Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

[herbie]

My one year old BCG800 motor started to labor and became worse until the clutch started to slip a little. I removed the burrs and vacuumed and brushed the cog underneath the burrs which pushed the ground coffee into the exit shute. After reassembly the grinder was no better. I repeated the cleaning procedure and this time the cog stuck to the vacuum cleaner nozzle and came off the shaft revealing a small strip of felt which I believe was a broken felt washer that had become dislodged into the exit shute. I then discovered that the brushing and vacuuming I had done previously had not completely cleaned the exit shute of grinds which until the cog was removed was not visible. Since reassembling the grinder the motor has run normal speed and grinds perfectly even better than before. I am hoping this post may help others who have experienced similar problems as there seems to have been quite a few posts about this topic.

[mctubster]

Interesting ... my BCG800 clogged up a couple of years ago, and I found a white fibrous material jammed in with coffee grinds in the exit path (front RHS) ... I thought there had been something mixed in with my beans, but perhaps it was part of the grinder after all.

Cheers

[dan1337]

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.

[sads]

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.

[cookychan]

Hi Sads, I am in the same boat. My grinder has been playing over the last few months. The problem first occurred about 4 weeks outside of warranty. Mine is a strange issue. It's grinding too fine and doesn't get any coarser even after removing all the shims and changing the grinder setting to the coarsest setting. As a result of being super fine the clutch engages if more then 1 bean is fed through at a time and it is so fine that my BES900 can't push a shot through. not even close. I have cleaned and reset the machine numberous times and fiddle with the grind size back and forth. A couple of times it has 'reset' itself and started to grind correctly but this seems to have been as a result of random turning of the knobs. THen all of a sudden it will click back into grinding the coffee super fine again. Frusting because it's like the grinder is working too well!

Assume cost of repair could be more than $50 and perhaps it might be useful for someone for spare parts or repair. Not sure I'll get anywhere if I try to take it apart.

[bxp]

Just purchased another one of these for $199 shipped through Myer. Happy with the first one so now I'll have two on the bench, one for regular and one for decaf. :-)

[paulau]

Mine has starting doing this slipping thing, and grinding to fine also. Mine is well out of warranty.

Any ideas on a fix?

[sads]

Are any reps available to comment on this increasingly common issue of slipping?

Simply want to know if it is economical and curable by replacing parts or if the machine is a write off.

[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.

[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

[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

[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.

[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.

[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

[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!