# Inside of a Sette 270 + questions



## gcs (Sep 7, 2016)

Hi,

First of all, I'm not native English speaker, please bear with me.

I'm using Sette 270 with Sage Dual Temp Pro. DTP is a great little machine for light usage, highly recommend it.

I bought my Sette 270 all the way back from US to Hong Kong because I can't wait







. I'm now using with a AC step down transformer.

*Inside *

Unfortunately, I got a "digital" transformer at first, it is just a cheap shxt that only works with appliances with no circuitry inside, such as kettle.

It will not work on most other appliances.

I learn it in the hard way and blow up my Sette







:










But don't worry, I know the reason and how to fix it.

It is working just fine now with a traditional step down transformer.










In case of anyone that interested in the inside of a Sette, here you go:

Main board:










Outter burr + gear box + motor:



















Connection on the left is to control panel at the front, connection on the right is to the motor assembly, and the bottom one is AC from mainline:










This is connect to 2 micro switch in series for safety :










*Question*

I have questions regarding to grind adjustment.

Even after installing a shim, I have to dial up to 1 in order to pull a shot slow enough. Now, I installed 2 shims and dial back to 5G.

Do anyone need to install 2 shims?

I notice there always is a ring of coffee grind retention seating on the support column of inner burr:



















Do any Sette owner notice it? I'm looking at ~2 grams of retention


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

I went straight for the 2 shim option as I only drink decaf and it needs to be ground finer. With 2 shims in which is not unusual, it grinds absolutely fine with room to spare. Thanks for the pictures, it is very interesting. I would not worry about using both sims. I shimmed mine after one week of use and have not dropped the burrs since but there was very little coffee inside. 2 grams would not concern me!


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## gcs (Sep 7, 2016)

But those retention grind are clogging between support columns, contrast with "zero retention" praised by reviews on Youtube.

I'm not saying there is a grinder on Earth has zero retention, I'm saying that I cannot see the straight through design is working


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

With the greatest of respect, your average Youtube vlogger is an imbecile! The Sette was bigger up in the States by professional reviewers in the way that they always do.....create a thread, make it seem amazing, tell you the taste profile is better than a K30 then lock the thread. Loads of people go and buy them based on that then the problems start. I am not aware if Baratza claim zero retention. With a deign flaw as you have shown, there has to be some retention but as I said, a couple of grams would not worry and does not worry me


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Baratza says:

"Straight-thru vertical transports and grinding of the beans (highly efficient and results in minimal residual coffee in the system)."

From: https://www.baratza.com/grinder/sette-270/

Now, define "minimal". 

I agree however that 2g retention is something not to worry about.

Just try it out: Clean all up and have a coffee. Then, don't clean it and have a coffee. Can you taste the difference?


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## gcs (Sep 7, 2016)

Yeah, I know what you mean. Most of those reviews on Youtube are just repeating after Baratza. Grinder reviews on seattle coffee gear will tell you grind are consistence by looking and touching on it, and you should buy it! LOL WTF?

I admit Sette is not a well made grinder by far for the price point. You are looking at quality worse than Sage(breville) grinders...

And I don't know why Baratza is so urgent in pushing out Sette to the market, they obviously sell Pilot Production units to the public.

Motor has issue in brush contact,

the burr is straight out from CNC machining because I can see a lot of metal debris on the burr, Baratza production don't bother to even brush it off.

and adding shims because of the grinder run out of adjustment range...

It is funny that I noticed Baratza actually wanted this grinder to cover from French press to espresso, because logo printed on the box indicate that.

In the end, Sette failed to cover both brewing methods, and we have Sette 30 coming out

WTF Baratza ...


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## CardinalBiggles (Apr 24, 2017)

And this is supposed to be a top brand!?

Italian engineering, eh. What could possibly go wrong?!


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

CardinalBiggles said:


> And this is supposed to be a top brand!?
> 
> Italian engineering, eh. What could possibly go wrong?!


Italian?


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

MWJB said:


> Italian?


If he wants it to be Italian, I say let him!


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## CardinalBiggles (Apr 24, 2017)




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## Stanic (Dec 12, 2015)

picture from a regional distributor, they've stopped selling them for now due to issues with reliability and current lack of support from producer..plastic gears for the win

















image credit coffeezone


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## dsc (Jun 7, 2013)

There's cheese grade plastic and there's hard wearing plastic which can easily replace metal, especially in the food industry.

I could never understand the praise Baratza gets, their products seem to break fairly often yet people are still recommending them on HB. Yes, Baratza follows through with customer support but I'd rather have a product which simply works, especially when it's fairly new.

T.


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## gcs (Sep 7, 2016)

A little bit update from me after a year of usage, this, Sette 270 (and others w/wi variance) are poorly manufactured product, Sette 270 was released without thorough quality assurance process.

Mechanical / electronic problem are being discovered by consumer instead of Baratza.

After a year of usage, it has broken down again in May 2018. The grinder suddenly lost its power in the middle of grinding and couldn't power on again.

I though may be it is because I swapped out the Fuse with a lower rating for safety reason, the Fuse blow out for a sudden peak current spike.

BUT this is NOT the case !

The Fuse is fine!

I debug a while and found a connector of an inductor had broken off from the circuit broad, the inductor was soldered on the broad!

I need to solder the connector back to the broad to fix it.

I think Sette 270 is poorly built and I'm very disappointed.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Well I was always very wary of these grinders after the Vario debacle....it's an expensive grinder too! Almost 2 years ago I said this.

https://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?30016-new-baratza-sette-series&p=455007#post455007

And this over a year ago

https://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?37482-Metal-buildup-on-my-new-Baratza-Sette&p=489113#post489113

Is it a grinder I would recommend nearly 2 years after it was launched....no, although I am sure it will have it's lovers and defenders. Seeing the photos of the Inside and the cheap burrs it just reinforces things really. Also almost £400 wow....


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

I wondered about one for a while but saw this in the manual



> DUTY CYCLE
> 
> The Sette was designed for a maximum of 2 lbs (1 kg) per day, with an espresso duty cycle of 10%. We want to remind
> 
> everyone buying the Sette grinder that it was designed for home use (short duration grinding)


And a little latter in the same section



> Espresso
> 
> (Settings 3-9) it will take about 6 seconds to grind a dose of espresso, then the grinder should rest for 60
> 
> seconds. This is about what you could do if making back-to-back shots on a one-group machine


At the time I was using 2 portafilters but numbers like that would worry me anyway. What bean, what dose and it sounds like people would need to drink 24hrs a day to get 1kg through it. Then I read about some one that was fed up with replacing motors.

John

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