Posted Tue Nov 22, 2011, 10:08am Subject: rock in grinder
Hi,
New poster here, longtime lurker.
I have a Breville Smaret Grinder which I use mainly for drip and today, after many years of grinding my own beans, I heard an awful noise, which I first assumed was my grinder breaking. I took off the top and inspected in the burrs and found a small pebble/rock about the size of an M&M. I took the burrs out and it looks like the rock made a groove through both burrs. You can visually see it and also feel it if you run your fingernail over it.
I have never heard of this happening before and could not find any info online, so I decided to post this here. Has this happened to anyone? If so, what should I do about it? Is the grinder ruined? I was able to grind the rest of the beans and it seems as if the consistency was ok. Tasting the coffee (drip), I noticed it was somehow different, than usual (I alsways use the same beans) but I couldn't put my finder on why.
I informed my bean supplier who I have purchased beans from for the last five years or so. I am waiting to hear back from them now.
Can anyone tell me if I should have the burrs replaced?
Posted Tue Nov 22, 2011, 10:29am Subject: Re: rock in grinder
Rocks get mixed in with green beans fairly frequently during drying, but are quite often removed. A stone finding its way into your grinder after roasting and such is rare, but it happens. In fact, it happened to me just last week - my first ever, after about 2 years of at-home grinding. Now, obviously rock + burrs = not good. There's a lot of damage that can happen, so you'll need to either take it in for servicing, or take a good look yourself. For instance, while my Vario's ceramic burrs took the stone very well (only two very very small nicks), I opened the casing to make sure the gears and drive belt were in good shape. Luckily for me, it all looks fine. In your case, you've seen that there's some more dramatic damage to the burrs, which may indeed need replacement or sharpening. If you can post an image, we can help you determine if the damage requires fixing at all. If it's still under warranty, I highly suggest having your retailer/servicer taking a look, rather than tinkering yourself. If anything internally is chipped or broken, it's better that the service person discovers that firsthand. If it's not under warranty anymore, then see if you can find a tutorial for opening the machine to replace or inspect the drive system, as gears won't take too kindly to sudden stops while under load.
Posted Tue Nov 22, 2011, 11:55am Subject: Re: rock in grinder
Thaks for the reply. I can try to take a picture of it tonight. I'm at work right now and won't be home until much later. The Breville has metal burrs and it looks like some kind of scratch happened. I really hope it is under warranty, but for some reason, I think it most likely is not. Additionally, I am not certain, but would almost expect that this is not something that would be covered by warranty. I'll definately have to check it tonight thoguh to see.
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