# Trying to figure out what's gone wrong with my Sözen grinder



## drjlm (Jan 1, 2019)

I bought a Sözen hand grinder for brewing Turkish coffee.

http://www.sozengrinders.com/sozen-brass-coffee-grinder-mill-7-in

It's an awesome contraption, but me being me, after getting a few uses out of it, I was immediately tempted to start playing around with it to figure out how all the parts worked.

I opened the fastening screws on either side just to try see what they do. I hadn't realized yet that you need to use a hammer to remove the actual burrs so just removed them and put them back in.

Since then, the thing isn't grinding as well as it was before - although as I simply removed and replaced two screws I can't quite figure out why.

Mid way through the grind, it feels as if it's empty (as in, there's no resistance when turning) and then kicks back in and begins grinding. The whole process takes longer than it used to.

If anybody has experienced this issue and might be able to shed some light on what I need to/can do to get my grinder back working again, please let me know!


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Not sure that this is necessarily a fault with the grinder. Are your beans particularly large, or dark, or oily? Could just be a feeding issue, with low density beans failing to drop into the burr gap when the hopper is fairly full.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Did you note which way round the fixed burr screw holes were ? They are often not exactly the same, remove and rotate180 deg and try again.

May be as Mark suggested above, down to beans.

Is the adjusting bolt tight to turn ? It should be.


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## drjlm (Jan 1, 2019)

El carajillo said:


> Did you note which way round the fixed burr screw holes were ? They are often not exactly the same, remove and rotate180 deg and try again.
> 
> May be as Mark suggested above, down to beans.
> 
> Is the adjusting bolt tight to turn ? It should be.


Doing some deduction here - the problem started before today, which was the first time I managed to actually remove the burr/core from the body, so they would have been in the correct orientation when the problem started.

Bolt is fully tight.

Beans work normally on the other Sozen I have with me here.


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## drjlm (Jan 1, 2019)

I wonder are there small differences in quality between their grinders. Or perhaps this is just the way this one grinds. It gets the job done eventuall -- just doesn't feel as nice as my other Sozen grinder which grinds even all the way, and I assumed that what felt like "dry patches" were not meant to occur.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

The dry patches sound as if the beans are not feeding evenly as Mark said, a sort of hit and miss feeling?


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## drjlm (Jan 1, 2019)

El carajillo said:


> The dry patches sound as if the beans are not feeding evenly as Mark said, a sort of hit and miss feeling?


Yes, exactly that


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## drjlm (Jan 1, 2019)

Update: I found a couple of whole intact beans in my cup of coffee this morning - something definitely isn't working as intended!


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

drjlm said:


> Bolt is fully tight.


Fully tight clockwise (bolt fully in), or anti clockwise (bolt fully out)?

The only way that whole beans could get past the burrs is if the gap is so large they will physically fit.

There should only be a gap of fractions of a mm between the inner and outer burrs when you look up from under the grinder.


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## drjlm (Jan 1, 2019)

MWJB said:


> Fully tight clockwise (bolt fully in), or anti clockwise (bolt fully out)?
> 
> The only way that whole beans could get past the burrs is if the gap is so large they will physically fit.
> 
> There should only be a gap of fractions of a mm between the inner and outer burrs when you look up from under the grinder.


If we're talking about the same thing (the bolt on the underside of the grinder that puts upward pressure on the plate) then it's as far as I can get it clockwise. If I turn the other way, it loosens up and eventually comes out. Maybe I somehow damaged the burrs or it was always faulty.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Are you sure the screws on the side are through their respective holes and not in just the brass case and that they are stopping the bottom burr going in correctly ?

Can you post a photo of the bottom of the grinder to show position of burr.


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## drjlm (Jan 1, 2019)

Unfortunately I'm no longer at my mom's house, but making a video or taking a photo would have been a great idea. Pretty sure the screws were through their holes. Thank you so much for the help trying to diagnose the issue - I'm grateful for your persistence!


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