I've had issues getting consistent shots and had been setting my Quamar Q50 finer and finer. I'd even changed bean supplier because I thought my regular roaster had changed something. The settings were almost at zero - as in burrs touching.
As well as variation in shot timing, I also noticed it was about 10 to 12 seconds after the initial drops for streams to join into a single stream. I changed to another roaster and had some better results, but still not consistent.
I then read a couple of posts about aligning the burrs - making the burr carriers coplaner and the use of shims. I looked into the burr carrier fixes as per Scott Rao's blogpost on the EK43. I suspect my burr carriers are not parallel - in fact I'm certain because there is a bit of play in the thread for the top carrier. I wanted to try the EK43 fix on mine, but the rim on which my burrs sit is only about 3mm or less, so trying to get sandpaper to stick to that is difficult. (The bottom of the EK43 burrs are wide and flat.)
So I spent an hour or so with a whiteboard marker and shims and now my burrs are parallel (almost - more later) and wow the difference is remarkable.?
The issue I still have is with the design of the burrs, where the seating rim does not support the bolt holes, so tightening causes the burr to dip at that point and causes what I have learned is called "Taco Burr Syndrome".
https://www.home-barista.com/forums/...27-wa0000.webp
https://www.home-barista.com/grinder...t59857-10.html
I need supports under the bolts to get a perfect result, but finding six identical spacers that are all 1.5mm (or thereabouts) is my next challenge. Either that or I'll use the low strength Loctite with less torque.
As well as variation in shot timing, I also noticed it was about 10 to 12 seconds after the initial drops for streams to join into a single stream. I changed to another roaster and had some better results, but still not consistent.
I then read a couple of posts about aligning the burrs - making the burr carriers coplaner and the use of shims. I looked into the burr carrier fixes as per Scott Rao's blogpost on the EK43. I suspect my burr carriers are not parallel - in fact I'm certain because there is a bit of play in the thread for the top carrier. I wanted to try the EK43 fix on mine, but the rim on which my burrs sit is only about 3mm or less, so trying to get sandpaper to stick to that is difficult. (The bottom of the EK43 burrs are wide and flat.)
So I spent an hour or so with a whiteboard marker and shims and now my burrs are parallel (almost - more later) and wow the difference is remarkable.?
- My grinder is now around 3-4 steps off zero.
- My shots now go straight from the initial drops to a single stream (used to have 2 or 3 initial streams)
- Every shot at the one grind setting runs within +/- 1 second.
- The crema is thicker and has more of the "chocolate" look about it.
- The taste is much more consistent.
The issue I still have is with the design of the burrs, where the seating rim does not support the bolt holes, so tightening causes the burr to dip at that point and causes what I have learned is called "Taco Burr Syndrome".
https://www.home-barista.com/forums/...27-wa0000.webp
https://www.home-barista.com/grinder...t59857-10.html
I need supports under the bolts to get a perfect result, but finding six identical spacers that are all 1.5mm (or thereabouts) is my next challenge. Either that or I'll use the low strength Loctite with less torque.


Comment