# Calibrating a Vario



## AlexB (Mar 20, 2013)

Apologies if this has been covered in exhaustive detail elsewhere; I did a search, but didn't find masses of detail. I've been playing with my setup for a bit now (an Andreja Premium and a Vario), and am finding that the Vario won't grind fine enough for lighter espresso roasts. My grind settings are constantly hovering around the 1-2 macro/a-d micro ranges. Would re-calibrating the grinder make an appreciable difference, or will it always struggle with lighter roasts?


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Funnily enough, i'm in the exact same boat as you. I always drink light roasts and some coffees I get a nice pour with macro right at the top and micro starting out at F and moving up one every couple of days.

Some coffees I get terrible pours even on A though.

I emailed Has Bean who sold me the grinder and they sent me the following PDF, *but* doing this procedure means breaking the sticker that says "Warranty Void if broken" which is very annoying. Has Bean were happy to send the grinder back to Mahlkönig for them to do it under warranty, but then I'm without grinder









https://www.dropbox.com/s/k95tmmxw963ykbq/Vario-Re-Calibration.pdf


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## mike 100 (Jul 15, 2010)

I have recently got a Vario, and have had no problems with any beans so far, currently I am on 5 fine and E finer and using Yirgacheffe beans. There are calibration video's on wwwseattlecoffeegear.com or on youtube most under the Barratza name, in the USA they even supply the allen key tool to do it with! Over here it's likely to void any warranty as the seal has to be broken to access the ajuster.

That's the bad news, apparently there is another way, it's on here somewhere, when I find it I will let you know!


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## AlexB (Mar 20, 2013)

I also got my Vario from Has Bean. I'm a bit concerned about doing the procedure for the same reason; don't want to void my warranty and be stuck with a borked grinder. The PDF also doesn't make it clear whether you'd have to do a primary calibration before doing the first procedure.


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## AlexB (Mar 20, 2013)

mike 100 said:


> I have recently got a Vario, and have had no problems with any beans so far, currently I am on 5 fine and E finer and using Yirgacheffe beans. There are calibration video's on wwwseattlecoffeegear.com or on youtube most under the Barratza name, in the USA they even supply the allen key tool to do it with! Over here it's likely to void any warranty as the seal has to be broken to access the ajuster.
> 
> That's the bad news, apparently there is another way, it's on here somewhere, when I find it I will let you know!


Well, at least we know it's solvable then. Thanks.


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)




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## Earlepap (Jan 8, 2012)

You can calibrate it without breaking the warranty sticker. Take the rubber grommet located behind the sticker out, then loosen the revealed hex screw and move it closer to the body of the grinder for finer, further away for coarser. It's fiddly as hell though. Be sure to have the grinder running while moving finer so you can hear when the burrs begin to touch: a weird, metallic, scratchy sound.

http://www.home-barista.com/grinders/recalibrating-baratza-vario-t10282.html


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## AlexB (Mar 20, 2013)

guess I need to stock up on allan wrenches.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Very easy to do

I'm not bothered about the warranty and have adjusted myself with no issues.

The main issues are people adjusting too close and jamming the burrs. Adjust with the motor running and you'll hear the pitch change in advance of a touch.


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## Earlepap (Jan 8, 2012)

Glenn, do you happen to know how long the warranty lasts?


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Earlepap said:


> You can calibrate it without breaking the warranty sticker. Take the rubber grommet located behind the sticker out, then loosen the revealed hex screw and move it closer to the body of the grinder for finer, further away for coarser. It's fiddly as hell though. Be sure to have the grinder running while moving finer so you can hear when the burrs begin to touch: a weird, metallic, scratchy sound.
> 
> http://www.home-barista.com/grinders/recalibrating-baratza-vario-t10282.html


This is a major calibration, rather than a minor one. both methods are detailed in the official PDF in my earlier post.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

No, but would guess at a year (sometimes 2 if the supplier extends it)


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Just done mine, it was very easy. 2mm allen key in the hole, start the motor with amcro at top and micro in the middle, turned the hex key 90 degrees or so until the motor started to labour (it used to not labour until about A/B).

The Londinium is off so testing will be tomorrow morning.

Edit: pulled a much better shot this morning, very pleased with results.


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## CoffeeDiva (May 9, 2013)

Just had a go at adjusting mine for finer grind. An initial false start as I followed the Home Barista instructions and didn't realise that there was another hole underneath the warranty sticker. After loosening the other nut, the slider refusing to move, and nearly losing the washer and nut in the machine, I eventually replaced it, watched the seattle coffee gear vid and found the other adjustable thingy.









I left it at 1 on the macro side and k on the micro which I think gave a bit finer than I had been getting on 1A. The shot could have been better - I think I still need to go a bit finer. But I am out of beans that I am willing to use for more adjusting and weighing - until the postie hopefully brings me more tomorrow.


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

i will go and collect some stale beans tomorrow if you want me to send you some?


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## CoffeeChris (Dec 2, 2011)

If I'm replacing with steal burrs will i need to do a major or minor calibration?

Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 2


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## CoffeeDiva (May 9, 2013)

coffeechap said:


> i will go and collect some stale beans tomorrow if you want me to send you some?


That'd be great if you could - PM me with details. I take it that this is what I ought to have been using then rather than running through my rather nice fresh ones?


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

inaboxmedia said:


> If I'm replacing with steal burrs will i need to do a major or minor calibration?


Probably just a minor one. Changed my Vario burrs to steel a couple of weeks ago. Have been using it on its coarsest setting for both macro and micro - perfect even grind - great for cafetiere. This thread has prompted me to adjust the micro grind setting using this

View attachment 3055


Got it from the US Baratza website - $10.00 plus post. You can use an Allen key but this does make the job a whole lot easier.

I've just used it to back off the burrs so now the grind I was getting on the lowest macro plus micro setting is happening about a third the way up the macro setting. I guess I backed off about two full rotations of the tool. It's weird calibrating a grinder so the burrs don't begin to meet at the finest setting which is the case with my Vario now but, hey, now coarse is great, coarse rules OK.


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