Starbucks Barista Grinder Issue - Needs Cleaning?

[Phog Allen]

Gents, a few years ago some of the blokes around here pointed me toward this grinder that was offered by Starbucks but when they quit selling hardware they were discounted pretty heavily and I grabbed one at around $80. It is listed as model 1mp1sp. The only other name on it is Baratza. It has worked nicely til very recently. I noted a few weeks ago it would not grind the beans fine enough to make a decent espresso. I am guessing my laziness has resulted in it not being cleaned properly but who knows? Anyroad, before I go all YouTube on it and start mucking around, I wondered if you had any suggestions for giving it a thorough cleaning and how to do it? I know there are mods out there designed to make it a bit more useful for espresson grinds but I am still a relative neophyte when it comes to all this. Thank you for any help.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Phog Allen]

Gents, in the interest of not sounding too ignorant I did a bit of Googling and found this page pretty quickly. It has a comparison of this grinder against a much more expensive one. About half way down the page you will see a side by side comparison of the coffee grounds. Mine used to look like what is shown for the Baratza Encore but is no where near that fine or consistent now.

http://prima-coffee.com/blog/baratza-encore-review-espresso-grinder

 

[mlzettl]

It sounds like you have a Baratza Encore that was re-branded as a Starbucks. If so, then you are probably in pretty good shape. I own a Baratza grinder, and have had occasion to service the grinder myself. I can tell you that Baratza has excellent customer service. Their website has an outstanding troubleshooting section, with tutorials on how to perform almost any service yourself. Replacement parts are very reasonably priced.

My advice would be to do all of the routing maintenance that they suggest for your grinder on their website. Then, if you are still having a problem, check out the rest of the troubleshooting guides to see if you can find a solution. If all of that fails, call them. I have never had to do that, but have read that they are very helpful over the phone.

In my experience, this level of customer service in attempting to give the customer the option to fix the product themselves in order to save money is unusual. The most common reply to maintenance or other issues is, "Send it back to us, and we'll fix it."

Hope this helps.

Matt

 

[Phog Allen]

Thanks Matt. I will head over there and check it out.

Cheers, Todd

 

[StillShaving]

If you have never taken it apart far enough to gain access to the burrs I would encourage you to do so. So that you can brush out all the old coffee crud, where you might find a partially wedged bean or two. Using some type of clean, stiff brush to dislodge the coffee particles that may be caked on. I am not familiar with your grinder, but that should help its performance.

 

[Mick]

These are very simple grinders to service and repair yourself. I've rebuilt the 2 I owned.

If you get stuck anywhere take a pic and post back. I will be happy to help you out.

Here are a couple of maintenance PDF documents that cover things you can do that do not require parts.

Removing the case: http://www.baratza.com/wp-content/uploads/Case-Removal.pdf

Checking top burr placement: http://www.baratza.com/wp-content/uploads/How-to-Troubleshoot-A-Grind-Quality-Issue.pdf

Cleaning the grinder is simple. It's best to do this on a kitchen counter with the grinder placed on a towel.

You can use a vacuum cleaner hose to clean out the grinds in your machine (this is what I do). Remove the bean hopper. Turn the vacuum on and stick the hose (no attachments on it) into the grinder so that you suck out the grounds from the upper grinding chamber. You can remove the top burr so that you can get down to the paddles that are below the conical burr.. With a crevice nozzle/tool attached to focus the suction you can then clean out any grounds that remain in the chute after removing the bean hopper and turning the grinder upside down (best to clean out the grounds from the chamber first otherwise you will pour grounds all over when you turn it upside down).

to clean further you need to remove the grinder case which is very simple

http://www.baratza.com/wp-content/uploads/Case-Removal.pdf

If the adjusting mech looks to be in good condition (no cracks) you can then adjust the internal setting to the finer position. This PDF will explain how you change the baseline internal adjustment:

http://www.baratza.com/wp-content/uploads/recalibration.pdf


There are a couple of considerations before you go further than "looking" "cleaning" and "adjusting". Do you plan on keeping your grinder? Are you satisfied with how it works for you (or did when it was working perfectly)?

If yes is the answer to both of those you may want to check to see if it has the current transmission/gear-box in it and if not update to the current designed one as it is much heavier and less likely to issues in the future.

Here are two PDF files that explains 1) How to remove the case. 2) how you tell and 3) how you upgrade. The upgrade comes as a full "kit" and takes about 30-50 minutes to install (longer time the first time you do it)

http://www.baratza.com/wp-content/uploads/Case-Removal.pdf

http://www.baratza.com/wp-content/uploads/Motor-Identification.pdf

http://www.baratza.com/wp-content/uploads/GB2.0.pdf

 

[Phog Allen]

Wow Mick! Thank you for the links and suggestions. I will let all of you know how it goes. And yes, this little grinder works pretty darned well for $80. Until recently it was flawless. Likely just needs cleaned.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Phog Allen]

Gents, I called Baratza today and talked a few things over with them. Very good to deal with. I wound up ordering some parts. Mostly plastic stuff since they are the sacrificial parts anyway. The "ring burr" holder had the tabs that keep the adjustments where you set them were broken and gone. I also ordered the silicone gasket for the hopper to grinder connection and the plastic ring that attaches to the gearbox that surrounds the cone burr. Should be a diy fix. Tell you when the parts get here. BTW, I adjusted the grinder to a finer setting so we'll see how that works out as well.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Phog Allen]

Gents, I wanted to report back on this matter. I contacted Baratza as I reported and then made the web order. The parts showed up promptly on the sainted day of March 17. Two day delivery not counting weekend days. Pretty great service. Snapped in the new part and the machine works good as new. I also adjusted the grinder to a finer setting and it works a treat. This little grinder has offered me value FAR beyond its price. Good for Baratza.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Mick]

It's good to hear they are still on the top tier of the service/support would even for products that they have not made in ages.

They way they are designed and constructed you do not need to be a mechanical engineer to repair and adjust anything and everything on their grinders.

 

[mlzettl]

Ditto what Turtle said. My Baratza grinder does everything that I need it to do, from grinding for expresso to grinding for French press. Combine that with the excellent service and support, and I would be hard pressed to buy a different brand. Glad you are up and running again.

Matt

 

[Alacrity59]

I'll admit my ignorance. I'm new to the burr grinder world. In your (all of you) opinion what is the minimal maintenance required for someone grinding enough for a pot (10 cups) daily? I really don't want Mick to pick up my dead grinder for his collection when I ignorantly sell it on eBay for $5.

 

[StillShaving]

Good question about grinder cleaning frequency. I suspect it should be done more often than most of us do, though maybe it is not so important as long as it is still grinding well and being used frequently. I go for months without cleaning my electric grinder that is used for roughly 10-15 cups per week, even though I believe it should be cleaned each month at least.

The reason I believe more frequent cleanings are justified is that I once disassembled my burrs to give a thorough cleaning, and after reassembling to grind a few times for a few more cups, disassembled it again only to find newly stuck/wedged beans and lots of coffee residue. It looked as if I had not cleaned it the day before. So if you can live with some old/stale coffee particles maybe it is okay to let it ride for a while.

 

[mlzettl]

I clean mine about once/month. I grind for 2 double espressos and one "3 cup" moka pot for my wife per day. That's not really very much coffee, in fact it is about 50 grams/day with the dosing that I do. I think that the amount of stale coffee that is stuck in the burrs that ultimately finds its way into a brew is such a small percentage of the total that it is not really detectable, at least not by me. YMMV.

Matt