# MC2 mod



## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

So i picked up the MC2 on Saturday, had a little play and hit the problem i am sure most have met, the last couple of beans jumping and down like firecrackers...

So what is the best option to solve this?

Also never thought you could get as coffee to grind so fine, was more like flour, which thinking about it could be good for cooking!


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## Mouse (Feb 28, 2014)

Hopper off and straight in to the throat with a spare tamper on top to weigh them down with the Mazzer - I'm not sure if this is an option with an MC2??

Great news on getting a grinder Froggy!!


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## Blackstone (Aug 5, 2012)

i place a bottle (bottom cut off) upside down into the "throat". ie bottle neck first. seems to do the trick


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Not sure how many beans you could get in the throat, will have a check when i get home.

I may cut the hopper down, i single dose anyway so not fussed about it being short, plus you can pick them up for about £8.

Still after a Mignon though when the pennies allow!


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Popcorning is common on most grinders when you reach the end

The grinder is not as efficient as when there is constant downward force so don't expect your grind to be as consistent if single dosing


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## Blackstone (Aug 5, 2012)

all the beans dont have to be in the throat, they sit in the bottle. its not ideal and sometimes i have to have 2 goes but it dramatically reduces the jumping up and down


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## Kofe (May 4, 2014)

Just cleaned my MC2 out for the new batch of Italian job from Rave. Your right I get jumping beans. But I just put up with it. Hadn't really thought of a solution.


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## Delfi (Jan 4, 2013)

I used to put my 58mm tamper on top of the beans without the hopper. I was single dosing- it just about works. The mod I always wondered about was cutting a bit of the clear plastic away from the chute of the Doserless version. Never got round to it- used a trusty toothpick to brush them out. Enjoy the dialling in!


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## Mouse (Feb 28, 2014)

I sense a Froggy-mod in the non too distant future


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Stared at the grinder long and hard today..... Then decided just to tip 300g of beans in!

Have set the timer so it doses just over 20g.

That will do for now.

The one thing i do find annoying you cant take off the PF holder without taking out the switch.


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## Kofe (May 4, 2014)

Mine was dosing about 18grams from the timer so after weighing it I'd then hit the switch again and leave it grinding a couple of seconds. Then I'd turn it off with the on off switch. To get to my preferred 21g's


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## Kofe (May 4, 2014)

The other thing I'm wondering is that other people say that this grinder ( MC2) grinds inconsistently. But looking at my ground coffee it looks pretty consistent. Opinions?


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

all i can say on consistency, is that its better than my bodum!


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## thenag (Feb 18, 2014)

I can't remember where I read it, but I use a zip lock bag with about 50 - 100g of rice in it. Weigh the coffee beans, chuck them in the MC2, chuck the rice bag on the top and grind away. It's flexible enough to move and cover the beans and push them down, and most of the time it does the trick all by itself. Rest of the time a little lift and put back down of the bag as you hit the last few beans gets them all ground up nicely with no crazy popcorn action going on.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Grinder is unlikely to be the problem. Plenty of people getty serviceable espresso from an mc2.


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

jeebsy said:


> Grinder is unlikely to be the problem. Plenty of people getty serviceable espresso from an mc2.


Grinder is the problem, not sure if you read the start of the thread?


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## thenag (Feb 18, 2014)

Mine has always been consistent too. It's a great grinder for the price.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Got confused with the other thread about Mc2s. Most grinders popcorn when single dosing


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

jeebsy said:


> Got confused with the other thread about Mc2s. Most grinders popcorn when single dosing


AS Jeebsy said, with pretty much any grinder, leaving HG1, Versalab and EK43 out of the equation, is going to popcorn when single dosing, you have 3 choices. Firstly put up with the popcorning and the wildly inconsistent grind this will give you, secondly put a quantity of beans in the hopper sufficient for your daily use and enough to get weight over the beans, and top up as necessary, thirdly modify the grinder in some way, with an MC2 you're pretty stuck as the grinder throat is so narrow that the lens hood hoppers won't fit, some people advocate a small upside down bottle, but whatever method you use you need to get sufficient weight over the beans to stop the popcorning and the bag of rice method mentioned earlier was how I managed when single dosing an MC2, it's simple and efficient and doesn't require much messing about to achieve either. Not every mod needs to be of either a McGuyver or Heath Robinson nature.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

HG One popcorns, Charlie.


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

I just filled the hopper with 300g of beans, should be ok.

Really cant be bothered to mod it, the bag o rice trick will just bug me anyway..


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## Kofe (May 4, 2014)

Know what your saying froggystyle. I just chucked in 200 grams of beans this morning and said, thats it. No more jumping beans please.


