# Ibeirtal MC2 tips and tricks



## GS11 (Feb 20, 2013)

After owning the MC2 for a week I am impressed with how well the machine grinds coffee. Mine was a pre-loved machine and I am one of the few owners lucky enough to pull a 25 second shot on first grind! (all thanks to the previous owners espresso setting)

The machine is known to be fiddly to adjust due to the low geared worm drive and is equally fiddly in removing the ground coffee out of the grinder!

It's a popular grinder and I thought it would be useful if owners could share any tips/ tricks/ mods for this grinder.

Cheers:coffee:


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## GS11 (Feb 20, 2013)

Iv'e calculated as much as 4g of grinds remains in the machine







.Push/pulling the lid on the hopper helps to dislodge some of the grinds down the chute (vacuum effect). I note implements are also used to try and remove the grinds from top of chute.

A vacuum cleaner works very well in removing spent grinds from the chute using your hand as a seal between vacuum and chute. However this is a waste of coffee . I'm sourcing a gadget to send a shot of compressed air down the chute to see if this works better and will report back.

I have also noticed a step at the top of the plastic chute which is causing grinds to back up. This can be easily felt with your finger. Has anyone attempted to file/ smooth out the step?

I have read about concerns of pop corning when dosing single shots. I am using a bag of rice 200g (using layered clingfilm tied at the top) to very good affect.


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## Yes Row (Jan 23, 2013)

GS11 said:


> I have read about concerns of pop corning when dosing single shots. I am using a bag of rice 200g (using layered clingfilm tied at the top) to very good affect.


I really do not understand this last paragraph. Can you explain please. What is pop corning and the reference to rice and clingfilm???

I have an MC2 and find the difficulty in cleaning the chute a little annoying


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## GS11 (Feb 20, 2013)

Yes Row said:


> I really do not understand this last paragraph. Can you explain please. What is pop corning and the reference to rice and clingfilm???
> 
> I have an MC2 and find the difficulty in cleaning the chute a little annoying


Popcorning is experienced if you are using the mc2 to grind a single dose. You will see some of the beans jumping about and not being ground. A bag of rice (or similar) placed on top of the beans prevents the beans jumping out of the burrs.

I layered a couple of sheets of clingfilm and placed 200g of rice in the middle and tied it up at the top to form a good fit to the base of the hopper. This has worked very well to weigh down the beans and prevent popcorning.


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## Yes Row (Jan 23, 2013)

Of course! It makes perfect sense now. I had noticed the jumping beans but just keep grinding until all the pre weighed beans are through( always a couple of grms more than needed due to some remaining in the machine). However I shall try the rice and cling film method

Thanks, appreciated


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## GS11 (Feb 20, 2013)

^^^ Thanks you are welcome

On another issue, the plastic base of the mc2 is not designed very well









It does not support the machine particularly well (flexes) and is an odd shape if you are capturing grinds in a vessel bellow the chute. I would like to replace with something more solid.

Check out this youtube video. This mc2 has a modified base as well as some other very interesting mods:cool:

[video=youtube;2b6b-4wGYxk]





revised solid base.

numbers on base of hopper and arrow.

 revised hopper design for single dosing

revised chute (nice spoon )

operates direct from side switch


Not necesarily looking to mod to this extent but some interesting stuff to go on


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

The mc2 has a plastic sweeper with 3 spokes below the cone burr, this brushes out grounds when it spins, but also stops you getting all the ground out even with a vacuum as the grounds are stuck behind this spinner.

I have taken to waiting for the grind to finish, tilting the grinder forward and giving it a sharp smack on the side to release the first few grinds, then whilst still tilted forward I'll start it up again so it spins out the last few grounds, then switch it off after a second.

Since I have been doing this I have found far less retained stale grounds when i take it apart for a clean.


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## GS11 (Feb 20, 2013)

Thanks D Evans. That's a great tip and I will try it out:good:


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## forzajuve (Feb 2, 2011)

For single dosing you can just put your tamper over the beans to stop popcorning, works a treat.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

No worries, I would also recommend taking it apart if it hasn't been cleaned in a while, when I first did that I found quite a lot of nasty stale coffee around the spinner which I cant imagine was having a great effect on my coffee. You can keep your setting by marking the very front center of the upper burr cog, then count the full rotations it takes to remove, then when replacing count the rotations back again and line up your mark.


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

D_Evans said:


> The mc2 has a plastic sweeper with 3 spokes below the cone burr, this brushes out grounds when it spins, but also stops you getting all the ground out even with a vacuum as the grounds are stuck behind this spinner.
> 
> I have taken to waiting for the grind to finish, tilting the grinder forward and giving it a sharp smack on the side to release the first few grinds, then whilst still tilted forward I'll start it up again so it spins out the last few grounds, then switch it off after a second.
> 
> Since I have been doing this I have found far less retained stale grounds when i take it apart for a clean.


What I do is to use a vacuum cleaner to clean the chute first with the grinder off and then with the burrs spinning, this allows the grind caught behind the star to get out and when its time to give it a deep clean there isnt very much left in the grind chamber.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Do you guys actually use a household hoover?

