Posted Thu Feb 28, 2013, 11:17am Subject: New Compak K3 Touch grinder not working
Hi all, I'm new to the forum and I've been browsing around and I'm really excited to get involved. I've been doing a lot of drip and pour over coffee, and I'm just getting into home espresso. I purchased a new Compak K3 Touch.
As I was turning the collar (with motor running) towards the finer settings, the burrs would lock up... I could turn it back to coarse and then it would be alright, but I have to say I was surprised at how quickly the burrs would lock up. i didn't have to go too far to the right to get them to lock. Is that normal?
After being able to grind some beans at different coarse/fine levels, the grinder now just doesn't work. It makes a weird buzzing noise and the burrs don't rotate. I took apart the top burr and vacuumed inside and cleaned with a brush etc., but to no avail. There is nothing I can visually see that is obstructing anything. I leave the grinder running and turn to the adjustment collar to try and open it up to more coarse, but nothing. Just a weird humming, kinda buzzing noise.
I don't know what to do :( Does anyone have any tips they could offer?
diggi Senior Member Joined: 28 Nov 2011 Posts: 383 Location: Halifax, NS Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Spaz vivaldi S1 V2 Grinder: B Vario, OE LIDO Drip: Chemex, Espro Press,... Roaster: Poppery I
Posted Thu Feb 28, 2013, 1:40pm Subject: Re: New Compak K3 Touch grinder not working
So how did you reassemble the burrs. You unscrewed the screw underneath the silver 'button' before removing the burrs? Then when you reassembled, screwed the collar down until the burrs touched? (grinder off). Then backed off the button ~1/4 turn or so before turning the grinder on? Then tried some beans?
Or what was your procedure. Unclear what you did and what is happening now.
1) I unscrewed the 3 screws that are on the adjustment collar and then lifted the adjustment collar off 2) There is a black screw on the right side of the machine. I didn't know what to do with this- at first I completely unscrewed it, then I just screwed it back in, thinking it wasn't relevant to removing the top burr 3) I began to turn the metal top towards the coarse setting, until it completely came off 4) I vacuumed and brushed inside the burr area. 5) I screwed the metal top back on in the opposite direction. I stopped when it seemed "fully in"... just the top ring part was showing, nothing else 6) I screwed the adjustment collar back on
If you watch any of the videos in the link I posted, you can hear a faint humming/buzzing noise, which is all I get now, no matter if I turn the adjustment collar, or if the top burr is on at all.
IMAWriter Senior Member Joined: 4 Jul 2002 Posts: 5,475 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 2, 2013, 12:27am Subject: Re: New Compak K3 Touch grinder not working
Becky, sorry you're having a problem. Forgive my asking, but did you read the manual before attempting to clean the grinder? The TRUTH, please! :>D You wouldn't be the first not to.
Good that you know to to run your grinder when there are beans in the hopper, when adjusting finer. It almost sounds like you got a rock in there. By any chance, were you grinding Ethiopian, or maybe Yemen beans?
Posted Sat Mar 2, 2013, 12:49am Subject: Re: New Compak K3 Touch grinder not working
I promise, I did read the manual before doing anything with the machine :) When it came to cleaning it- I had looked up online how others had done it and that's how I found out about unscrewing the top burr. The Compak manual is really pretty sparse.
I just figured out what the "silver button" is.. I'm unclear how the screw underneath affects the grind itself. Anyone know?
The beans I was using were Costa Rican. I can't visibly see anything blocking the bottom burr at this point. But when I turn it on nothing moves, at all, with or without beans.
IMAWriter Senior Member Joined: 4 Jul 2002 Posts: 5,475 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 2, 2013, 12:55am Subject: Re: New Compak K3 Touch grinder not working
technicka Said:
I promise, I did read the manual before doing anything with the machine :) When it came to cleaning it- I had looked up online how others had done it and that's how I found out about unscrewing the top burr. The Compak manual is really pretty sparse.
I just figured out what the "silver button" is.. I'm unclear how the screw underneath affects the grind itself. Anyone know?
The beans I was using were Costa Rican. I can't visibly see anything blocking the bottom burr at this point. But when I turn it on nothing moves, at all, with or without beans.
Good job with the manual. Have you contacted your vendor? In most cases, the vendor can help you straighten this out, either with a chat with the service tech (Chris Coffee is GREAT with this), or by having you return the grinder, or by replacing it. I am not familiar with this grinder, so I'll butt out for now.
