Breville BGC 450 - Modification

[rawill]

There is a good thread on here about modifying this grinder.
I did the mod some time ago, but it was still not fine enough, especially for single baskets on my EM6910.
So I bought and EM480.

However, yesterday, for fun, I pulled it apart again and took off the last stopper, now I can turn the hopper until the align mark lines up with the alingn mark at the front of the machine.


Viola!, it grinds fine enough to make a a good coffee, lots of nice black oils coming at the start of the pour, in my EM4800C, my campervan unit!
Double walled basket, and an acceptable cup made from my EM6910 single shot VST basket naked P/F.

So for any modifying their BGC 450, I would suggest they seriously consider making it so it can as far around as I made my one go.
I left the stopper on the hopper so you can can turn it back past the remove position.
It appears you can not turn it too far in the fine direction to mess up the burrs by making them contact with each other.

I do not "click" the top burr inot place, that never seemed to work for me, it would just pop out when I adjusted it.
After some playing around I figured all I was going to do was break the little tags off the top burr holder.
So my top burr simply sits there and is held down by the hopper.

Now I think I will buy another one of these grinders and modify it for my daughter to use.

Rbn

[rawill]

I read that some put an "O" ring on top of the top burr to keep it in place. I tried that, it was too fat, so I used insulation tape, 2 layers.
I will keep experimenting for a more permanent solution.
I do not want to buy a better grinder for the campervan, and do not want to go back to a blade unit.

It tightened the unit up, the hopper is now a firm fit, and a few thou closer to the bottom burr, makes a very fine grind, the hopper turn until align shows in the front window.
Now it make a much more acceptable espresso from my EM4800c.
Very suitable for in our campervan.

[rawill]

Using a grind from this modified grinder, align mark comes around to the front window in line with the line.

Just pulled a single shot with a single walled basket on my EM4800c,
a great shot, crema was a little light in colour so I will experiment some more with my dose and tamp.
But it was thick, not watery, and the taste was just to my liking.
Now I have a great cheap set up for our campervan which works of a modified sinewave generator.
As good as I can get I reckon, well maybe not, more experimenting and who knows.

[LeroyC]

I've never heard of the o-ring mod, but my first two grinders were BCG450s and I performed the standard mod on both where I took them apart and cut off the stopper to allow them to be adjusted to a finer grind. They were pretty good grinders and did the job with my Gaggia Classic. But I'd never bother getting another one now that I know what else is out there for the same sort of price. Still I'd imagine they suit a caravan well being quite compact and all enclosed.