Mazzer Super Jolly Doserless Conversion

[Mick]

The parts are slowly coming in for my doserless conversion.

The funnel was here earlier in the week and the timer came in yesterday. The rest of the parts will be in next Tuesday so I can tear it down and complete the switch over.

Right now I have the funnel doser on with a piece of cardboard held up by a tooth pick covering up the motor to keep coffee grounds from getting inside the grinder. Been using it this way with the timer yesterday and today and I think I am going to like this once I get it all done.

Pics of what is here so far

Timer

Mini funnel and cardboard motor cover

Funnel is open and the grounds drop directly into the portafilter

 

[jazzguy]

Where did you get the funnel? I'm interested in converting my Mini but the parts kit from espresso parts is almost as much as I paid for the grinder.

 

[Mick]

Where did you get the funnel? I'm interested in converting my Mini but the parts kit from espresso parts is almost as much as I paid for the grinder.

I bought the funnel from 1st line as they were less money than espresso parts. the motor cover and the mini portafilter holder (the full support type) I got from espresso parts. Have an anti-static screen that will go back in. The mini electronic finger guard is coming from 1st line also.

the electronic timer I got directly from Auber instruments. It was less money to buy a pre-built one than it would have cost me to buy the parts separately and build one myself

the cost for the doserless electronic conversion (just the parts) was more than I paid for my Super Jolly. All in all I will have about what I could have bought a Mini electronic A type into the SJ once I am finished.

Bare minimum to convert would be the funnel, shorter portafilter forks, and the motor cover.

Then you would have a doserless model but you would have to either "guess" at the amount of grounds coming down and manually turn on and off or use a darkroom timer. A used Gralab 450 was going to cost me about what the Auber grinder timer ran me so I just closed my eyes and paid the piper. I figure I will enjoy using it more than the old setup as it is far less messy and will take a lot less time than weighing, grinding, and dosing each shot.

 

[jazzguy]

Thanks Mick. That is a big price difference! I'm not going do a full electronic conversion as I don't use the hopper. I weigh out one shot worth of beans and dump them in. A blank portafilter basket fits perfectly in the top of the Mini to keep the beans in the grinding chamber.

I bought the funnel from 1st line as they were less money than espresso parts. the motor cover and the mini portafilter holder (the full support type) I got from espresso parts. Have an anti-static screen that will go back in. The mini electronic finger guard is coming from 1st line also.
Then you would have a doserless model but you would have to either "guess" at the amount of grounds coming down and manually turn on and off or use a darkroom timer.

 

[Dantheman]

Mick,

I want the recipe(instructions) after you get done with this. There's two things I dislike about the Super Jolly, one is the doser. I'm just not a fan for home use. In a busy cafe, it would be great. But for the home, I just don't need it. Also, the timer- I'd much rather have an on/off switch. I've seen the on/off switch mod and definitely would like to convert mine.

It's looking good so far, Mick.

Cheers.

 

[Mick]

Thanks Mick. That is a big price difference! I'm not going do a full electronic conversion as I don't use the hopper. I weigh out one shot worth of beans and dump them in. A blank portafilter basket fits perfectly in the top of the Mini to keep the beans in the grinding chamber.

What I did was to dump my weighed beans into the hopper. Close the gate to keep them from jumping around. Then dump a second weighed amount on top of the gate. that way I had 2 quantities all ready to go. Grind the first one completely. Open the gate and the second one dropped into the grinder burr chamber and close the gate to keep the beans from jumping out. I found it much faster to weigh 2 sequences at a time and just slide the gate open an closed.

I used my SJ with a mason jar lid over the top until I got the short Mini hopper which fit under my kitchen cabinets. The short hopper and gate trick is much more convenient than moving the can lid for each dose of beans

you will need shorter forks to hold the portafilter. The can doser exits from the front and the funnel goes down the center so your forks are going to keep the portafilter too far away from the dropping grounds. I have been resting my portafiltter spout on the top of my old forks but that makes it WAY too high. You can get straight forks that are shorter or you can get the one that holds the entire portafilter. BIG difference in price but I felt for the convenience I would just pony up and get what I wanted since I have to take the base off of the grinder to attach the forks and that IS a real PITA (did it once and that was enough).