Posted Sat Mar 2, 2013, 1:04am Subject: Re: New Compak K3 Touch grinder not working
diggi Said:
You unscrewed the screw underneath the silver 'button' before removing the burrs? Then when you reassembled, screwed the collar down until the burrs touched? (grinder off). Then backed off the button ~1/4 turn or so before turning the grinder on? Then tried some beans?
@diggi- I figured out what you meant here and just tried it. I put the adjustment collar back onto the top burr with the 3 screws, and then took the cap off the silver button, and took that screw out. I screwed the top burr back in, and then put the screw back in. Can you explain what that screw does?
Also, how do I know when the burrs have touched?
After doing this, same result as you'll see in the video/photos. (Weird buzzing/humming noise with no movement).
IMAWriter Senior Member Joined: 4 Jul 2002 Posts: 5,475 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 2, 2013, 1:10am Subject: Re: New Compak K3 Touch grinder not working
Devin, a wild stab here but could it be a burned out motor bushing due to a stone that locked up the burr. I confess to being in the dark regarding this grinder specifically, but this sort of thing happens more than occasionally. Thanks for helping Ms Monica.
diggi Senior Member Joined: 28 Nov 2011 Posts: 383 Location: Halifax, NS Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Spaz vivaldi S1 V2 Grinder: B Vario, OE LIDO Drip: Chemex, Espro Press,... Roaster: Poppery I
Posted Sat Mar 2, 2013, 4:14am Subject: Re: New Compak K3 Touch grinder not working
technicka Said:
@diggi- I figured out what you meant here and just tried it. I put the adjustment collar back onto the top burr with the 3 screws, and then took the cap off the silver button, and took that screw out. I screwed the top burr back in, and then put the screw back in. Can you explain what that screw does?
I hope Robert is not correct with his response, but fear he may be with a service center fix issue. I'd be sure that the the screw is out, then try adjust to touching, and then back off maybe a 1/2 turn on the burrs. Same issue? crap. The only other thing I can think of is another difficult problem. I agree that the manual is too sparse and online info is inadequate for this grinder. I too took mine apart several times, and ran into trouble on the 6th or 7th attempt. You should be using food-grade lubricant on the threads when reinstalling the burr. As well you need to be 'really' careful that the threads line up correctly. The lubricant helps here too. But I ended up cross-threading my burrs (ie: the threads were crossed over each other, meaning the burrs are not going down straight (and ruining the threads at the same time). If this was the case, I could see how the burrs may be crooked and touching in only one spot that could prevent turning. So if the above doesn't work, I'd take the burrs apart again, inspect the threads, and use a food-grade lubricant while being 'very' careful to screw down with the threads aligned. Otherwise maybe call your service center. I'm not sure I'm too confident to go back into the guts of my K3T after my experience (I ended up getting the burrs locked together with cross threading and needed to find someone to file the threads to make it usable, and replace the burrs...what a mess). good luck.
EDIT: Sorry, just checked out you link. The only question I have now is if the grinder is designed with a safety mechanism to prevent the burr from spinning when unassembled. I don't know the answer to this question. The vario, for instance has this feature. So I wonder if it is 'locked out' when the top burr is off. If you know the answer to this question, great...otherwise maybe give the above a spin (Let's hope it does that....spin)
Posted Sun Mar 10, 2013, 1:45pm Subject: Re: New Compak K3 Touch grinder not working
Thanks for your help everyone. So after a lot of trial and error, I think what happened is that a bean got lodged into the bottom burr when I was experimenting on too coarse of a setting. I put a wrench in there and started to manually turn it, and eventually I was able to dislodge a bean and now the bottom burr turns! question- Is the top burr also supposed to spin? I can't tell.
I used food grade lubricant, (thanks @diggi) to get the top burr and back on hopefully threaded properly. How can I tell if I've threaded it properly? I tried to be super careful and I thought I was doing it right... at this point, however, to get an espresso-type grind, the metal button is not lined up with the chute like I've seen most people mention. I posted a video and photo here: http://bit.ly/Y4i5cF
Can someone let me know if this seems normal or if I should take it off again and re-thread it? Does it sound right?
Also, is it normal for grounds to get stuck in the chute? It's not getting blocked or anything, but it seems they do get stopped up there and I need to use my finger to get it out.
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