I have heard these little henrys are pretty good : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Paladone-PP0119-Desktop-Vacuum-Cleaner/dp/B001GNTLGY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362357651&sr=8-1


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## Steve_S_T (Dec 7, 2012)

D_Evans said:


> I have heard these little henrys are pretty good : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Paladone-PP0119-Desktop-Vacuum-Cleaner/dp/B001GNTLGY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362357651&sr=8-1


Judging by the customer reviews it doesn't actually work very well.

Steve.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

yea, i read all that, but to doslodge coffee shouldnt take much suction at all.


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

D_Evans said:


> Do you guys actually use a household hoover?
> 
> I have heard these little henrys are pretty good : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Paladone-PP0119-Desktop-Vacuum-Cleaner/dp/B001GNTLGY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362357651&sr=8-1


I rather stupidly bought one of them a while ago, its an amusing toy and ok for picking up the odd biscuit crumb or stray *** ash but utterly useless for cleaning a grinder, I ended up buying a micro tools kit from ebay that has adaptors for a normal hoover to small brushes etc and the adapter nozzle that converts from the hoover to the small tube is the perfect size for cleaning out the burrs from the top with the hopper off.


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## beachouse (Aug 14, 2012)

I'm contemplating putting a big crank on the worm adjuster so I can wind it at a decent rate. It took me a lot of coffee to dial it in. It takes ages if you actually want to grind some coffee for a French press. I count 30 turns or something. I have a sunbeam EM0480 in another country. I find it much easier to use and the grind almost identical. Think they are similar price. I would choose the EM0480 over the MC2


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## GS11 (Feb 20, 2013)

beachouse said:


> I'm contemplating putting a big crank on the worm adjuster so I can wind it at a decent rate. It took me a lot of coffee to dial it in. It takes ages if you actually want to grind some coffee for a *French press*. I count *30 turns* or something.


I read another post on this forum (d evans) suggesting *Aeropress 20 turns*

Would be interesting to know approx number of turns of adjustment dial other people are using between espresso setting and the different brewing methods.


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## GS11 (Feb 20, 2013)

For owners of secondhand mc2 you can check when your mc2 was manufactured on the underside of base.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

GS11 said:


> I read another post on this forum (d evans) suggesting *Aeropress 20 turns*
> 
> Would be interesting to know approx number of turns of adjustment dial other people are using between espresso setting and the different brewing methods.


Yea, so I would guess french press to be about right at 30 turns, I have since read a lot about just using an espresso ground for aeropress but I never think it tastes as good with an espresso ground.

It is a mission to adjust the grind, I have a project in mind that is an extension of one I started on before, I'll be sure to post it up if I dont just break my grinder


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## GS11 (Feb 20, 2013)

D_Evans said:


> Yea, so I would guess french press to be about right at 30 turns, I have since read a lot about just using an espresso ground for aeropress but I never think it tastes as good with an espresso ground.


An espresso grind takes a lot more hand pressure to pump via AP. I too prefer a coarser grind and will be trying out -20 turns from my espresso setting for AP tomorrow at work.



D_Evans said:


> It is a mission to adjust the grind, I have a project in mind that is an extension of one I started on before, I'll be sure to post it up if I dont just break my grinder


It is not much fun turning that fiddly dial 20 turns forward/ backward......Please keep us updated

I'm currently on the lookout for a suitable material to produce a sturdy solid base to the unit.


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## beachouse (Aug 14, 2012)

GS11 said:


> I read another post on this forum (d evans) suggesting *Aeropress 20 turns*
> 
> Would be interesting to know approx number of turns of adjustment dial other people are using between espresso setting and the different brewing methods.


20 turns worked for french press. That's what I counted just so I could get back to espresso grind afterwards. I guess each act of me turning actually equates to between 1/2 and 3/4 of a revolution. It did take a bit of effort to push the plunger down but the coffee was nice and strong.


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## GS11 (Feb 20, 2013)

Was reading another thread and came across the RDT (aka Ross Droplet Technique) method to remove static issues on the MC2 (or any grinder for that matter)

http://www.home-barista.com/grinders...ed-t24051.html

I was noticing a lot of grinds sticking to the chute of the MC2 with some beans much worse than others.

The static issues were bad during my morning session, so I had a good example of bean to try the method on using single dose grinding......

*Stir 1x drop of water into 15g of beans ensuring good distribution* (I do this in a plastic beaker which I use to weigh beans and subsequent grind) Place beans in hopper and weigh down with a bag of rice (or use a tamper) to prevent popcorning)

*Grinds now exited via chute with no chaff/ grinds sticking to chute**.** Grinds appeared to exit the chute more freely/positively than usual.*









*I was previously seeing static grounds in the collecting jar but this has also gone too.*

*Nice fluffy grounds in portafilter with reduced mess.*

*A big improvement on MC2 ownership. *









Note: This method does not eliminate the grounds left under the burrs or top of the chute but the removal of static possibly assists with removal (I use vacuum cleaner with grinder running at the end of each session)








*Disclaimer: Water and electricity do not mix* . The method is referring to a small quantity of moisture added to beans. Do not go pouring water into your grinder /hopper!!


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Great info, thanks GS. It depends on the bean completely but I have had some that literally coat the plastic chute when they are ground, perhaps this all has to do with minor differences in moisture.


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