# Help with Iberital MC2



## Set-The-Edge (Jul 15, 2019)

Hello,

I recently bought a second hand Gaggia Classic with a Iberital MC2 grinder. I've read on this site that although not the best grinder it will be good enough for Espresso. I'm not looking to upgrade yet as I am very new to home coffee and want to try to get as much out of the equipment I've got before I upgrade.

My question is, how do I know when I've got to the finest grind the machine can perform? The knob just keeps turning and turning but my grind still seems to be too coarse. My espresso shot seems to run through in about 15 seconds.

Thanks


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## 4515 (Jan 30, 2013)

The adjustment on the MC2 does take lots of turns. If your shot is taking 15 seconds I'd look at 8 to 10 turns then try again.

You will get an acceptable shot from the MC2 but adjustment is horrible. If you do decide to upgrade your grinder at some point you'll notice a huge difference in the results


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## Set-The-Edge (Jul 15, 2019)

working dog said:


> The adjustment on the MC2 does take lots of turns. If your shot is taking 15 seconds I'd look at 8 to 10 turns then try again.
> 
> You will get an acceptable shot from the MC2 but adjustment is horrible. If you do decide to upgrade your grinder at some point you'll notice a huge difference in the results


 Thanks, I'll give that a go. Is there no visual representation at all for what grind your currently at? Seems a big over sight in design, although I get it's a low end grinder.

I will definitely upgrade in the future, but just had my first baby daughter and money is going to be fairly tight for a little while, so would like to work with what I've got for the time being.


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## 4515 (Jan 30, 2013)

There should be a set of numbers around the hopper that are a guide but I found this pretty useless.

MC2 will be ok but you'll find other grinders much easier to adjust. Stick with it until you have the spare funds to upgrade


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## Set-The-Edge (Jul 15, 2019)

working dog said:


> There should be a set of numbers around the hopper that are a guide but I found this pretty useless.
> 
> MC2 will be ok but you'll find other grinders much easier to adjust. Stick with it until you have the spare funds to upgrade


 At risk of me sounding like an idiot. How are the numbers around the hopper supposed to assist me in adjusting the grind?


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## 4515 (Jan 30, 2013)

The hopper rotates as the grind is adjusted but I never found them to be that great a guide so went by judgement / experience although I owned the grinder for just 4 months so didn't have a lot of time with the MC2


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

One point with the MC 2, do not adjust grinder until burr's touch. If you do this with it running OR try to start with burr's touching you will strip the nylon gears inside.

They are replaceable but at £12.00 plus and lots of aggravation best avoided.

As WD said the adjustment is very slow and very fine, =a worm drive turning a large gear.


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## Set-The-Edge (Jul 15, 2019)

El carajillo said:


> One point with the MC 2, do not adjust grinder until burr's touch. If you do this with it running OR try to start with burr's touching you will strip the nylon gears inside.
> 
> They are replaceable but at £12.00 plus and lots of aggravation best avoided.
> 
> As WD said the adjustment is very slow and very fine, =a worm drive turning a large gear.


 Ah okay, sorry for another basic question but I'm very new to this. How do I know if the burrs are touching? Can I visually see it if I take the hopper off?


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

. Take the hopper off then squeeze the plastic cover on both sides, this will lift off and you will then see the adjuster mechanism and in the centre the burrs.

The cone shaped burr is the bottom one and the top burr is pressed into the black plastic holder with teeth around the edge.

You cannot see them touch but if you unplug the grinder and rotate the lower burr (10 mm socket) and gradually wind the adjuster until you hear them touch.

If you then back the top carrier off by about 90 deg you will be back to roughly espresso grind.


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## richwade80 (Aug 25, 2017)

I kept a set of magnetic numbers when I had this grinder. Every full turn of the knob was one. It was useful to keep track of settings. Just stick the current number on the grinder body and don't lose count...

I found that every bean I tried would fall in the 1-10 range. You might need to try a few though to know where your first batch compare to others.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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