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Help with Kompak K3 Touch. Cant seem to grind fine enough

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  • Help with Kompak K3 Touch. Cant seem to grind fine enough

    Hi everyone,

    Ive recently purchased a Rancilio Silvia and now a new Kompak K3T, owing to the great reviews Ive found online and the awesome price. Ive had a bit of a play around, and have got some okay shots, but Im trying to experiment with grinding finer and tamping with less force.

    Im having a bit of a problem though, the grinder will not grind on anything finer than a 35 (please see the attached pic). The burrs dont stall, but nothing comes out the chute.

    If youre looking at the attached picture, I can move the grind setting as far right as the red line (or just before it) on the right hand side before nothing comes out the chute. The burrs are definitely moving but coffee seems to just be sitting there and not being ground.

    Things Ive done:

    - Taken out the burr carrier (plastic thing) and unscrewed the top burr to check for an obstruction or stuck bean.

    - Ive tried slowly adjusting the grind while grinding and also when there are no beans left in the grinder. Same thing on both counts. Ive read that its best to adjust grinders while they are running, but that didnt seem to work so thats why I tried the other method.

    - I noticed that the safety screw which prevents you turning the upper burrs so far that they touch is quite far out (mine was on hole 1 in the second attached pic. If the grind was adjusted so that the safety screw was preventing further tightening - the burrs would be touching.

    Im out of ideas now, any help will be very much appreciated!




  • #2
    Re: Help with Kompak K3 Touch. Cant seem to grind fine enough

    Ive found that you have to adjust down in very small increments at the finer grind settings on the k3 whilst grinding and making the adjustments quickly with minimum force vertically so as not to disturb the upper burr. You have to be grinding whilst making the finer adjustments and dont make big adjustments quickly. Are you using fresh beans? Also Ive found darker roasts increase this problem so you have to adjust in even smaller increments. There should be coffee grounds coming out at all times during adjustment.

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    • #3
      Re: Help with Kompak K3 Touch. Cant seem to grind fine enough

      Thanks OCDom, Ill try adjusting even slower. Ive already wasted close to a kg of beans which has been quite frustrating and expensive!

      Im using fresh beans from a local roaster, and they are roasted to half city/city. Is this just a problem while the burrs are wearing in or will I always have to be super careful?

      I notice that I can get pretty close to 35, but then if it chokes I have to go very course (almost 45 degree turn) before beans begin coming out the chute again.

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      • #4
        Re: Help with Kompak K3 Touch. Cant seem to grind fine enough

        ES,  the number on the collar is not really comparable between machines; yours at 35 will not be the same as mine at 35 so this is irrelevant.

        Originally posted by 545D5447545F4548425447545F310 link=1319326492/2#2 date=1319328181
        but then if it chokes I have to go very course (almost 45 degree turn) before beans begin coming out the chute again
        Mine does the same. After backing it off you need to let some beans grind through and then return to the fine grind setting moving the adjustment collar quite quickly at first but then slowing down the closer you get to the finer setting and doing so incrementally with a tiny pause between each change to let some beans grind through.

        Having said that you should be able to get good extractions without having to operate so close to the "choke" point of the grinder.  Are you confident with your dosing, distribution and tamping?   I find I can quite easily choke Silvia with the K3t.  What basket are you using?  I found an improvement using a Synesso double ridgeless basket over the standard Silvia baskets.

        Take all of my advice with a grain or two of salt though, as Im no expert.

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        • #5
          Re: Help with Kompak K3 Touch. Cant seem to grind fine enough

          maybe your silvia is running at too high of a pressure, and so youre grinding finer than you should be to make up for it?

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          • #6
            Re: Help with Compak K3 Touch. Cant seem to grind fine enough

            Gday eleventy,

            The standard Silvia baskets are thimbles. Combine this with coffee with less than fresh and/or a low dose and what youre experiencing is no surprise.

            First job is ditch the baskets and get some real baskets to replace them. Fresh coffee and you will be fine.

            Good luck!

            Chris

            PS- Its a Compak

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Help with Kompak K3 Touch. Cant seem to grind fine enough

              Originally posted by 54585F74761B0 link=1319326492/3#3 date=1319340238
              Mine does the same. After backing it off you need to let some beans grind through and then return to the fine grind setting moving the adjustment collar quite quickly at first but then slowing down the closer you get to the finer setting and doing so incrementally with a tiny pause between each change to let some beans grind through.

              Having said that you should be able to get good extractions without having to operate so close to the "choke" point of the grinder.  Are you confident with your dosing, distribution and tamping?   I find I can quite easily choke Silvia with the K3t.  What basket are you using?  I found an improvement using a Synesso double ridgeless basket over the s
              Thank you for your reply, after a bit more fiddling around and adjusting the grind really slowly, Ive got it a lot finer. I ended up choking the Silvia and having to back it off quite a bit, and could probably do with a bit more courseness. Im using the standard double basket. Ill see if I can get my hands on the Synessos here in NZ. I may have been under dosing yesterday which would help explain why I kept choking the Silvia today.

              Also thanks for the note about comparability -  I was worried I was doing something wrong since I couldnt get anywhere near 35 on mine.

              Originally posted by 56726878737A1B0 link=1319326492/4#4 date=1319359342
              maybe your silvia is running at too high of a pressure, and so youre grinding finer than you should be to make up for it?
              How would I check the pressure of the Silvia? In all likelihood its probably an operator issue and not an issue with the Silvia/Compak.

              Originally posted by 29766E787378747D7D7E7E767A751B0 link=1319326492/5#5 date=1319366685
              Gday eleventy,

              The standard Silvia baskets are thimbles. Combine this with coffee with less than fresh and/or a low dose and what youre experiencing is no surprise.

              First job is ditch the baskets and get some real baskets to replace them. Fresh coffee and you will be fine.

              Good luck!

              Chris

              PS- Its a Compak
              Evening cjn,

              I think my problem was dose related, and I will look into alternative baskets. I think the coffee was reasonably fresh, but theres no roast date to confirm - normally a friend of mine roasts a lot of beans but hes been tied up with exams so thats why Ive been using different local roasters.


              Thanks for all the replies. The Compak definitely requires a pretty slow adjustment when you start getting into fine territory, but I believe my problems were mainly related to an incorrect dose.

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