# Just one of those days...



## Wombat (Nov 12, 2013)

Hi all,

I wish I came to you with more solutions than problems, but for the time being at least I seem unable to rise above coffee newb status.

Up until the last few days I've been really happy with the quality of my coffees recently - good enough for me to stop searching and start enjoying. But then a couple of weeks ago my Eureka Mignon grinder clogged up (turns out it just needed the chamber cleaning) and in my frantic Googling I ran into the idea of single dose grinding to preserve bean freshness. Onto eBay I went, and thanks to a thread Coffeechap put up, I now have a single dose hopper made from camera accessories that I put into action yesterday.

The first cup was really sour, but I'd already obliviously made it into a latte and I'd heard that single dose grinding requires a small adjustment in the grind so I gave a shrug and wound the grind half an increment tighter.

For reference, I was grinding at a 5, and wound tighter to a 5.5.

Then this morning the shots were still just as sour, and my grinder was making a vibrating noise once the hopper had emptied. Only turns out my burrs were touching!!!! (Side note - hope I'e not just knackered my burrs...).

I dialed back to what I was grinding at and decided to just tamp a little firmer - I've always been a moderate tamper as a full pressure tamp has always given me spritzing. This led to this monstrosity:






A small improvement, still terrible.

Thanks or sticking with me this far and staying awake. I hope some of you guys can a) shed some light on the cause of this sudden phenominon (I'm going to go back to batch grinding and see if that sets things right again) and b) let me know whether I've knackered my burrs by grinding an 18g dose whilst they were touching!!

PS: Does anybody else have bad coffee days like me, or do I have gremlins?


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## Jon V (Feb 24, 2014)

Looks to me like all shots need a much finer grind. What dose are you using for the vids?

I understand though that you can't go much finer or the burrs touch?

Given that everything seemed to be working when you were using the hopper I'd be tempted to try that again next, to make sure you can get back to your previous routine.

A vid of the basket preparation would also help.


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## Wombat (Nov 12, 2013)

I'm using an 18g dose in a 17/18 LS basket.

I'll sort out a video of my prep at some point when I can enlist the Mrs.

In the meantime my technique is:

- grind direct into basket/PF,

- yogurt pot WDT with a metal cocktail stick,

-tap the PF on my hand to settle the grinds pre tamp

- tamp with a 58.3mm MadeByKnock tamper,

- flush a shot of water through the group to temperature surf and then away we go.

Hope this is of use in the meantime


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## Jon V (Feb 24, 2014)

And you cannot go finer on the grind without burrs touching?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

When you cleaned the grinder did you remove the burrs and recalibrate. Is your old setting of 5 the same as your new setting of 5 ?/


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Single dosing can effect consistency if any pop corning is going on. And often needs a finer grind adjustment than when beans are above .

Nothing has happened pressure wise in the machine either ?/


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## Wombat (Nov 12, 2013)

The burrs were touching at a 5.5, perhaps down to 5.3 they were still making a slight noise. So any change I could make would be trivial and surely the optimum grind for espresso wouldn't be the finest a Mignon could possibly give? Is it possible I've knackered the burrs?

I didn't do any calibration when I cleaned the grinder, no. My coffee wasn't setting the world on fire after the cleaning but it certainly was nowhere near as bad as this. Are calibrating and redialing two different things?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Have you looked at the burrs to see if they are OK ?/


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## Wombat (Nov 12, 2013)

Yeah I took a look. No obvious damage or disfigurement but they are shiny on their outer rims, I assume where they touched. Whether there's been any wearing or not I couldn't say - looking at the burrs in profile the grooves along the edge are about 1ml or half a mil deep.

I don't know a massive amount about how the grinder really works in detail, so I fear I can't look at the burrs and say "yup, they're no longer fit"


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## Milanski (Oct 10, 2013)

Maybe try nutating?


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Mignon can be cleaned without grind setting being affected.

How are you judging the burrs are touching when you go finer?


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

Where are you based Wombat? I know Exchange Coffee aren't too far from where I live so if any members live anywhere near you or your near where I am I'm sure one of us can come over and offer some help.


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## Wombat (Nov 12, 2013)

I'm actually in Hartlepool but I'm from Lancashire, hence Exchange being recommended.

I'm judging that the burrs are touching purely based on the vibrating sound by grinder made (brrrrrrrrrt!) which eased off as I adjusted slightly coarser.

I've considered nutating for a while but my current tamper is far too snug. I wasn't mutating before, however, so I'm thinking perhaps I should get back to that point first before introducing more techniques and variables?

Thanks for all the suggestions so far chaps, I'm going to go back to having a boat load of beans on the hopper and see of that returns things to the norm. I'll update


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

I single dosed on a Mignon and it could go plenty fine to choke the Classic. Something isn't right. Top burr carrier back in properly?


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## MarkyP (Jan 10, 2013)

Wombat, I'm not too far from you in middlesbrough and would be happy to help?


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## Wombat (Nov 12, 2013)

Hi all,

So I switched back to a full hopper and my problems seem to have resolved themselves mostly. The grind could still be finer but I'm tamping as hard as I was, grinding as fine as I was and getting only slightly fast shots.

I've spoken to the roasters and they think it could just be weather conditions that originally made my shots a little fast, or humidity, or if the beans were at their upper limit of freshness etc. I've ordered a fresh batch today and will put up a video of that extraction when they arrive tomorrow.

MarkyP, that would be great to do at some point as there's still loads I need to learn and I could certainly do with a bit of tuition, but at the minute I'm in and out of hospital with some issues and I'm currently unfit to receive visitors! In better times perhaps?

A video of a decent pour to follow:


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## MarkyP (Jan 10, 2013)

Absolutely, just let me know...

Get well soon!


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## chrisd2684 (Sep 4, 2014)

I hate it when this happens


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## Wombat (Nov 12, 2013)

Does it happen to you too Chris?


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## Wombat (Nov 12, 2013)

I've acquired a fresh batch of beans and am back to having beans in the hopper, things are looking much better but my shots are still a little fast than they used to be. I wish I'd taken a video before this, I can only describe it as nice thick caramel coming out of the basket:






I'm starting to wonder whether I've slightly blunted my burrs...


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## Wombat (Nov 12, 2013)

Just a quick update, I ground as fine as I possibly could today and tamped with a darn hard tamp. In better times I'd have fully expected this to choke my machine or at least run far top slow, but as it was I got a slightly fast shot still.

Does this pretty much confirm I've knackered my burrs? I need to clean and descale my Classic to eliminate a possible coincidental loss of pressure there first, but if it comes to it how easy are the burrs to replace? Is it something an amateur like me could do? ;-)


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Piece of piss.


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## Wombat (Nov 12, 2013)

Judging by what you said previously about how easily the Mignon can choke the Classic, looks like it's time to throw £20 at the problem


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## MarkyP (Jan 10, 2013)

Having been in this position before, I would seriously get your machine sorted out before blaming the grinder...

I spent far too much money on burrs and postage to send my grinder all over the place to find out the piston needed re-lubing on my L1...

Have you got a video of your prep technique?


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