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

The Systemic Kid said:


> HG One popcorns, Charlie.


Well as they say you learn something new every day, at a guess it doesn't affect the grind quality as much as on an electric grinder?


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## Kofe (May 4, 2014)

By the way after having read about the Versalab coffee grinder from a post somewhere on here, I wanted to know what everyone was Raving on about, so I googled it. Blimey what a " Machine "

Blimey what a " price " too tho. I watched some YouTube videos on it. Looks really nice, and I totally get the single dosing genius. Like the look of the tamper as well.


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

A good mod for the MC might be the chute, if you could make up a new one but made from stainless or aluminium and sit it so that the grinds slip out easier.... Also make it a little longer so that you can rest your catching cup/glass/mug on the work surface instead of holding it up to the chute!


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

froggystyle said:


> A good mod for the MC might be the chute, if you could make up a new one but made from stainless or aluminium and sit it so that the grinds slip out easier.... Also make it a little longer so that you can rest your catching cup/glass/mug on the work surface instead of holding it up to the chute!


Large bore pipe and flat surface fitting flange that lets you mount the tube at an angle, if you are handy enough and have the tools all you would need to do is fab the plate and then weld or braze the pipe on but cut on an angle so you get the desired spout angle, alternatively just file the silly step on the spout flat.


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## EarwaxUK (Jan 19, 2014)

I cut down the hopper on my MC2 which has pretty much resolved the problem. The beans still popcorn around but they bounce straight off the lid and still get ground.

I posted a thread about it here


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

I've been wondering about filing that annoying step/edge bit on the chute but then I seem to remember someone saying they tried it and it made almost no difference. Also I am secretly thinking about a Mignon at some stage and therefore not sure about taking a file to the MC2. Seeing as a Mignon is twice the price, is it twice as good though?


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

The MC2 is doing my head in, cant get any consistency in the shots at all, even went back to my bodum tonight to get a decent latte out...


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

froggystyle said:


> The MC2 is doing my head in, cant get any consistency in the shots at all, even went back to my bodum tonight to get a decent latte out...[
> 
> Distribution ? What's happening to the shots ?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

If the coffee is the same ....the dose is the same .... The grind is the same ... Barista the same then it's the distribution ..time for a naked PF


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

hotmetal said:


> I've been wondering about filing that annoying step/edge bit on the chute but then I seem to remember someone saying they tried it and it made almost no difference. Also I am secretly thinking about a Mignon at some stage and therefore not sure about taking a file to the MC2. Seeing as a Mignon is twice the price, is it twice as good though?


There's a blue one on the for sale section going for £165.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

At the risk of sounding like I'm trying to pimp my own FS thread.

The Mignon is substantially better than the MC2. I was awfully skeptical of quite how much the grind played a part in the shot until I went from MC2 to Mignon, the step from Mignon to Mazzer SJ has (at least to my tastes) been less substantial.

CC has said before that the Mignon is entry level, and that the MC2 isn't even worth consideration.


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## EarwaxUK (Jan 19, 2014)

hotmetal said:


> I've been wondering about filing that annoying step/edge bit on the chute but then I seem to remember someone saying they tried it and it made almost no difference


I've done that - it really didn't make much difference. I find a good smack gets most of the retained grinds out the chute

I'm also looking very closely at the Eureka at the moment. I'm very close to buying one...


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> If the coffee is the same ....the dose is the same .... The grind is the same ... Barista the same then it's the distribution ..time for a naked PF


Im sure it just needs a little playing with to get the grind right, must have put close to 200g through, will have another crack tomorrow.


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## Kofe (May 4, 2014)




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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

EarwaxUK said:


> I've done that - it really didn't make much difference. I find a good smack gets most of the retained grinds out the chute
> 
> I'm also looking very closely at the Eureka at the moment. I'm very close to buying one...


I would suggest actually saving a bit more money and talking to CC about an ex commercial grinder as it seems that a lot of people go down the route of swapping from an MC2 to a Mignon and then end up going for something like a Mazzer SJ or Mini so probably best to skip the in between step.


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## Kofe (May 4, 2014)

froggystyle said:


> Im sure it just needs a little playing with to get the grind right, must have put close to 200g through, will have another crack tomorrow.


Keep playing around with it.when I first got my MC2 I put almost two 250g bags through mine.

And after that I resorted to doing what someone else advised.

Taking the black plastic cover off . unscrewing the worm drive.

Turn the big black top burr clockwise until it's screwed tight. But not to tight.

Then unscrewing it about half 3/4 of a turn.

