# Mahlkonig Guatemala refurb



## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Got a Guatemala for the shop which came with a lovely wood chip effect gold finish. It also got damaged slightly in transit so decided to give it a full refurb.

  IMG_20171104_150041 by wjheenan, on Flickr

  IMG_20171111_154631 by wjheenan, on Flickr

  IMG_20180117_232100 by wjheenan, on Flickr

After reading about @jupe2.0 's sanding method of alignment I also gave that a blast

  IMG_20180119_191933 by wjheenan, on Flickr

  IMG_20180119_193210 by wjheenan, on Flickr

  IMG_20180120_081028 by wjheenan, on Flickr

Sanding:

  IMG_20180119_220646 by wjheenan, on Flickr

  IMG_20180121_202848 by wjheenan, on Flickr

  IMG_20180121_221925 by wjheenan, on Flickr


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Also replaced all the shitey soft screws with new stainless ones.

And the finished article:

  P1660939 by wjheenan, on Flickr

  P1660938 by wjheenan, on Flickr

  P1660941 by wjheenan, on Flickr

  P1660943 by wjheenan, on Flickr

  P1660946 by wjheenan, on Flickr

  P1660947 by wjheenan, on Flickr


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

jeebsy said:


> Also replaced all the shitey soft screws with new stainless ones.
> 
> And the finished article:
> 
> ...


I want it! Swappies for an EK?


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

that colour scheme is a touch of genius, and a quality a quality pimp


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## foundrycoffeeroasters.com (Jun 19, 2014)

That looks epic fella. Nice job!


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

Wow !

John

-


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## Stanic (Dec 12, 2015)

Nice refurb









Are these perhaps the fugliest grinders on the market? The grind quality for drip etc. is great though


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

Is pink the new orange?

looks great! How's it compare to the EK?


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## Milanski (Oct 10, 2013)

Ace!


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

The two tone paintjob looks great. Much better than the original woodchip.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Rhys said:


> Is pink the new orange?
> 
> looks great! How's it compare to the EK?


The moving burr carrier and chamber are very similar to the EK - they're pretty comparable in overall design

The range of adjustment is much wider - wide open it goes super coarse, whereas the wide open the EK isn't very coarse. This means you need to be really careful with your adjustment as one click can make a pretty big difference to the extraction;

I've choked the machine pulling decaf shots, so while it might not be optimal for espresso, it can do it;

The augur is less pronounced than the EK so it retains 4-6 beans in the chamber and you have to purge a bit between doses. If you were doing small filter doses it would be proportionately quite a lot of waste. I did think about modifying the prebreaker (maybe welding some material to it) to make it more like the EK, but that's been put to one side. People on the German forum use the equivalent of the lens hood mod to puff the last few beans out;

It's got a bag shaker, which means it's noisy, but it's handy when grinding retail bags in the shop;

For 400 odd quid second hand, they're great value. It's been the industry standard cupping grinder for a long time so it has a solid reputation and walks the walk. I would prefer an EK, but you're talking at least a grand more for one. Pretty hard to justify.


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## espressotechno (Apr 11, 2011)

The pink should attract the weegie transgender customers !!


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

@mrbagel I want one!


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## mrbagel (Mar 1, 2016)

Holy mother of god that looks awesome. I might need to get you on the blower to explain how to break this machine down like that haha...


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

What happened to your EK?


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

Scotford said:


> What happened to your EK?


It's at home


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

coffeechap said:


> It's at home


Typical!


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

mrbagel said:


> Holy mother of god that looks awesome. I might need to get you on the blower to explain how to break this machine down like that haha...


This covers most of it


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Scotford said:


> Typical!


Yep the EK is mine!


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

jeebsy said:


> Yep the EK is mine!


TBF I wouldn't want a Guat at home. SO LOUD


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

The bag shaker comes out pretty easily which makes it comparable volume to the EK. It's pretty annoying though as it's great for grinding retail bags, just makes it sound like a pneumatic drill


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## themartincard (Feb 22, 2015)

jeebsy said:


> The augur is less pronounced than the EK so it retains 4-6 beans in the chamber and you have to purge a bit between doses. If you were doing small filter doses it would be proportionately quite a lot of waste. I did think about modifying the prebreaker (maybe welding some material to it) to make it more like the EK, but that's been put to one side. People on the German forum use the equivalent of the lens hood mod to puff the last few beans out.


When mine was still in use I used to tilt the thing forward to shake the last few beans through to the burrs. Works a treat.

Did you source any new burrs during this refurb? Ditting went quiet on me the two times I inquired with them...


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

themartincard said:


> When mine was still in use I used to tilt the thing forward to shake the last few beans through to the burrs. Works a treat.
> 
> Did you source any new burrs during this refurb? Ditting went quiet on me the two times I inquired with them...


Didn't change the burrs during the refurb, but I'm actually just about to order some from Mahlkonig - if you want a set PM me.


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## themartincard (Feb 22, 2015)

I'll pass for now, the grinder hasn't been in use for a while so can't justify that sort of cost at the moment. Thanks for the offer though!


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## grumpydaddy (Oct 20, 2014)

Has @Missy seen this yet?


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

grumpydaddy said:


> Has @Missy seen this yet?


Yep... Think I should have been commissioned to paint it though


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Now featuring SSP Silver Knight burrs. Whether the burrs on the old one were just well by their best (possibly the originals from 2006) I'm not sure, but the grinder is performing so much better - must be about twice as fast, and brews are tasting a lot juicier and sweeter.


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## dsc (Jun 7, 2013)

Glad to see you finally got one! Mine went back to Poland a few weeks ago as I had to make space for a baby







will have to try the sanding method at some point as it seems to work very well, also will have to get a new set of burrs.

Remember it likes to keep beans inside, so periodical whacking / tilting is advised.

Ugly, but bullet proof









T.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

dsc said:


> Remember it likes to keep beans inside, so periodical whacking / tilting is advised.


Still looking into the idea of welding something to the burr carrier to make the augur more prominent like on the ek43. It's only a few beans and doesn't really make a difference for batch brew but for decaf doses it's significant.

And congrats!


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