Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

[AlexAg]

I purchased one at the end of last year, and it has been fine for my gaggia. Though I have been using it mostly at the upper end of the limit.

Don't think it has shims. I just bought a mazzer so not too worried about it now

[coffeechaos]

I thought all newer models didnt need shims. Mine works perfectly with my ecm botticelli

[Tupinamba]

i shimmed my BCG800 on the weekend!

i opened it up and saw it had no original shims. i put two of the shims in, as recommended on the instruction sheet.

dialing it back a few notches to under the "r" in espresso, it choked my machine. after many trials with different dosage and fineness, i found the sweet spot to be one notch left of the "E".

i may have shimmed it too much, just one shim would have been sufficient. but seeing as it's giving me good results at the moment i'll leave it as it is until i take it apart to clean next time.

This is just to report I also shimmed my grinder. I chocked the machine a couple of times as well. Now I've got plenty of room to grind finer is necessary. I am cured of grinder upgradeitis for a while.

[johnsmith]

This is just to report I also shimmed my grinder. I chocked the machine a couple of times as well. Now I've got plenty of room to grind finer is necessary. I am cured of grinder upgradeitis for a while.

that's good to hear! it's cured my upgradeitis too, for now. it also helps that none of the more expensive grinders are as clean as the SG, and none of them allow the pf to be left in the holder while grinding - leaving the operator to do other things (i fill my milk jug and dry my cups while grinding).

one thing bugging me though is that the grinds don't drop in the centre of the basket. using my BES900 pf and using the pf holder, the centre of the cone of grinds is towards the back of the basket (opposite end of the handle). this means when i tamp, the back of the puck is denser than the front, it is also causing uneven tamp too.

i tap down onto the tamping mat a few times to try to rebalance the grinds and to collapse the mount. can anyone share any other tips for alleviating this issue?

[Barry_Duncan]

I agree with what John says and add that my SG has no retention of grounds. It is easy to redistribute the grounds in the portafilter with the tamper. I swivel the tamper handle in a circular motion to break up any clumping and channelling.
Barry

[raybau]

Are the shims already pre-installed on the newer BCG's, or do you always have to fit them afterwards? I bought my SG in January (and it was new stock to the store so I wouldn't anticipate it had been sitting around long), and have read conflicting reports on whether they are now standard or not.

Do you just contact Breville to get the shim kit?

[AtomicGrog]

Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

You cannot be cured of upgradeitus to think otherwise is pure folly.

[Tupinamba]

You cannot be cured of upgradeitus to think otherwise is pure folly.

You are right. I just got it under control

[Tupinamba]

Are the shims already pre-installed on the newer BCG's, or do you always have to fit them afterwards? I bought my SG in January (and it was new stock to the store so I wouldn't anticipate it had been sitting around long), and have read conflicting reports on whether they are now standard or not.

Do you just contact Breville to get the shim kit?

Where are you usually grinding? I was towards the end before installing the shims. I was also instinctively overdosing. After shimming I am grinding around the P in ESPRESSO and dosing correctly according to the metal cap in the tamper.

[raybau]

Where are you usually grinding? I was towards the end before installing the shims. I was also instinctively overdosing. After shimming I am grinding around the P in ESPRESSO and dosing correctly according to the metal cap in the tamper.

With anything but days old beans I am basically at its finest setting. So it's sounding like it couldn't be shimmed.

[Tupinamba]

With anything but days old beans I am basically at its finest setting. So it's sounding like it couldn't be shimmed.

It sounds to me as it should be shimmed.

[Barry_Duncan]

With anything but days old beans I am basically at its finest setting. So it's sounding like it couldn't be shimmed.

Why not?

My SG was too coarse at the finest setting. It had 3 shims in it from the factory. I added one shim and now it is perfect.

You can get shims for free by phoning Breville.

Barry

[iamtakai]

I guess i can be added to the Smart Grinder owners family now. My old grinder went bang in the storm we had earlier today, so i picked up an SG for $165 from Good Guys (if anyone wants a copy of the receipt then holler).

Dialled it randomly in to under the E in Espresso, and just neutral on the amount, and its pretty much bang on. Probably needs +1 or +2 on the amount, but thats easy to do. Quite happy with it for the price. That said if i had to pay the $299 ticket price i wouldnt have been buying one, and would have looked at the Precisio or K3P

[grahammtbr]

Does anyone have any experience with Breville Canada, more specifically being outside the warranty period? I posted this in another thread about the volume control:

have the same issues. After notch #17 (from LHS) it starts massively updosing. Like 23-26g for a double shot on -5, and that's the least amount it dispenses! Since I never went this fine with my old machine, so I never noticed it. Last week I got an Infuser (BES840), and needed a finer grind, and noticed the huge change in dosage.

I decided to check to see if there where any spacers installed that may be messing with volume calibration. Not only are there no spacers installed, my bottom burr was installed incorrectly from the factory! It was sitting on top of the little nub, instead of it being in hole on the bottom of the burr. This was effectively acting as a spacer (and gave me a fine enough grind 5 spaces from the RHS). I installed the bottom burr correctly, and now I can't grind fine enough.

I've emailed Breville Canada to try and get this sorted, as now I'm out of my warranty period.

[grahammtbr]

As well, I'm now confused about the warranty on the SG. I got my information from the general warranty info on Breville.ca, but the Australian site says specifically that the SG has a 2 year warranty. Also, the SG is no longer on the Canadian site. Is it no longer sold in Canada?