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finer and finer - where does it stop?

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  • marcstolk
    replied
    Re: finer and finer - where does it stop?

    DrT, very good question... see how long it stays on 5... if you have to venture out below 5 again Id insist on a replacement... .. The lowest Ive gone on mine is 15, and that was for a ristretto double

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  • COFFEECHASER
    replied
    Re: finer and finer - where does it stop?

    Why not just wait it out a little and see if it stays around the 5 mark or if it changes as it wears?

    Depends on how much warrantee you have left though really.

    Leave a comment:


  • DrT
    replied
    Re: finer and finer - where does it stop?

    Back on topic of the sunbeam grinder......

    Sunbeam took it back and "serviced" it.

    The end result? I now use setting 5 to do the same job as I used to on 4. According to the rep., it now performs "to spec". Why then do they recommend setting 12 to 16 for espresso??

    The interesting bit is that there are plenty more than 24 clicks now..... Supposedly the lugs that move with the clicks had come a little undone or something and they tightened them but why more clicks now? Nothing was replaced.

    I do not know if I should hassle Sunbeam again and just go for a complete replacement or if this truly is normal.

    Any thoughts from any body?

    DrT

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  • varanid99
    replied
    Re: finer and finer - where does it stop?

    Originally posted by JavaB link=1165192751/30#34 date=1165373186
    MMMM....

    There looks to be a bit of a gap where the lug joins onto the body.... hard to tell.
    hard to say - once theyve shinied it all up, its difficult to tell whats happening underneath. Better go get the screwdriver again....

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  • marcstolk
    replied
    Re: finer and finer - where does it stop?

    Yeh, I think the higher end lower machines have a Brass PF... but nothing like the commercial type in weight, but they arent bad...

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  • JavaB
    replied
    Re: finer and finer - where does it stop?

    MMMM....

    There looks to be a bit of a gap where the lug joins onto the body.... hard to tell.

    They have either machined the lug and the pf so that it is a really sharp edge at the joint .... or it is also an "add on".

    Most PFs have a filet (curved edge rather than a sharp one) where the two join as it is not possible to cast a sharp joint like the one on the picture...

    looking at your earlier photo, where the lug has been "knocked off" - (and yeah I also use a screw driver as a chisel from time to time :)- the metal surface appears to be crystalline - I suspect they have used an Aluminium alloy rather than pure Aluminium.

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  • varanid99
    replied
    Re: finer and finer - where does it stop?

    and, by request, the spout end. actually, looks pretty much the same as the old one.

    Cant fault the replacement service, granted, but it does appear to be poor design. There is a more solid one on the "higher end" lower end machines (mines a lower end lower end) - I think the 5800s have a brass-and-something pf handle, which is supposedly more sturdy. I think if it breaks again, Ill be asking for one of those....

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  • varanid99
    replied
    Re: finer and finer - where does it stop?

    but the break itself was pretty clean - I just took to the old one with a hammer & screwdriver (my grandfather is rolling in his grave about the screwdriver part.... Sorry pa, but theres no room for all your tools in this little flat.) - its pretty much sheared off at the same point - Ive got one lug left so Ill have a go at this one with a hacksaw.

    The discoloration in the next photo is a bit misleading - it looks like 2 totally different bits of metal, but the inner ring is just the groove where the little spring-locking wire sits.

    heres one of the break:

    Leave a comment:


  • JavaB
    replied
    Re: finer and finer - where does it stop?

    Yep,

    The old one definately looks like the lug is an "add on"....

    The new one does appear to be better..... can you please post a photo looking at the new one from the spout end....

    Certainly is fast service... you got to be happy with the level of support Sunbeam provide...

    Leave a comment:


  • varanid99
    replied
    Re: finer and finer - where does it stop?

    sure can...

    its a little hard to see from the pic, but the older one does look like its been welded, judging by the little bits of dreck that have accumulated in the crack - the new one (which arrived today by air express - not bad considering I only broke it yesterday ) seems to be cast from a single piece.

