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Thanks, Nicholas. I'll contact them
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Have been using the smart grinder for 16 months without issue, except installing the shim kit in first 2 weeks. Beans have been a mixture of bought (Veneziano) or roasted myself. Grinder has worked flawlessly.
Just this week when grinding for 2nd cup of morning, the grinder started slowing down mid dose and then clicked a few times and stopped, nothing coming out. I typically clean weekly and had just done so that morning. I removed top burr, then bottom burr and fine coffee was caked in/around rotating 'gear' that pushes coffee into the spout. I cleaned all thoroughly, reassembled and then tried again. Dialed in with a few shots to get a good extraction. Then, next dose, the same thing happened. I am not grinding exceptionally fine - certainly not near the fineness possible. I tried a different bean, same thing. Now it happens every time - I get 1-2 doses and it clogs & jams until it gets cleaned.
There is nothing special about the beans - one batch is a little oily (the store bought) but the ones I roast are just on 2nd crack so CS9ish
FWIW, I emptied my EM0480 of decaf and tried it and it works fine with both batches of beans.
Any thoughts?Comment
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Update; Breville authorised replacement from place of purchase as it was within 24mth warranty. Cant fault that for service.Comment
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Grinder replaced, all good. In fact, better than good. The quality in the cup is quite noticable for same beans...which has me thinking; would this have been a case of the burrs being worn/blunt, over-working the coffee, heating it etc, making it clump, bind and not flow, eventually compress and harden? I wouldnt have thought 16 months of 2-4 uses per day would do that and they didnt feel/look worn...but am at a loss to explain what was wrong with the previous unit.
When would you expect to need to replace burrs?Comment
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Not having a good run here. Replacement grinder started loud clicking when grinding this morning - like a broken gear tooth type noise. Coffee grinding still ok (beans were roasted yesterday) but noise is a worry. Back to Myer....Comment
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My wife and I bought a smart grinder a month or so ago. We went with the Breville over Rocky, only because the espresso machine I'd bought (a used Gaggia Classic) cost me virtually nothing, and since this was our first home machine, we were trying to keep the investment as low as possible.
The smart grinder has been fine since day one. No dramas to report. It grinds plenty fine enough, about five notches away from the finest setting (just to the right of the word "espresso".
Given the price and the warranty period, we were happy to take a chance on this machine, and, touch wood, everything is going swimmingly.
I thought I'd post this here, as I found it a little hard, while sifting through this thread pre-purchase, to figure out whether the new machines were still in need of shims, or at what point Breville had modified the grinders in the factory.
Hopefully this post is of assistance to someone.
AndrewComment
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My Smart Grinder has been serving me well for over a year now, I grind for Syphon / Aeropress / cold drip and go through around half a kilo a week. The only issues I've had are that on light roasts (pre first crack) it will struggle and jam if I grind fine, and if the grounds cup is around the wrong way it will back up, fill the grounds chute and jam.
But yesterday one of the kids dropped the top burr assembly and the plastic holder broke. From the Breville website it was easy to find part BCG800/110 for $36.31, and I was able to pick it up from a local Breville service centre for $25. I would have rathered to just get the plastic holder itself as the burr was still in good condition and now I have to break in the new burr, but it was not available. A pity such a good grinder is dependent on such a crappy piece of plastic, but at least it was easy to replace.
I've been trying to find a Smart Grinder in England for my brother in law with no success, but while I was in Ireland I saw the same grinder on sale as a Catler Automatic coffee grinder CG 8010 | Catler, looks like it's just rebadged and sold out of the Czech Republic.Comment
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A popular subject this. I emailed breville tech support for assistance when I couldn't achieve a slow enough pour on the finest grind setting. They sent me the shim kit and I carefully installed it. Some trial and error was required to find the right shim which would produce a finer grind without damaging the burrs. I am happy enough with the result. Thank you breville.
twitter @kissmycoffeeartComment
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Interesting to see that the Catler versions of the Breville machines have a 3 year warranty.
BarryComment
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Does anyone know if Breville sell a burr set (top and bottom) for the smart grinder?Comment
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Been using my grinder for 6mths and it just gave up this morning. Sounded like a stripped internal gear, course grind wax ok but as soon as it got down to fine grind gear slip. Rang Breville and no worries just take it back with invoice and change it over. Thank god I bloody missed my coffee this morning.Comment
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I have just picked up a smart grinder and have everything going well except that I cannot get it to auto stop. I set it to one dose and have moved the dosage to the far left of the dial. I press the start button ( not hold) and it grinds to way past overflowing the portafilter. Any ideas?Comment
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To answer my own question:
The grinder was faulty. Breville agreed to replace the unit - very polite service over the phone. The new machine works well.Comment
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Sadly my SG also succumbed to the stripped internal gear sound and no more grinding.
This seems rather common reading the posts above.
Took it to the Breville service centre in Ashburton, but it is 25 months old. Out of warranty. Wait to see Breville's response and/or price of repair vs replace.Comment
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