# Snart grinder pro chirping



## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

Not the model I wanted but turned out to be a cheaper option than the Dose model and has a useful feature that I wasn't aware of. It times manual dosing so I can do that directly onto a scale and then set it.

I haven't ground any coffee with it yet but was playing with settings mainly because this is a "factory reconditioned " unit. At a grind setting of 1, the finest, I reckon that the burrs were chirping in fact the motor slowed down after around 5 secs or so. There is a bit of brown on the centre burr that might cause friction but even a magnifying glass shows no signs of damage to either of them. I've seen claims that they are hardened stainless somewhere. Pretty tough stuff.

I adjusted the outer burr by one setting coarser. Net effect no chirping, just a slight slowing of the motor on 1.

Thought it might be worth mentioning as a warning and for any comments. I came across a video by some one who had adjusted the other way as she reckoned that this meant using a setting of 10 rather than 1 for her espresso's. I find it hard to believe but if some one goes that way it might be worth checking how fine it can go without any beans in it. The newer models don't nee shimming. It seems that was fixed a long time ago.

John

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## espressotechno (Apr 11, 2011)

Always safer to adjust by hand, with the grinder switched off:

* Take off hopper & get rid off any beans in the chamber

* Turn the top burr carrier slowly, stopping to spin the shaft by hand, until the burrs start to lock together.

* Back off the carrier by 1/8-1/4 of a turn

* Refit hopper, add beans, switch on & fine-tune....


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

No set of burrs is perfect, the chirp is caused as the most raised point of the spinning burr passes over the most raised point of the stationary burr - they dont have to touch for this to happen as they pass very close they cause a chirp.

It is strange that the motor slowed down at this point at the burrs are not typically touching, just very close to doing so.

FWIW there have been some reports of the newer SGP not grinding fine enough for espresso, in such a case it should be returned for replacement as they definitely should be able to.

The advice from ET above is spot on however, no need to get your burrs so close together!


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

The adjustment mentioned isn't correct. The burrs adjust in the same way as the BE does and I assume their other grinders. Clear the beans out as mentioned and run the grinder to empty it completely. Take hold of the wire steel hoop and lift it, turn anticlockwise which may take some effort but will probably be impossible if there is any coffee grounds left in the burrs, lift the burr out, remove the wire hoop, adjust as needed, refit the hoop.

The standard setting seems to be 6. I moved mine to 7.







The lady I mentioned moved hers to 5. I have my doubts about what she reckoned that did. There will be variations due to manufacturing tolerances so I suspect the adjustment might be needed either way.

All of the removal and adjustment settings / procedures are marked on the parts :







They didn't have enough room to add lift the hoop etc but the built in instructions are pretty clear.

One thing I noticed when refitting the outer burr - it took some effort turning clockwise to get the click that indicates it's locked in place.

I think the burrs etc are exactly the same as fitted to the BE - that can grind for espresso. I've ground beans too fine for the machine a couple of times while messing around on that. I even had the pump turn off once trying to push things too far.

People knock them on power and life before some one breaks one. Life - who's broke one and how long did it take? There isn't much point in comparing stuff intended for busy cafe's with items used in a domestic environment a few times a day. Power when people mention it in relationship to flat burrs could be extremely misleading.

I came close to buying a commercial grinder but removing doser etc put me off. Also wondered about flat as against conical burrs. Probably an emotive subject. I did find a couple of interesting video's.






Afraid that made me wonder if conical is better.








Seems I've invented a new make of grinder - Snart - sorry about that.

John

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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

Dylan said:


> No set of burrs is perfect, the chirp is caused as the most raised point of the spinning burr passes over the most raised point of the stationary burr - they dont have to touch for this to happen as they pass very close they cause a chirp.
> 
> It is strange that the motor slowed down at this point at the burrs are not typically touching, just very close to doing so.
> 
> ...


I don't know about others but the Sage grinders speed up when they are empty. They must be using brushed motors so even a slight load will cause a reduction in speed. I didn't run it for a long time after the adjustment but it stayed at a constant speed. Before the adjustment is slowed down even more after it had been running for 5 secs or so. I assume heat caused a bit of expansion.

Going on my BE I would suspect that no one will ever use these low settings down in the region of 1 but maybe it's better to be safe rather than sorry. Also to check carefully if some one decides to set the burrs for a finer grind.

John

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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

I just did a rough and ready check on the burr setting. Sage suggest starting at 8 on my BE and the beans I am using are best at 6. Touch bitter for the beans I'm using but that's how I like it at the moment.

They suggest starting at 12 on the SGP so as 6 is 3/4 of 8 I set the SGP to 9 and popped 10.5g of bean into it. Gave 9.2gm out more or less the same as I am using on the BE. It tamped a bit lower though and the pressure went higher so suspect it's grinding a bit finer than the BE. I'll try adjusting the burr by one step coarser for my next but one mug but will have one from the BE in between as a check.. A coarser grind setting will be much easier to spot.








Yes Sage's fill gauge built into the tamper does work fairly well once some one is used to it.

John

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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

I tried it one step coarser and had a large increase in shot size so will be leaving it as a setting of 7 and bearing in mind that if I ever have to grind close to 1 just to keep and eye on it.








Once started on it's timer I'm not sure if there is any way of turning it off - just a method of pausing it. I can live with that though but may find some other button press stops it.

John

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## pphaneuf (Apr 20, 2021)

On mine, bought new last autumn, I can hear chirping starting at about 6-7... I'm at 10 with my current coffee (Monmouth Finca Capetillo, a medium-dark roast), which I feel isn't far at all, and I'm concerned about accidentally "crashing" the burrs!

Is that a reasonable concern? Should I just adjust the top burr a bit coarser to that I can get closer to 1?


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