Mick,

I want the recipe(instructions) after you get done with this. There's two things I dislike about the Super Jolly, one is the doser. I'm just not a fan for home use. In a busy cafe, it would be great. But for the home, I just don't need it. Also, the timer- I'd much rather have an on/off switch. I've seen the on/off switch mod and definitely would like to convert mine.

It's looking good so far, Mick.

Cheers.

I plan on taking a pic of all the parts and listing them out once they all get here on Tuesday (or Wednesday next week).

so your red SJ has a timer knob? If it has a start capacitor also Auber makes a different timer for that model of Mazzer. You should see if you can find out which model yours is as you may be able to use the Auber capacitor timer with the timer knob on your SJ if it has a start capacitor in the grinder. Mine is the old (pre everything) model so it is on/off and has NO safety switches at all anywhere (yes I can stick my fingers into the grinder but I don't plan on doing that any time soon... I did have the grinder eat the tips off of my grinder brush when I was cleaning it one time though....)

espresso parts sells a doser modification that is suppose to keep the can type doser from being so messy. They put it on their custom build "competition" grinders and it is supposed to make a vast improvement in the sloppiness of the dose.

http://www.espressoparts.com/ELVINATOR_V1?&search_id=2252712

It is less than $10 but shipping will kill you on a single item through them (double the price if you can't find something else to order).

I did think about getting this modification this but then just went with what I wanted to do. If there is one thing I have learned over the years it is to just go with what you want. Don't try to "get by" as it always cost more to purchase the "get by" then go out and pay for what you wanted anyway

 

[slim62]

Nice! I've been to lazy to fix up my SJ properly...a cut up plastic soda bottle has been working but it looks pretty bad...yours looks great.

 

[takeshi]

A used Gralab 450 was going to cost me about what the Auber grinder timer ran me so I just closed my eyes and paid the piper.

I just nabbed one for $36 but they do seem to easily go for close to the cost of the Auber.

There's two things I dislike about the Super Jolly, one is the doser. I'm just not a fan for home use. In a busy cafe, it would be great. But for the home, I just don't need it.

I find the doser handy but it's one of those matters of preference.

 

[Mick]

got the last of the parts yesterday and set a little time aside to complete the project. In a skill level I would put this around a 3 (dunce level - dead simple).

Here is all of the parts I used.

Left to right top to bottom

Mazzer Mini funnel doser - Auber grinder timer
Mazzer Mini Electronic Portafilter rest - Mazzer finger guard - Mazzer Super Jolly antistatic screen (under the guard) - Mazzer motor cover

I stripped the SJ down first, removing the doser, base plate, and the old portafilter forks. Cleaned it out real good as it had been a while and was time for a good cleaning as a lot of coffee had dropped down behind the temporary cardboard and toothpick motor cover I have been using.

The cover plate required 2 holes drilled in the case (the only part of the change over that could be considered difficult). I marked the 2 holes with a punch and drilled through the aluminum grinder housing. I found that the motor cover was a little too large so I had to file the edges down so that they fit properly.

If anyone is considering this the drill bit size needed is 5/64. I purchased the Mazzer screws and washers so if you go with screws and washers of your own this might be different for you.

While assembling, I decided to use a Mazzer Major screen and gasket that I already had rather than fighting the Super Jolly screen under the existing gasket. So in the end I have 2 gaskets and the more open Major antistatic screen in this pic. If you do this mod and you don't already have a doser to case gasket you "should" get 2 otherwise a single (additional) gasket with the screen already attached is the way to go as 2 gaskets makes the doser fit nice and snug leaving no space for coffee to fall down into the motor.

Once the funnel doser was attached and tighten up I put the new forks on and replaced the grinder base plate. You will need different portafilter forks as the old can type doser empties from the front and the funnel type empties from the center so the forks are a different spacing away from the grinder. You can't get away with not changing this part too. I opted for the full support portafilter forks instead of the short ones where you have to hold the portafilter while dosing. that way I can drop the portafilter onto the rest, hit the dose button, walk away, and the grinder will fill the portafilter without any assistance from me. Little more cost $25 more) but in the long run not a big increase in the overall cost. As an added benefit, I keep the portafilter in the cradle so any grounds that drop out between use falls into the portafilter instead of on the counter.

