Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

[Azza]

Just a heads up to anyone considering this grinder - hey and it's my first post!

Just received my Smart Grinder today as an upgrade to my Breville BCG450. The BCG450 was able to grind fine enough after a simple mod, but I discovered what I was missing out on in grind quality when I tried some shots from my hand grinder (Porlex Mini). The difference was huge, so I decided to upgrade to the Smart Grinder.

Unfortunately at the finest setting it is just slightly to course for some of my fresh beans, OK for others. Getting a 16-20 second pour at the finest setting with BB Peru Roasted 2 days ago. One minute on the phone to Breville and a set of shims are in the mail, excellent service.

Despite the course grind the improvement in taste is amazing, I'm a convert now on the importance of grind quality.

Aaron

[TC]

I'd head in the direction of Australian Consumer law. It may well disagree with the tech's opinion...

[lairdy28]

Unfortunately my BCG800 motor has also started to slip. I've always kept it clean inside, being extra thorough since slipping started, but it has gotten worse to a point it now no longer grinds (constant slip)
Mine is about 2 years and 6 months old, performing duties of around 5 aeropress grindings per week - so definitely not demanding or excessive.

There seems to have been quite a few posts about this topic, but most being replaced under warranty. However what I am chasing is information on what the fix would likely cost and what is involved for an out of warranty machine.

Breville have kindly offered a new machine at a reduction from RRP as a good will gesture, but I am unlikely to take up this offer as the money would be better spent on a different machine IMO. Having said that i'd still happily opt to repair the current machine if it could be done around the $50 mark, as I don't want a forced upgrade if i can help it - hence my query if anyone knew what replacement parts were involved for a guaranteed fix to this slipping problem.

I'm in the same boat , took it to the repair agent and he said the clutch was slipping and it's too expensive to repair . I said its only just gone three years old .....he replied "you should be happy something these days lasted 3 years !' Anyways .... Not sure which direction to head grinder wise .... Really happy with the dual boiler and have been producing great coffee with it and the grinder (shim kit fitted)

What are others doing ? Buying another one or getting a more commercial grinder .Any suggestions ? (Noise is a consideration for me with young kids )

Cheers !

Craig

[STS]

Hi, First post here, have been reading for years but this SG is giving us so much grief I felt I had to ask!

Basically we use single shot in our BES900 but find it impossible to get a consistent dose from the grinder. We set the dose 3 bars left from centre and its a 20 second shot, move it one bar further (4) and its a 60 second shot! My wife is going mental so would appreciate any advice! Occasionally we get the perfect 37sec extraction but usually have no idea why it is so inconsistent. This is using same fresh beans.

I dont feel the grind is to coarse, only bought the grinder in Nov 2013. I assume it has the updated design?

cheers

Are you only putting enough for a single shot in the hopper, rather than leaving a quantity of beans in there? If you weigh out a quantity of beans and only grind that amount to put into the basket you maybe up against 2 separate issues.

Firstly the beans will bounce around as they go through the burrs without the weight of the additional beans in the hopper pushing them down, this will make it almost impossible to get a consistent grind and extraction.

Secondly the smart grinder will retain about 1.5-2.0 gm of coffee from the previous grind. If you don't purge and discard this you will end up with a mix of fresh and stale coffee in your basket which could also effect the consistency of your shot.

Sean

[Keggy]

I've had a brand new BCG800 for just over week. So a day ago I was grinding some beans and all of a sudden it got jammed. Removed the hopper and the top burr and cleaned everything out (couldn't find a foreign object). After that it started making a ratchet sound with no beans and would jam and squeal with beans. Looked over the net and other than cleaning again (removing the bottom burr this time), bought some other beans just in case it was the beans (too hard,etc).
In the end went to Myer and got it replaced and that one is working with the same beans.

So am a bit worried as it only lasted a week (average 2 grindings a day) but sharing my experience.

[sparky61]

Hope you installed the shims under the bottom burr.

Haha yeah, I may be deprived of caffeine but still have some wits about me

[tanethomas]

Hope you installed the shims under the bottom burr.

[sparky61]

So I got my shim kit today, started by installing 1x1.0mm and 1x0.4mm as recommended. Still was pouring too fast so installed the other 0.4mm, didn't seem to make much difference so I installed the last 0.2mm.
Coffee is still pouring too fast so am starting to think could be an issue with my grinder.. I can go all the way to fine with all the shims installed without the burrs touching so sounds like something isn't right..
Guess I'll see what Breville say, can't wait till I can finally get this thing setup correctly.

[tanethomas]

That is sooo sexy. I can't wait until the BES920 gets that portafilter! I have the smart when shimmed grinder too, great little grinder, such nice features!

[TheBoneRanger]

I received my shim kit a few days ago. I initially installed the recommended shims (1x1mm + 1x0.4mm), but eventually had to add another 0.4mm shim, which now seems to have given me plenty of adjustment. I still have one more shim, but doubt it will be required...

