MAZZER adjustments

[Niko]

OK, the battle of grinders is not over yet in my kitchen. I just got a Mini E Type B as a partner to my MACAP MC4 (both doserless) so I was just finishing up dialing in the Mazzer. I'm surprised how fast and lucky I was to dial it in with very little (old) coffee wasted.

My question is, once you run out of adjustment going counter-clockwise for FINE, is there another way of getting the burrs closer to each other? I'm dialed in but it's very close to the ZERO and it looks like the ring is almost at the end. What surprises me about this is that I'm a heavy-handed kind of guy on the tamping and one would think with my adjustment so tight on this Mini E that I must be undertamping.
I know my MACAP will let me touch the burrs together and I can get Turkish grind if I wanted, then again there's lots of things the MACAP does that the Mazzer should be doing.

[jackiechang]

It will touch. I bought 1 extra peg( lever, stick... whatever ) Makes adjusting much easier.

[chas]

The Mini-E should have plenty of travel beyond 0.

[Niko]

The big screw stops it form moving any further.

[chas]

That's why everybody takes that screw out and throws it away! That screw was probably designed by the legal department!

[Niko]

AAAAAhhh.
Now I get it, the same department that puts that damn finger guard in the hopper!
I might just break the finger guard off my MACAP hopper and install it on the Mazzer, it should fit after all.
Thanks for the info on that screwy screw.



Now if you can help me move the hideous location of that power cord...

[chas]

One of the first things I did was take that finger guard off after my Mini-E arrived. It was immediately clump city. Then it dawned on me what the "guard" was actually for.

[Niko]

How did you remove the Mazzer finger guard? It looks pretty set in there on mine, maybe they heard people were removing them and they decided to change the style.

[chas]

I had to remove the chute and cut it out from the back with an XACTO. It was as big a pain to reinstall as it was to remove.

What I did was set the single dose button to just do a short blast to get all the stale grounds out since you can't really get past that guard to dig them out.

[Niko]

Does it look like a pretty clean job after you used the Xacto? It seems that the MACAP one is easier to modify by simply snapping off the finger guard.

Did you program the 2-cup dose for 16-18 grams and if so, does it work well for you? I'm liking this little grinder more and more but I noticed it's very messy for what it is.

[admin]

Since you program the Mini-E for time there is no real correlation to weight or volume. Those are too variable from bean to bean and roast to roast. I just spent the first few weeks with the screwdriver right there next to it and constantly twittled until I got a result I liked.

My algorithm was to tweak it so that it never overfilled with any bean and roast I used. Usually this means underfilling it with most beans. I then top off to the level I desire with the manual button.

I also wiggle and shake the PF while it is filling in order to even the distribution.

[Niko]

Yeah, that's exactly what I was doing...had a screwdriver out the whole time and I programmed the single dose for slightly longer than a quick burst.

Another question:
What's with this ridiculous warning about running the grinder for no more than 20 seconds at any given time and then letting it rest for at least 30 seconds?
This is a lame grinder if this is the case because I've run Kilos of coffee through my MACAP non-stop for friends who don't have grinders for drip coffee. One time a friend came over with 3lbs and the MACAP didn't even break a sweat. I know the doserless Mazzer isn't designed to distribute these amounts of coffee but I wouldn't think the motor is any different between the to styles of grinders.

[Weska]

What I seem to recall reading, maybe in Dan Kehn's rundown on grinders home-barista.com or maybe elsewhere, is that the Mini Bs have 64mm burrs but retain the same motor as is used on the 58mm Minis. I guess spinning up the extra mass long term or over very short intervals could make the motor overheat.

Could, of course, be another legal department initiative, but who wants to stress a $700 machine to find out?

[Niko]

Could, of course, be another legal department initiative, but who wants to stress a $700 machine to find out?

I know, $700 for machine that isn't half the MACAP that I paid $400 for when it comes to torque...if this isn't another Legal Department thingy again. I'm glad I didn't pay full price for this thing.
I've seen these Mini doserless models lined up on cafe counters, maybe that's why several are lined up so they don't stress just one of them out.
It's starting to sound like the MACAP has a heavier duty motor at a fraction of the cost, not much of a dosing system but it does the job.

[Weska]

According to what I read, when MACAP machines use 64mm burrs, they are matched to a heavier-duty motor, while Mazzer does not upgrade the motor to match the larger burrs in the Mini series.

The way I read the specs, the MACAPs might not have a heavier-duty motor than the Mazzers with 58mm burrs. It could even be the same motor, for all we will ever know, although it could be different whether made in-house or outsourced.

Not meaning to be contrary, but I think that in fairness we should sometimes pick a few nits in favor of the manufacturers. That said, I do think that Mazzer is over-priced on the Mini doserless series. That is what keeps me from considering them more seriously in my upgrade quest.

It's beginning to look like the Cimbali Junior at about the same price is a better deal considering what's available to me. (No MACAP continuous adjustment units are here. The retailers are not even aware of them. Mazzers have priced themselves even out of this market where overpricing usually attracts more customers. This leaves the Cimbali priced at about $800, which seems to be the price for Europe. I'll not have doserless, but I will have a sweet adjustment control--and a reasonable power line configuration.)

[chas]

I thought long an hard about paying the extra price when I purchased my Mini-E. However, they've jacked the price considerably since I purchased mine. I wouldn't buy one if I were in the market today. I'd probably try the Macap doserless.

[Niko]

The funny thing is that the Mini E Doserless is touted as "A Neatnik's Delight" in Dan Kehn's grinder review round up. Not that I don't believe Dan, his reviews are great and he's helped me decide on things in the past.
In my opinion, this little Mazzer is neat as far as not leaving much behind but I swear on almost anything that the MACAP is cleaner, it doesn't have this spray of microgrinds everywhere. I was trying to avoid laying down a paper towel everytime I use the MACAP, as I got more and more experience with the grinder, the mess left behind was getting smaller and smaller and now it's almost down to no grinds left on the counter. This is all technique with the MACAP but with the Mazzer the doserless chute does all the work for me, it does a very good job but I wouldn't say it's the cleanest of the doserless models. I have yet to find the distribution problems that others complain about this grinder, however, I sort of see what they mean by it and I turn the PF as it shoots the grinds out - if this is what they mean then I can confirm it happens with all the PF I attach under it. My 58mm PF does the same thing under it, the 53's sit under it and are pretty much dead center just the same as the larger ones.
So what do you make of the motor theory? Do you think it can't candle extreme loads like the MACAP? I don't see any similar models in the Mazzer line that have a bag clip under the chute for heavy duty use although I did see a retro fit kit that can do this for the dosing models, they obviously are driving the smaller burrs. Hmm, I'm starting to think the larger burrs grind significantly faster so the motor does not need to be on larger. One thing I did notice between the two grinders is speed, I didn't time it (I should just for kicks) to just see how much faster the Mazzer grinds 16 grams of coffee, I'm guessing about 5-7 seconds faster. Now it's beginning to compare like a high revving sports car next to a heavy duty truck, one can devliver faster but the other can go all day.
Other than that, the two grinders are pretty much the same size in height and weight.