In my research on this, I read that the Mini doser was a little short and the Major one was a little long so I opted for the shorter Mini doser and got a dosing extension from Orphan Espresso which brings the top of the portafilter right up under the funnel. works perfectly. No spills, no mess, drops right in and down into the portafilter. The Super Jolly switch stays on and the grinder on/off function is now controlled by the Auber timer

All buttoned up, beans in the hopper and ready to go.....

I ended up putting the timer on the other side of the grinder bank, away from the sink/water. Since I decided to use the support type portafilter forks there is no need for the timer to be close to the grinder as the portafilter sits nicely in the rest so I just select single or double dose and walk away.

Modified Super Jolly in the lineup with the Baratza Vario-W and Preciso/Escatto

I did not use the Super Jolly anti static screen and so far I have not put in the finger guard as I want to see if it is necessary or if it is just something to get in the way.

I've used the grinder a couple of times today and I LIKE the modification so far

 

[StillShaving]

Final result looks great. I especially liked the added touch of the dosing extension/funnel.

 

[Mick]

Rather than start a new topic on my ever changing Super Jolly I figured to just Houdini this one from 2013 and continue......

yesterday the FINAL (yea right) bits for my "Church lady" Super Jolly came in.....

Duranium burrs.....

Hand delivered from the far away Klingon Empire

 

[jazzguy]

I did finally convert my Mini last year and I got an notable improvement in espresso quality. I've been thinking about inspecting the burrs soon as they've been in there for many years now.

 

[gearchow]

I wonder if it is possible to resharpen burrs by hand? Not quite like a saw blade...

-jim

 

[Mick]

I wonder if it is possible to resharpen burrs by hand? Not quite like a saw blade...

-jim

there are some pretty serious compound angles. The top and bottom burrs need to mate together perfectly otherwise you might as well use a hammer.

I am sure burrs are made on some pretty precise CNC milling equipment.

Did my first pulls this morning with coffee ground on the new burrs..... wowzers... That's about all I can say....

 

[global_dev]

nice thread and update.. you have a pic of the old burrs?

 

[Mick]

nice thread and update.. you have a pic of the old burrs?

The new burrs have a different facet/grind pattern. They appear to be cut deeper to the center than the factory/OEM ones

 

[global_dev]

definitely deeper. cool beans!

 

[Mick]

I did finally convert my Mini last year and I got an notable improvement in espresso quality. I've been thinking about inspecting the burrs soon as they've been in there for many years now.

Did you get the titanium allow burrs or stick with OEM (Mazzer) burrs?

Mazzer says their OEM replacement burrs are good for 800# of coffee but the titanium alloy ones say 1400 pounds. That's a lot of coffee for a home grinder.

I don't think you need to worry about any noticeable wear in just a year unless you are making espresso for the entire town

 

[fightingillini22]

Did you get the titanium allow burrs or stick with OEM (Mazzer) burrs?

Mazzer says their OEM replacement burrs are good for 800# of coffee but the titanium alloy ones say 1400 pounds. That's a lot of coffee for a home grinder.

I don't think you need to worry about any noticeable wear in just a year unless you are making espresso for the entire town View attachment 646915

1400# ?!?!? Even at a pound of coffee a week, that's almost 30 years. I can't imagine those ever going dull for 99% of home users!

 

[Mick]

I pulled out my Bonavita scale again this morning to check the grind/throw consistency.

It's been a couple of days short of two weeks of daily use and the throw weight is spot on 15.0 grams for my double shots. I did have one that bounced 15.1 / 15.0 but maybe there was some dust in the air that landed on the scale for that one. The timer is set to 6.13 seconds (yea that is six and 13 hundredths of a second).

My pulls are sitting around 23 seconds +/- so I am uber stoked about how well things are running for me.

I'm just about out of these beans and I will need to adjust once the different roast goes in the Super Jolly but I expect once I get dialed into 15 grams that it should be rock solid for another couple of weeks until the next batch of beans are in the mix.

I can say that I am a very happy camper with the titanium allow burr set. So much so that I purchased a second set, not that I will ever need them but the old B&B mentality of "get it NOW" just over took me