto... Vac Pot: Someday, very intriguing Drip: Bunn Trifecta MB Roaster: A sure path to divorce!
Posted Tue Aug 7, 2012, 4:16pm Subject: Re: Virtuoso Preciso going bad
If you press on the black plastic ring that surrounds the bottom burr (in different clock positions), does it move in or have a "springy" feel to it? It shouldn't have any movement. The VERY latest Preciso have this piece glued down. I had one of the newer versions that I purchased this past May and after three weeks, also jumped to grinding all over the spectrum. They sent me one with the ring glued down and no problems thus far. Oh yeah, I clean mine, maybe every month or so. Hope this helps and take care!
Jim
The pathologically precise are annoying, but right!
Posted Wed Aug 8, 2012, 8:04am Subject: Re: Virtuoso Preciso going bad
redkiosk Said:
If you press on the black plastic ring that surrounds the bottom burr (in different clock positions), does it move in or have a "springy" feel to it? It shouldn't have any movement. The VERY latest Preciso have this piece glued down. I had one of the newer versions that I purchased this past May and after three weeks, also jumped to grinding all over the spectrum. They sent me one with the ring glued down and no problems thus far. Oh yeah, I clean mine, maybe every month or so. Hope this helps and take care!
+1 to the glued ring down. I emailed Baratza to ask what had changed from the Virtuoso to the Preciso and why this was suddenly becoming an issue. They said that because the Virtuoso was mainly being used for drip grinding, they never had an issue with the added strain of espresso grinding on the 3 gearbox tabs that hold the adjustment mechanism down. With the Preciso, this became an issue because of this and caused the adjustment mechanism to lift up in areas and make the outer burrs alignment a bit off, resulting in a grind that is all over the place. By adhering that ring to the gearbox, it is far more durable. They also informed me that some folks were having issues with their machines because they were adjusting finer without running the grinder and were ultimately cracking pieces of the adjustment mechanism.
Yes, there are plastic parts in the grinder, but I have had no durability issues with mine. I did have a problem with the burr's axle becoming slightly loose from the gearbox, but that was an anomaly. The rest of my experience with my Baratza has been fantastic. I clean once every 2-3 weeks, as I switch coffees a lot. It takes all of 2 minutes to give it a quick brushing.
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