    The old one is the one in the foreground:



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  • JavaB
    replied
    Re: finer and finer - where does it stop?

    The thing which would concern me most re the photo of the "broken" lug on the PF is that it appears to have come off cleanly. Without a closeup its a bit hard to say definately.

    But if that is the case then the lugs have quite possibly been added (welded?) onto the PF once this has been cast and machined (easier = cheaper to manufacture). All PFs Ive seen before (even the really cheap Krups ones) are all cast in one piece.... if one of the lugs came off, so would a chunk of the main body (highly unlikely for this to happen).

    To put this in perspective.... a 58cm PF with 9 bar of pressure behind it has a total force > 230 kg trying to get it out of the machine - and that is quite a bit of force.....

    Maybe the remaining lugs will hold the PF in the machine and only a bit of water and grounds will come out.... but it looks to me there is a design issue here.

    Can someone post a closeup photo of the lug and where it came off?

    Leave a comment:


  • marcstolk
    replied
    Re: finer and finer - where does it stop?

    Originally posted by varanid99 link=1165192751/15#27 date=1165289230
    But, on the original topic - (and Im tempting fate by saying this, I know) - the EM0480 has been faultless so far - I know the numbers are useless when comparing things, but Ive got mine set between about 18-20 usually (still waiting on my depressurised baskets too), so theres definitely no problems with having to grind right at the absolute limit of its range.
    When you get the depressurised baskets, youll be possibly going a tad finer... but your right, the EM0480 has been great!

    Leave a comment:


  • varanid99
    replied
    Re: finer and finer - where does it stop?

    Originally posted by Coffeechaser link=1165192751/15#20 date=1165275696


    Has anyone else had the portafilter problem? I havent read anyone else complaining about that before so might have been a one off faulty one. Not that it is an excuse.
    I think from memory that mattyj had a similar issue (or maybe his was the problem with the bit that the lugs clip into breaking - cant remember exactly, but I know Ive seen a picture similar to mine).


    Originally posted by JavaB link=1165192751/15#18 date=1165275292
    That has the potential to do someone a real injury.....
    I think youd have to be really, really unlucky to get injured by this. Theres 3 lugs (at least, there used to be) - i heard a loud snap, so I switched the machine off straight away. nothing actually blew apart - a little water and coffee started seeping out though - when I took the pf handle off, that was when I saw the broken bit. I think that to do any major damage youd have to blow two of them at once, which would be a bit of a freak occurrence Im guessing.

    Cheap metal + stress = breakage at some point. I rang Sunbeam and theyre sending me a new pf handle in the mail, as its under warranty (a bit under 3 months old), but that will take up to 2 weeks. The local service place is out of stock as well (the part runs about $13, so Id have bought one to use now and keep the replacement as a spare). Lucky Ive still got my little thermal mug plunger thing (gave the other plunger away), or those beans I roasted yesterday would have been a total waste.

    But, on the original topic - (and Im tempting fate by saying this, I know) - the EM0480 has been faultless so far - I know the numbers are useless when comparing things, but Ive got mine set between about 18-20 usually (still waiting on my depressurised baskets too), so theres definitely no problems with having to grind right at the absolute limit of its range.

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  • COFFEECHASER
    replied
    Re: finer and finer - where does it stop?

    We will have to make sure we play nicely than

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  • DrT
    replied
    Re: finer and finer - where does it stop?

    Rang Harvey Norman and the lady there tells me the Sunbean rep. has not heard of the problem..... He wants to have a look at it tomorrow.

    I also gave her my e-mail address so the rep can e-mail me and ask for a hyperlink to this exact thread for "further" information.

    While the unit is mechanically and electrically fine, it cant do the job on their recommended settings so in my book its faulty and I told the lady I would be seeking a new unit irrespective.

    We will see what happens.

    DrT

    Leave a comment:

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