Baratza Vario or Preciso - Which one would you get?

[7over]

I've had the Vario for about 6 months and have not noticed any issue with static. I almost exclusively grind for espresso so have not had an opportunity to experience the coarse grind static grenade you demonstrated. However, I wonder why you don't grind into the hopper provided with the grinder? That thing has a tight fit to the underside of the exit chute and probably would contain the detonation quite nicely.

Plastic and static go together like ripe cherries and Palm Civet cats. The plastic bowl you're using looks like a static magnet!
Try the hopper and see if that solves your problem.

[staylor]

...
In this video you will see me tap the coffee container and statically charged coffee will leap out of it and land on the paper. That paper spread is a full 24" wide. .  .

Shaun, try a stainless steel or glass container and I bet the static decreases.  That is my experience with the Macap.  Something in plastic magnifies the creation of the static.  Plastic becomes negatively charged and makes that bad mojo happen. (liberal arts/business major) http://www.electrostatics.com/page2.html

I'll give it a try this morning and report back. We've got lots of humidity in the air so that's not the issue. I didn't have the static issue with the first Vario and I was using the same plastic container to hold the grinds.

[staylor]

I've had the Vario for about 6 months and have not noticed any issue with static. I almost exclusively grind for espresso so have not had an opportunity to experience the coarse grind static grenade you demonstrated. However, I wonder why you don't grind into the hopper provided with the grinder? That thing has a tight fit to the underside of the exit chute and probably would contain the detonation quite nicely.

Plastic and static go together like ripe cherries and Palm Civet cats. The plastic bowl you're using looks like a static magnet!
Try the hopper and see if that solves your problem.

I share the grinder with my wife, a disorganized genius. Swapping back and forth between an espresso setup to the container supplied with the grinder wouldn't work for us... I would get tired of constantly searching for either container which could be located next to the car keys, a computer, in the fridge, bathroom or next to the dog bowl, depending on where my wife might have left it while she was making her coffee. Constantly leaving the espresso setup in place is good for me and slipping a smaller plastic container underneath has worked for us for a long time now.

[staylor]

Here's a video of coffee ground directly into a ceramic container. Does anyone see anything like this when they grind into a non-plastic container?

Vario into ceramic container

[staylor]

Here's a video showing grounds directly into the stock Vario grind holder. I'm still getting static charge with this container. I used two different types of beans and two different roasts, none of that mattered, the static charge was still persistent. The only time the static dissipates is when the grind is tightened up for espresso but anything coarser begins to hold a charge and the coarser it gets the more it charges up.

Is this a typical result for you guys who are using the container?

Vario static stock container

[Marshall_S]

Shaun: Something is definitely going on there!  With my Vario, and now with my Preciso, I did not get that level of static with the bin container.  Do you encounter this with different beans/different roast levels?  I don't know enough about static to offer an intelligent solution but I can tell you I've never encountered that level of static with either of my Baratza grinders.

Also, the problems Yakster has encountered (drifting and constricted range of grind) are exactly what got me to the Preciso.  As I said in my earlier post, I prefer the adjustment collar of the Preciso to the levers of the Vario and the range and quality of the grind are very good-

[staylor]

Shaun: Something is definitely going on there!  With my Vario, and now with my Preciso, I did not get that level of static with the bin container.  Do you encounter this with different beans/different roast levels?  I don't know enough about static to offer an intelligent solution but I can tell you I've never encountered that level of static with either of my Baratza grinders.

Also, the problems Yakster has encountered (drifting and constricted range of grind) are exactly what got me to the Preciso.  As I said in my earlier post, I prefer the adjustment collar of the Preciso to the levers of the Vario and the range and quality of the grind are very good-

Thanks for looking and comparing it against your grinders. I do get the static with different beans and roast levels.

I'll wait another day or so to see if anyone else has had this same problem and somehow solved it. I'll also contact Baratza and see what they have to say, they had great customer service on my first Vario so I anticipate they will solve this issue as well.

[7over]

Thanks for the vids Shaun. That's a crazy amount of static electricity!

