# Mignon Specialita grinder is taking 50% more time to grind a 18g dose



## josebaristawanabe (Dec 12, 2018)

As the title says, my grinder started to take an average of 1.5x the time that it took the 9 months that I've owned it to grind my 18g dose. This is with the same beans from the same roaster. Other than that, I now need to go close to the 0 mark on the notch to get the extraction time right, while before it was always between the 1.5 and 0.8(wish) mark.

When this change in grinding time started, I was having trouble to get a good extraction, but after finding out I was grinding way less grams than before ( I did not weight every time, since the grinder was pretty good at dosing by time) this was solved.

I did a full clean after this started but it didn't help at all, and after about 1 months I need 18.5 seconds to grind the 18gs. (at the begging fo this issue it went from 13s to 16ish).

I'm from Argentina, so pursuing a warranty replacement / fix is way to expensive cause of shipping costs and customs.

Any chance that this is fixed by putting new burs in, even when this ones have gone for (at most) 50 pounds of beans?

Thanks in advance for any help.

José.


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

José,

I don't have an answer to your question, but this could be simply because the burrs are now seasoned and worn in. I do not believe you need new burs after 25kg of beans through. (Please someone correct me if I'm wrong).

I owned a Mignon (mkII, not the new ones) for a few years and the timer albeit OKish it never gives the exact required 18g - there's always a variation.

Even thought you get the same beans from the same toaster every time, their density may vary from crop to crop. If your roaster provides you with a blend, then even more so. If you need to grind finer, it will consequently take more time.

The 0 on the dial means nothing, unless your 0 corresponds with the burrs touching.

The other possibility is that the motor is failing, but I have not heard of one failing yet.

Unless you notice a detrimental quality in your daily coffee cup, I would not worry about it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Did you completely strip down and thoroughly clean burrs and carriers thoroughly including the grounds outlet ? Overtime and with oily beans a sticky residue can build up

and restrict the outflow of grounds. Has the zero (touching point) changed ?

As said above, the burrs may have bedded in and the actual touch point needs re-setting


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## josebaristawanabe (Dec 12, 2018)

Thanks both for your answers!

@MediumRoastSteam nice tip about the 0 not being necessarily the "zero", not so afraid now to try going further, not sure if the "burrs touching" point is easily noticed and if getting there will not damage them, would thank any input on this.

@El carajillo Yeah, removed everything on sight and blew with a blower, also cleaned the grounds outlet. Not sure if the Zero point changed, not sure also how "safe" is it to go for it (in the sense of hearing it) but will thank any help about this.

Thanks again for your help!


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## Border_all (Dec 19, 2019)

I have only just bought a Mignon not even started yet as arrived today so directly i can not help but my 2 cents unless you are running a business will 5 seconds longer make a lot of difference for you. I notice on YouTube many grind into a container then add into the portafilter when ready if you did this you could grind while you use the portafilter for extraction.


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## josebaristawanabe (Dec 12, 2018)

Border_all said:


> I have only just bought a Mignon not even started yet as arrived today so directly i can not help but my 2 cents unless you are running a business will 5 seconds longer make a lot of difference for you. I notice on YouTube many grind into a container then add into the portafilter when ready if you did this you could grind while you use the portafilter for extraction.


 Not at all!!!

I could live with it being half a minute, no problem at all with that!

It's being more difficult to calibrate the grinder, with tweaks being more frequent than before, and I was afraid that this was a symptom of something else going wrong, or maybe someone else already had this happen and had a solution!

Enjoy your mignon, it's being a great upgrade for me, this is just a nuance so far and if it stays like this I will just get used and keep enjoying it for a long time.

Regards.

José.


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

josebaristawanabe said:


> Thanks both for your answers!
> 
> @MediumRoastSteam nice tip about the 0 not being necessarily the "zero", not so afraid now to try going further, not sure if the "burrs touching" point is easily noticed and if getting there will not damage them, would thank any input on this.


You'll notice if the burrs touch. Because they are flat, you'll hear a chipping noise. However, there's a better way of finding your true zero with the Mignon:

- turn the grinder off and unplugged the grinder from the electric socket. We don't want any ground fingers in this process....
- remove the hopper;
- with your fingers, rotate the bottom burr by grabbing old of the spindle. It should be easy to do so;
- keep rotating the bottom burrs and, at the same time, turn the adjusting knob clockwise (finer). At some point, it will be harder to turn the burrs and eventually they will touch. Voila, this is your true zero. Note your adjusting knob and remember that as reference. 
- go back to where it was (usually espresso range is one full turn anti-clockwise from true zero, depending on your machine, basket and coffee of course, if memory serves me right).

Enjoy your grinder and ¡Feliz año Nuevo!


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## josebaristawanabe (Dec 12, 2018)

Thanks for the tip, will do so first thing in 2020 ?

Feliz año nuevo for you!

José.


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