Baratza Grinder Jammed

[mp]

This morning when I was grinding some Colombian for a drip coffee I heard for the first time ever the Baratza whine. I immediately assumed that it was jammed somehow.

I located a Baratza manual online in order to try to clean it out. Now my model is in the form of a Starbucks Barista.

It looks like this.

I wanted to get the burrs out to try to clean it but am not certain on how to do it. I looked for a manual online but was only able to find a Baratza Maestro manual.

Any advise on how to proceed is much appreciated.

 

[hankua]

You can find it in Baratza's troubleshooting section, Starbucks barista, gear box replacement. The replacement is not an exact fit and I had to enlarge some holes. And the grinder is not as consistent as well; it might be better to replace the stripped gear instead of the entire gearbox. One small piece of concrete did mine in, and it's not the same since.

[BoldJava]

http://www.ineedcoffee.com/07/hack-starbucks-grinder/


Just had to clean out my daughter's.  Her's is a newer, larger one but the guts are similar.  I didn't need to remove the outer shell.

[mp]

Thanks guys.

Both are good resources.

I had the most difficulty pulling off the side timing knob and taking off the case.

They are finally off and now I am in the process of taking off the final wheel with tabs. I can then give everything a thorough cleaning.

 

[mp]

I wish I would have found these videos sooner. These are a great primer on how to take apart your Baratza grinder for a burr cleaning.

Being a video it will be very easy to take in the information rather than reading it. These are courtesy of Gail from Seattle Coffee Gear.

Cleaning the Burrs in a Baratza Grinder

How To: Baratza Grinder Cleaning & Maintenance

 

[Tex]

Your grinder has many names; Solis 166, Saeco Titan, Starbuck's Barista, and probably a few I'm not aware of. The Solis Mulino has the same internals, with a different body. Here's a pretty good video on how to adjust it so it grinds finer.

Solis 166 mods

[mp]

Thanks Robert.

That is indeed just like my version.

 

[Tex]

My first quality grinder was a Solis 177/Mulina that I bought in the early 90's from Costco.

Once I'd modded it to achieve a finer grind, it worked with my old La Pavoni Europiccola to make very good espresso; much better than I got using the preground coffee a friend used to send me from Italy! I now have a Saeco Titan (twin of the Solis 166 & Starbuck's Barista) that I use for everything but espresso. They're great little grinders, way ahead of their time.

[mp]

Well ... I finished cleaning the internals. Put it back together (wrong of course). Took it apart and put it together another couple of times and tried it. I turned the timer to check the workings of the motor. Bang! It seemed to work.

Bring it upstairs, put some beans in it, turn the timer, whirrrrrrrrrr!!!

It is doing the same as before. Originally I thought it may have been so dirty that the coffee was not flowing through. Now I am thinking that a small stone must have ground the gears of the motor or something like that. It is not grinding the beans. It is almost as though it lost 4/5's of its horsepower.

Any other suggestions as to what it is?

 

[mp]

Hmm ... Mrs. mp walked in tonight and I told her about my stories of woe with the grinder. She immediately got on it and took the grinder top off and cleaned out the beans.

She then poured a few beans into the grinder and set the timed on. Whirrrrr! Beans ground and into out shoot.

She then poured a few more beans in. Whirrrr! Beans ground and off to the out shoot.

[peter]

Next time, just go straight to the pro, and don't mess w/ the rookies here.

[Tex]

Hmm ... Mrs. mp walked in tonight and I told her about my stories of woe with the grinder. She immediately got on it and took the grinder top off and cleaned out the beans.

She then poured a few beans into the grinder and set the timed on. Whirrrrr! Beans ground and into out shoot.

She then poured a few more beans in. Whirrrr! Beans ground and off to the out shoot.

Dude, she just neutered you!

[mp]

Hmm ... Mrs. mp walked in tonight and I told her about my stories of woe with the grinder. She immediately got on it and took the grinder top off and cleaned out the beans.

She then poured a few beans into the grinder and set the timed on. Whirrrrr! Beans ground and into out shoot.

She then poured a few more beans in. Whirrrr! Beans ground and off to the out shoot.

Dude, she just neutered you!

Maybe so. Does that mean from now on I just have to put in a few beans at a time. For over a year I just had to throw a measured tablespoon of beans in there and then turn it on.

Do I need to start the grinder and then throw in the beans from now on?

[Tex]

Hmm ... Mrs. mp walked in tonight and I told her about my stories of woe with the grinder. She immediately got on it and took the grinder top off and cleaned out the beans.

She then poured a few beans into the grinder and set the timed on. Whirrrrr! Beans ground and into out shoot.

She then poured a few more beans in. Whirrrr! Beans ground and off to the out shoot.

Dude, she just neutered you!

Maybe so. Does that mean from now on I just have to put in a few beans at a time. For over a year I just had to throw a measured tablespoon of beans in there and then turn it on.

Do I need to start the grinder and then throw in the beans from now on?

Just ask the little woman to do it for you.

[mp]

Hmm ... Mrs. mp walked in tonight and I told her about my stories of woe with the grinder. She immediately got on it and took the grinder top off and cleaned out the beans.

She then poured a few beans into the grinder and set the timed on. Whirrrrr! Beans ground and into out shoot.

She then poured a few more beans in. Whirrrr! Beans ground and off to the out shoot.

Dude, she just neutered you!

Maybe so. Does that mean from now on I just have to put in a few beans at a time. For over a year I just had to throw a measured tablespoon of beans in there and then turn it on.

Do I need to start the grinder and then throw in the beans from now on?

Just ask the little woman to do it for you.

Heck no. My ego will never stand for that.