Is it possible that the outlet the Vario is plugged into is not grounded properly? (or at all?)
The static is obviously building up and not draining off the grinder so I 'm thinking that either the entire machine is not grounded properly OR that a connector / wire in your Vario is not connected to ground (frame).

Now, I have no idea if this grinder is even supposed to have a ground wire to take care of static buildup or if such a thing would even work! But static electricity does jump to ground if one is available. Maybe one is not available? Maybe one is available and it doesn't make any difference at all in resolving this problem!

[BoldJava]

^^ See, that guy with the black eye didn't major in liberal arts.

[Ascholten]

where are you going to hook a ground to a plastic cased machine?     or a plastic collection container???

static electric is NOT going to automatically jump to ground just because one might be closeby.

If it bothers you that much, open the machine up,. wrap the inside of the case with tin foil, with a wire going to the ground wire if you think it will help.    Maybe get a metal bristly type brush, like on the bottom of a door or something to have the grounds 'whisk' by to pull off the charge on them.

Or just thump the thing and knock the grounds into the bottom and empty it.

You could get one of these static wristwraps electronic workers use, put it around the mouth of the thing and plug it into a ground, might help too.

Plenty of ways of dealing with it

Aaron

[staylor]

Thanks for the vids Shaun. That's a crazy amount of static electricity!

Is it possible that the outlet the Vario is plugged into is not grounded properly? (or at all?)
The static is obviously building up and not draining off the grinder so I 'm thinking that either the entire machine is not grounded properly OR that a connector / wire in your Vario is not connected to ground (frame).

Now, I have no idea if this grinder is even supposed to have a ground wire to take care of static buildup or if such a thing would even work! But static electricity does jump to ground if one is available. Maybe one is not available? Maybe one is available and it doesn't make any difference at all in resolving this problem!

Good thought on the outlet ground I hadn't considered that possibility. We are in a relatively new rental condo until our house in built so I suppose a miswired outlet could have been an issue.

To test it, I unboxed the original Vario and put the two side by side using the same outlet. The original doesn't create the same amount of static as the replacement Vario, so it seems that static is still a problem with the replacement. It was interesting to see the grinds in two ceramic cups side by side, when I poured the grinds out of each one the original Vario emptied nicely while the replacement Vario grinds were clinging to the surface of the ceramic cup.

It hurts to use good coffee during this testing.

[staylor]

where are you going to hook a ground to a plastic cased machine?     or a plastic collection container???

static electric is NOT going to automatically jump to ground just because one might be closeby.

If it bothers you that much, open the machine up,. wrap the inside of the case with tin foil, with a wire going to the ground wire if you think it will help.    Maybe get a metal bristly type brush, like on the bottom of a door or something to have the grounds 'whisk' by to pull off the charge on them.

Or just thump the thing and knock the grounds into the bottom and empty it.

You could get one of these static wristwraps electronic workers use, put it around the mouth of the thing and plug it into a ground, might help too.

Plenty of ways of dealing with it

Aaron

What bothers me is the amount of coffee statically discharging like a kitchen counter coffee hand grenade.

When I use the supplied grinds container I can thump it all I want and the grounds are still statically charged (see video of repeated thumping) and don't just 'drop into the bottom' for a convenient emptying.

There is an observed difference between the two Vario's I have sitting on my counter so obviously there is a fix at Baratza, my replacement doesn't seem to have 'the fix' in place.

[Ray T]

I think I read somewhere a piece of tinfoil in the bottom of the container helps with static. I haven't had any problems at all with my Vario( knock on wood)

[mp]

Hmm ... so they still didn't get that right about the static.

 

[rgrosz78]

Here's a video showing grounds directly into the stock Vario grind holder. I'm still getting static charge with this container. I used two different types of beans and two different roasts, none of that mattered, the static charge was still persistent. The only time the static dissipates is when the grind is tightened up for espresso but anything coarser begins to hold a charge and the coarser it gets the more it charges up.

Is this a typical result for you guys who are using the container?

I had a static problem with my Vario for about 4 months last year, then it went away. I never did figure out why.

Now I have a static problem again - but it is pretty minor. I can tap the plastic grind holder, and only a little bit sticks to the area within 1/4 inch of the rim.