In the past, I've been unable to get a slow-enough pour from the Gaggia classic with an 18g VST basket (or any basket, really), as the grinder out-of-the-box was not grinding fine enough. This was obvious with a recently acquired bottomless portafilter. Ugly looking pour. To get a half-decent result, I had to over-dose the basket (up to 21g at last count), but I think this may have been contributing to a terribly uneven pour (always left, which seems to be a common Gaggia complaint on a number of forums). I thought this might have been part of a faulty design on Gaggia's behalf (as, under the shower screen, the water generates from the left), but wondered whether coffee touching the shower screen before hitting the brew switch was causing this. And frankly, I've seen some spectacular looking pours from Gaggia's on youtube such as this one (not mine, sadly):

After adjusting the grinder, it seems my suspicions was correct.

I just had a lovely 22 sec pour with 18g of coffee in the basket, and a perfectly central pour!

I now have lots more adjustment to the finer side (I'm just past the "O" in espresso), so I will continue to grind a little finer, as it blonded a little early, but I have little doubt that I now have the ability to choke the machine at will.

As an aside, after fitting the shims and adjusting the dial to grind finer (whilst running the machine), I was a little disconcerted by the apparent slowing of the motor, as if the grinder was under load. To my ears, not the sound of metal-on-metal, but it made me a little nervous. It is completely unnoticeable when beans are in the grinder, however, and a quick search suggest others have had a similar experience.

Hopefully this post is of use to both Smart Grinder owners and Gaggia Classic owners who are pouring to the left!

Andrew

[Bung99]

Hi, First post here, have been reading for years but this SG is giving us so much grief I felt I had to ask!

Basically we use single shot in our BES900 but find it impossible to get a consistent dose from the grinder. We set the dose 3 bars left from centre and its a 20 second shot, move it one bar further (4) and its a 60 second shot! My wife is going mental so would appreciate any advice! Occasionally we get the perfect 37sec extraction but usually have no idea why it is so inconsistent. This is using same fresh beans.

I dont feel the grind is to coarse, only bought the grinder in Nov 2013. I assume it has the updated design?

cheers

I have the same problem and the only way I have to get around it is to measure the beans before so I only put in enough for a single shot or double at a time. It is a pain. My unit was only purchased 2 weeks ago.

[Steve82]

Since acquiring a bottomless portafilter and consequently adjusting the grind/dose to suit my Gaggia Classic, I'm pretty sure my 6-month old Smart Grinder is not grinding fine enough. The only way to get a slow enough pour is to up the dose to 20g or so, and this still results in some spurting from the portafilter. Whilst I'm still getting an ok result, the spurting and uneven pour, I believe, are a direct result of this. The pour is worse again with a VST filter basket.

Long story short, I've contacted Breville through their website, and they're sending a shim kit.

I'll keep you posted.

Andrew

When I had the smart grinder (still have a classic not in regular use)
I had exactly the same experience pretty much word for word, same time frame and all.
I found the thickest 1mm shim to be sufficient.

[TheBoneRanger]

Since acquiring a bottomless portafilter and consequently adjusting the grind/dose to suit my Gaggia Classic, I'm pretty sure my 6-month old Smart Grinder is not grinding fine enough. The only way to get a slow enough pour is to up the dose to 20g or so, and this still results in some spurting from the portafilter. Whilst I'm still getting an ok result, the spurting and uneven pour, I believe, are a direct result of this. The pour is worse again with a VST filter basket.

Long story short, I've contacted Breville through their website, and they're sending a shim kit.

I'll keep you posted.

Andrew

[cookie36]

Hi, First post here, have been reading for years but this SG is giving us so much grief I felt I had to ask!

Basically we use single shot in our BES900 but find it impossible to get a consistent dose from the grinder. We set the dose 3 bars left from centre and its a 20 second shot, move it one bar further (4) and its a 60 second shot! My wife is going mental so would appreciate any advice! Occasionally we get the perfect 37sec extraction but usually have no idea why it is so inconsistent. This is using same fresh beans.

I dont feel the grind is to coarse, only bought the grinder in Nov 2013. I assume it has the updated design?

cheers

[KiteStyle3]

I purchased the BCG800 yesterday and have had issues with grind size. I'm getting a <15s double shot with very hard tamp on my Gaggia Classic on the finest setting.

It's a 13xx series grinder and I have checked that it comes with no shims, so it appears that the newer machines still have the issue many others have had with earlier machines.

Have contacted Breville for a shim kit so hopefully I get it in a reasonable time over the festive period.

Dan, Same for me mate. Purchased recently, not fine enough.

I got the shim kit, just 4 small washers of various thicknesses in a small bag. Took 15 mins to install (going slowly, cleaning everything etc). Most important thing is to run it & wind to fully coarse, then install, then slowly work your way back fine again.

First time I found I had put too much shim in and burrs fully closed about half way across the dial.

Took all of 3 mins to go back in and put a smaller combo of 2 shims in. Now it's perfect, just right with about 1cm to go towards the fine end.

Have to say this is my 3rd grinder and I've been into the guts of all of them for cleaning or maintenance. Love the Breville design, so easy to work on, and the hopper, with a great twist lock, that you can remove without spilling the beans is simply an engineering marvel.