Advice on Cleaning a MACAP Grinder

[boldstep]

Hi,
Does anyone have any advice on how to clean my grinder (pictured here)? I always brush out the top (where the hopper sits) and the chute, but it seems like there might be a lot of residual coffee collecting internally... Should I open it up to give it a proper cleaning every so often? If so, how?
Many thanks!

[JohnB]

Absolutely as you really aren't cleaning out most of the old grounds unless you remove the upper burr assy. If you go to this post:
http://www.s1cafe.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=697 & do the mod I posted at CG cleaning will be greatly simplified. Until then remove the screw that holds the hopper in place, remove hopper, then remove the 3 screws from the black toothed ring, lift the black ring away from the worm drive, turn the upper burr assy clockwise until it completely unscrews and lift it off the machine. You now have access to both burrs & can vacuum all the old grounds out. If you do the mod I posted the entire upper assy including hopper can be removed in 20-30 seconds with no tools required. I clean mine out every Sunday & once a month I remove the screws that hold the burrs in place, pull off the burrs & clean out the old grounds that pack up under them. If its been more then an 1/2 hour since I pulled a shot I vacuum out the doser & burr area so no old grounds end up in my new shot.

[boldstep]

Thanks JohnB! Just what I was looking for. It seems I'm not the only obsessed one around here... :P I will give it a shot!

[boldstep]

Before I undertake this let me make sure I understand something: if I turn the upper burr assy out of the machine, will I have a problem knowing how tightly to put it back? I mean, if I turn it too tightly (counter-clockwise) then the burrs could touch when I turn it back on? How do you know when to stop turning when you put it back in?

Thanks!

[JohnB]

Once you remove the black ring you can see the exposed threads so you will have a basic idea how far to turn it when you reinstall the carrier. I spin it on until I get down to the point where approx 4 threads are showing & then turn it slowly until the burrs just touch then back off to my typical Espresso setting. The machine isn't running & you are turning the carrier very slowly at that point so lightly touching the burrs is not going to hurt anything.

[boldstep]

Very helpful, thanks. Now when I do that I see the lower burr which has three screws to hold it in place. Do you take that out too??? (I also see about six months of coffee residue. Nasty! )

[JohnB]

Very helpful, thanks. Now when I do that I see the lower burr which has three screws to hold it in place. Do you take that out too??? (I also see about six months of coffee residue. Nasty! )

I do remove both burrs once a month to clean out what gets under there. In your case I would go for it. You can keep the lower burr assy from turning by placing a chopstick into the chute so that one of the upright metal tangs on the edge of the burr carrier catches on it. This will allow you to break the screws loose & retighten them. You will have to work the lower burr up after removing the screws as it sets in there snuggly. Make sure you tighten the screws firmly when replacing the burrs as you don't want one backing out & contacting the other burr while grinding.

[boldstep]

It's clean as a whistle thanks to your help! Unfortunately, I now have one more coffee ritual to obsess about: religiously cleaning the grinder...