Put all back together and see what kind of grind you have.

From there it shouldn't be far out.

From my personal experience you understand.


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

Fs: yes, I used up rather a lot of beans getting my mc2 dialed in. The sticker on the hopper (who thought that up LOL!) started off at 4 and I took it all the way to 7 and then started adjusting in the end. In other words it came set ridiculously coarse out of the box. Careful not to crash the burrs though, Iberital used to be quite good about helping people who did, but since someone posted on a forum somewhere that you should go to the chirping point and back off, they had so many returns that they toughened up on it. Kofe's way of doing it might be better.

Charlie: cheers, yes, I may do. I could have bought Duracell's SJ for under 300 when I got his Classic but it was too much money in one go and I bought the mc2 to use with the classic. Even now I suspect it's pearls before swine as it's not that I've got better than the mc2 can go, more that I wonder what I might be missing.


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## Kofe (May 4, 2014)

I'm wondering the same.

Although my shots are now relatively consistent im finding very tiny pieces of coffee grinds in the bottom of my cup.

I don't know if this is the inconsistencies with regards to the MC2 or if other people with a lot more expensive machines also see in the bottom of there cup.


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## EarwaxUK (Jan 19, 2014)

Getting fines in your cup is pretty normal but they should be very very fine, almost like a paste.

If you've got large bits coming through I'd be more concerned about your filter basket.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Thats very unusual, even the finest fines shouldn't pass through the filter basket.

Make sure your group is completely clean and that nothing is getting over the sides of the basket, even grinding close to fine enough to choke the machine I have never seen coffee is the bottom of my cup.

(just read earwax's post above, it is something I have never seen but maybe too much to assume its very unusual?)


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## EarwaxUK (Jan 19, 2014)

I get fines in my cup all the time. I also got them when I've had espresso from Small Batch and Southsea Coffee


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## Kofe (May 4, 2014)

There's just a few spots.

So I guess not of any concern then.

Thanks



EarwaxUK said:


> Getting fines in your cup is pretty normal but they should be very very fine, almost like a paste.
> 
> If you've got large bits coming through I'd be more concerned about your filter basket.


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## Kofe (May 4, 2014)

EarwaxUK said:



> Getting fines in your cup is pretty normal but they should be very very fine, almost like a paste.
> 
> If you've got large bits coming through I'd be more concerned about your filter basket.


There's just a few spots in the bottom

So not much of a concern then I guess.

Cheers


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## Kofe (May 4, 2014)

D_Evans said:


> Thats very unusual, even the finest fines shouldn't pass through the filter basket.
> 
> Make sure your group is completely clean and that nothing is getting over the sides of the basket, even grinding close to fine enough to choke the machine I have never seen coffee is the bottom of my cup.
> 
> (just read earwax's post above, it is something I have never seen but maybe too much to assume its very unusual?)


Yes.

I clean my group filter every use,

I flush first to fill a little hot water to heat the cup.

Then flush the group after the shot.

Everything I'm doing is spotless.

Maybe it's just the basket/filter.

A cheapish one maybe.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

I get fines in the cup occasionally, nothing to worry about.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

There we go, looks like my experience is the unusual one, I assumed wrong









Its probably as I drink largely milk based drinks, and I guess the fines don't settle as easily.


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## Kofe (May 4, 2014)

For reference at the bottom of my cup this morning.

After my delicious flat white.


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## Kofe (May 4, 2014)

This morning.


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Think the MC2 will not be stopping in my house too long....


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## EarwaxUK (Jan 19, 2014)

Those fines look larger than the ones I usually get.

I've had my MC2 for quite a while and it's fine but it does suffer with some consistency issues. It took me quite a long time to get to grips with it


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## Kofe (May 4, 2014)

froggystyle said:


> Think the MC2 will not be stopping in my house too long....


Seconded.

I'm thinking of skipping the what seems like an obligatory step of buying a Mignon and going in for a maybe good second hand Mazzer.


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## EarwaxUK (Jan 19, 2014)

Kofe said:


> Seconded.
> 
> I'm thinking of skipping the what seems like an obligatory step of buying a Mignon and going in for a maybe good second hand Mazzer.


You and me both!


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Im going back to Nescafe.


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## EarwaxUK (Jan 19, 2014)

Not going to shell out for a Tassimo machine?


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Too complicated!


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

As if by magic one has just appeared for sale


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Tassimo??

13 deleted posts.


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## Kofe (May 4, 2014)

froggystyle said:


> Im going back to Nescafe.


Love it.


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Has anyone ever changed the knob on the MC2 to a larger one, bigger diameter?


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