# Barista pro grinder decline after only 2 months



## Mark McL (Jan 5, 2022)

Hi there,

I bought a Sage Barista Pro just over 2 months ago on Black Friday, and I've been getting plenty of joy from it since. I started off with expensive freshly ground coffees for the first month or so, and everything was fine. I think I was still on grind setting 6 on the burr and 6/7 on the dial, and grinding 18/19g in 13 seconds.

Anyway, fancying a change, and to experiment a bit with what was out there that was a bit less premium, I decided to try a big 1kg supermarket bag out of LIDL to see what that would be like. (Now... I have since read the newbie thread on this forum about supermarket beans, but anyway this is now, that was then.) In order to dial in this bean I ended up having to change the setting on the burr down to 2 and right down to 1 on the dial. For what it's worth, I got a decent cup out of it. The problem is that 3 weeks later my grinder gets clogged and something is not quite right.

So a few things happen. I followed the advanced cleaning guide, took out the burrs and cleared the blockage and put everything back. Then I fed the machine some beans 5g at a time. But each time I ground them, at the same fine setting as I'd been grinding at for 3 weeks (see above), it spat out less and less than the 5g I put in. Soon it was blocked again. So I cleaned it again, tried again with the same result. Next time I cleared it just by upping the grind setting and feeding it more beans -- but the coffee at this grind size is under-extracted and undrinkable. At burr setting 2 and the dial at 10, I find that I can consistently pass 5g or 10g through grinder and get the same dose (on average) back out, so my conclusion is that the grinder is working, but will not grind as fine as it did before. The duration of the grind has also changed now. Those first fresh coffees at the less fine grind, ground 18/19g in 13 seconds. The superfine grind needed for the supermarket coffee required 20 seconds. Now I find that I can't grind 18/19g of another (probably better/fresher coffee) at 2 and 7 in less than 23 seconds.

Just to add another detail, whilst cleaning the burrs, etc., the first time, the felt washer came off and I tore it trying to wipe the coffee off it. I followed a youtube video and created a DIY one and stuck it back. I *think* this has nothing to do with the grinder issue/blockage, but you never know...

Anyway, my conclusion from all of this is that by grinding those "supermarket beans" so fine for 3 weeks that I have potentially partially worn out my upper burr. It seems crazy that I could have worn out the burr, or burrs, so quickly though.

I would really appreciate some perspective/advice on this from the veterans on here. 

One point I would make regarding supermarket beans, I know that some people have been very clear about saying only to use fresh beans with this machine, but I find it hard to believe that a machine at this level cannot deal with common affordable beans. If so, it would have been good to know this earlier (from Sage)!


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## Petre (Dec 20, 2021)

I would say burr wear because of the beans them self it's almost impossible so fast unless the burrs were crunching some stone or they touched each other. You can probably check that if you say you are able to remove them.

About the washer: was that in a place that would affect the distance between burrs?

Did you identify the clogging reason when you cleaned it? Where the Lidl beans very dark roasted or oily even?

What could have happen tho is that you just seasoned the burrs. 20 sec at fine grind does not seem that much.


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## Mark McL (Jan 5, 2022)

Hi Petre, thanks for posting. I didn't find anything nasty in with the burrs. I also didn't notice any obvious signs of damage. It's hard to say if the burrs are as sharp as they were, because I didn't inspect them after I bought the machine.

I don't think the washer could affect the distance between the burrs. It goes under the fan/impeller which the bottom burr sits on, and as long as the screw for those pieces is screwed on tight, I can't imagine that the burr would be raised to come into contact with the upper burr. One thing I wondered about is whether the fan/impreller and bottom burr might somehow be slowed down by the washer, since the washer sits directly underneath it and touches it (fan/impeller). But when I removed those pieces after a couple of grinds when testing there was no obvious sign of wear on the new washer.

I never identified the clogging reason to be honest. The coffee was densely packed in there. It might have been in the chute leaving the grind chamber, which could have had a build up. The LIDL beans are dark, and I think (from my limited experience) quite oily. It did cross my mind that maybe everything needs to be cleaned in soapy water, and that might help.

Good to know about "seasoning the burrs". I think what I will do next is go back to the original coffee I had been grinding and see where that dials in and what the grind time is like now.


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