lingus Senior Member Joined: 29 Jul 2011 Posts: 6 Location: Singapore Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Quickmill Andreja Grinder: Macap M4D
Posted Fri Jul 29, 2011, 12:42am Subject: Ground coffee in the "chute" in Macap M4D
I opened up and cleaned the machine today. I realise that there is probably a bit less than one dose of coffee inside the machine at all time. This is not a big problem when the machine is used often. However, say that I go on travel a couple of days. The first dose will then contain ground coffee that is a couple of days old. Not ideal.
Clearly the construction can be modified to reduce the amount of ground coffee inside the machine. Anyone has experience or ideas around this?
I realise that M4D is mostly a commercial design so the problem is not relevant for most users. Are there alternative machines in a similar price range that are targetted towards more infrequent use of the machine?
greekespresso Senior Member Joined: 27 Jul 2011 Posts: 170 Location: Ptolemaida, Greece Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Rancilio Silvia V3, Gaggia... Grinder: Mahlkönig Vario Home, Anfim...
Posted Fri Jul 29, 2011, 1:32am Subject: Re: Ground coffee in the "chute" in Macap M4D
This is a common situation to a greater or lesser extent to every grinder. No mods needed. Just purge some quantity (3 -4 g) before your actual dosing and establish a good monthly cleaning routine for your grinder. Baratza Vario has a small coffee retention but some coffee purging is still required.
aecletec Senior Member Joined: 10 Dec 2010 Posts: 194 Location: Australia Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Presso Grinder: Faema A6 Drip: Chemex
Posted Fri Jul 29, 2011, 1:43am Subject: Re: Ground coffee in the "chute" in Macap M4D
If it's a doser model usually one can sweep the chute... if its a doserless there's often not much of an option. For me, sweeping the chute means I only have to purge less than 0.5g of stale coffee to see the fresh grounds coming through. Mods that may work could be a lower friction surface on the chute (I think the elektra nino has this) and/or a more narrow chute to reduce the volume of deadspace (e.g. the mazzer grinders have a much narrower chute than my faema) this may interfere with coffee flow, leading to jamming or clumping, though.
lingus Senior Member Joined: 29 Jul 2011 Posts: 6 Location: Singapore Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Quickmill Andreja Grinder: Macap M4D
Posted Fri Jul 29, 2011, 2:10am Subject: Re: Ground coffee in the "chute" in Macap M4D
Thanks for comments. My M4D is doserless. The actual area where the ground coffee is located is a horizontal area roughly 1 inch long (haven't measured but I guess equiv to 4 g), so I don't think the friction of the surface would matter much (currently polished stainless steel). Then there is a plastic vertical cover, which makes it hard to sweep the chute too. I opened up the unit and I would say that the horizontal area is a bit longer than necessary. If the area was smaller than one could just argue that a couple of grams of old beans wouldn't matter much.
aecletec Senior Member Joined: 10 Dec 2010 Posts: 194 Location: Australia Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Presso Grinder: Faema A6 Drip: Chemex
Posted Fri Jul 29, 2011, 2:36am Subject: Re: Ground coffee in the "chute" in Macap M4D
This is a pretty standard problem with cafe grinders used in the home. Some have angled chutes and others try to do without/shorten the chute to varying degrees of success.
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