Grinding Coffee Beans

No brand or model? Okay, general reasons why grinders clog up. Most common I've found is worn out burrs. The plates, depends on composition and usage. Metal plates last longer but not forever. If your grinding thousand pounds of beans don't expect it to last. I've seen massive grinders fail within a month. It all depends on two factors; How much and how fine. Large grind size will increase life and fine grinds wear the burrs out very fast. Especially Turkish settings. Fine grinds also generate a lot of heat. This can cook the coffee again and make it change in flavor. Heat also forces the oils in the bean to coat the burrs and make them dull out which causes more heat. Prolong grinding will also burn out motor.
* Worse case senario; Very oily beans ground to espresso fine. This is usually the case with 'local' roasters. Poor quality beans, extreme roasting (pushing the max on toasting limits), and extreme fine grinds for a particular roast. Fine grinding tends to work on dryer beans. Heavy moisture (under roasted or beans not aged enough to outgas and dry out) will gum up any grinder. Let your roaster know what your trying to do. Otherwise go with a name brand and correct bean for the flavor profile your looking for. Don't expect 5 star espresso from a cheap roast.
* Final, most likely worn burrs needs to be changed out. Off chance the motor is burnt out or starter capacitor needs replacement. If it is the motor or cap, then you need to review your grinding methods as grinder motors are usually tough enough to handle the range of grinds listed in the specs. burning the motor is a clear sign of abuse.
* Have your vendor look at the grinder. They will know right away what's wrong.
Aloha, ukeboy57

Humm, G-3 grinders. Okay what common problems I've come across:
* Wrong setting for grind on label. Usually means worn out grinder burrs. But this does not happen often unless you are using it to grind commercial amounts of coffee? It's a retail level grinder meant to be user friendly and simple to use. Say grind a bag of beans once every 10 mins or so even with customers lined up to grind there own. Running a G-3 constantly is usually done by upcoming coffee vendors whom are using it for small flavored bean batches. But expect the burr plates to only last 3 to 6 months. We used to change it every month till the boss bought a bigger pro grinder. (whew!)
* Out of calibration (for grind) This usually happens as soon as it's installed. Either the grinder got banged (Dropped?) around or the lock nut was not tighten down. If caught quickly then it's a simple adjustment. Left unchecked will wear out the burrs or crack the plate.
* Trips out breaker. This is common at retail stores as it's located in a shelf rack that really does not have the required outlets. Many times there is a brewer(s) connected to the same line. It only trips out when one or both brewers are heating and the grinder is running a very fine grind.
* Trips out breaker when grinding espresso or very fine grinds. Worn burrs or slim chance the grinder was miss calibrated (but you would catch this when first installed)
* Shocks the customer. Dry climates or heavy air conditioning will build up static electricity at the chute. There usually a small chain attached to the chute to prevent this. Attach a SHORT metal chain or thin cable to the metal case of the grinder and add a metal clip to attach to the coffee bag. Many use a chain and clip just short enough to keep the bag positioned under the chute. Note many coffee bags come with bag clips. Just make sure the clip and chain can't get stuck in the grinder.
* Not working. This is usually the on/off switch as it gets beat up the most. There is sometimes a safety micro switch under the chute to sense if there is a bag there. I've found may have been defeated.
* No power, check cord, breaker (GFRI) outlet, Plug prongs if broken off or bent.
* power but no motor hum. Tripped thermal breaker (usually a red button on side or back. Some models may have it inside on the motor itself. Call for service to check.
* Turns on but loud hum (may be hot too). Burrs stuck. This could be from adjusting grinder while grinding beans and adjusting to a fine setting. Grinding finer slows down the beans feeding the burrs. Large settings flood the burrs with a lot of beans. Adjustments are usually done when the grinder hopper is completely empty. If loaded and turned down from coarse to fine grind the beans already in the burrs get crushed and stuck between the plates thus locking them in. It may be possible to clear the hopper and open up the grinder to its coarsest setting to jog out the crushed beans. Otherwise call for service to have the burrs cleared manually.
*Finally check with your vendor if your still having problems.

Aloha! ukeboy57

The grinder is timing out and stops if the beans do not enter the grinder. This happens because:
1- The grinder outlet is clogged and fresh beans cannot pass through the burrs.
2- The grind setting is too fine and helping clogging in the grinding chamber or the ground coffee outlet.
3- Operator may have been using dark roast oily beans. Like it or not, the dark roast oily beans do not make stronger espresso. Please stop using such beans in fully automatic espresso machines.
4- The grinder has already made over 2000 grinds and the burrs are blunted and not grinding beans as needed.
To solve this malfunction, clean the grinder. Make sure the grinder outlet to the doser is cleaned. This outlet passage is about 2 inches or more. To clean it, lay the machine on its back (water tank side) to allow better view of cleaning the doser and the passage of coffee from the grinder to the doser. Use the link below to find instructions for cleaning the grinder and replace the burrs.
Gaggia Titanium and Plus Espresso machines parts and repairs Saeco...

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This can be caused by several things;
If it used to be good but is now faulty it is most likely that it just needs cleaning. If you are using beans that are 'oily' they can clog the grinder, you should anyway disassemble it and clean every year. Do not use soap and water, just brush it with a stiff brush (e.g. the stiffest type of toothbrush) and a vacuum cleaner.
There is also a possibility that something has got into the grinder along with the coffee beans that has damaged the grinding wheels; in that case you need to replace the wheels.

If using Beans; it is set to fine and due to static it sticks - OR you have a blockage..

If you are putting ground coffee into a grinder; the static will be a bigger issue and in addition there is no weight from the beans to press the grinds into the burrs. A bean grinder is not ment to grind beans that have already been ground.

Get a better grinder and do not buy supermarket beans.

Have you tried grinding a few cups of uncooked rice through the mechanism to see if this will shift the dried on coffee grounds. It worked for a friend of mine after several attempts

Hi
There are many ways to clean oily residue from your burrs. You can order a grinder cleaning tablet from online stores called Grinds by Urnex. Some people use white rice but if you don't get it all out you will have rice in your coffee. You can take them apart and clean them manually but if you don't reassemble it correctly you will not get a good grind. I think the easiest way is to get some cheap light roasted beans ( doesn't matter if they are old ) but never use shiny beans because shiny beans have lots of oil.
Set the grinder to a very coarse setting, on a Rocky 7 higher that you currently use. You can turn it to a larger # any time but it has to be grinding to turn it to a lower #. Pour a cup of cleaner (beans, or rice) into the bean hopper and turn the grinder on. Grind the whole hopper through the machine. If you use grinds just a couple of #'s higher is all you need. Once you have cleaned the burrs you will need to grind some of you beans to purg the cleaning debris for the burrs and chamber. When you see no more cleaning compound you can turn the hopper back to where it was leaving the motor run. Once you get it back test with your beans.

you must screw off the burr holder plate screw (in center) you will order one special screw, drill shaped, when the burrs roll it will mix and take down the coffee beans. That is solution i applied to many grinders. PS: beware the direction of burrs must be coordinated with new screw.

sharpen it blade dull

Bean grinders expect to grind whole beans as you have just found out. The grounds have clogged the entrance of the grinder. Use a wood chop stick to try and loosen up the 'caked' coffee and remove the coffee with a vacuum hose attachment. Try to **** out as much of the coffee as you can. Please note that this should all be done with the machine unplugged. Try grinding again but don't let it 'Hum' too long if it's not grinding. You can also try to adjust the grinder 'coarser' to give more room for the burrs to clear. Good Luck!