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Permalink Reply by Jason Shipley on January 14, 2010 at 6:33pm

Can you post some pics I love a good gear mystery

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Permalink Reply by Bryan Wray on January 14, 2010 at 9:06pm

Looky what I found... http://www.cafeparts.com/productDetail2.asp?CatID=2756&ItemID=0. Used to work on one of these, but it's been so long I couldn't remember much about the grinder except that when I tried to find parts I found this website called cafeparts and whaddya know, the exploded view thing is still there...

That's about as far as I can help, though... and it isn't much, lol.

-bry

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Permalink Reply by Bryan Wray on January 14, 2010 at 9:07pm

Oh... except that the answer to 1 is yes... I do know that.

-bry

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Permalink Reply by Jason Haeger on January 14, 2010 at 10:09pm

I can't tell you how many times I have had to fix one of those damn grinders. (they're not my favorite, if you couldn't tell)

There is a sensor pad that senses pressure. You should be able to press it in with your hand to break the circuit.

I have, on many occasions, desired to completely deactivate the automatic feature.

I have also seen issues where the switch just failed to work. It's pretty common sensecal to take apart. It shouldn't be too hard to track down if you are used to tracing wires in other applications.

I have also seen a Mazzer stall due to something jamming the burrs (it was a nail from a palate of coffee that somehow found its way inside the grinder.. I've seen this on more than one occasion). But, I could hear the motor trying to turn. There was a faint hum.

I would check the pressure sensing pad to make sure that it isn't stuck closed. If that's fine, I would take off the upper burr carrier to have a peak inside. If all appears to be well, I would check the switch. Is power getting to where it needs to? If not, it may be the switch.

A multi-meter, some basic tools and a little patience is all it should take. It's not a very complicated machine.

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Permalink Reply by Brady on January 15, 2010 at 2:05pm

Thanks all for the info. The parts breakdown is great.

Later last night, I decided to crack into the grinder to see what I could figure out. This particular one, in addition to the "pressure switch" that Jason mentioned, has a magnetic safety interlock switch in the lid. Looks like this is meant to prevent operation of the grinder if either the hopper or doser lid is not in place. Problem is that this one no longer has the hopper magnet. I'm halfway inclined to just rip out all of that extra junk and wire it like the manual version... but in the interest of keeping things stock I'll be ordering a new hopper tonight instead.

What a weird grinder.

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Jason Haeger on January 15, 2010 at 3:26pm

Right, i forgot to mention that part. :/

Like I said.. it's not my favorite grinder.

Brady said:

Thanks all for the info. The parts breakdown is great.

Later last night, I decided to crack into the grinder to see what I could figure out. This particular one, in addition to the "pressure switch" that Jason mentioned, has a magnetic safety interlock switch in the lid. Looks like this is meant to prevent operation of the grinder if either the hopper or doser lid is not in place. Problem is that this one no longer has the hopper magnet. I'm halfway inclined to just rip out all of that extra junk and wire it like the manual version... but in the interest of keeping things stock I'll be ordering a new hopper tonight instead.

What a weird grinder.

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Brady on January 15, 2010 at 5:55pm

Jason Haeger said:

Right, i forgot to mention that part. :/

Like I said.. it's not my favorite grinder.

Brady said:

Thanks all for the info. The parts breakdown is great.

Later last night, I decided to crack into the grinder to see what I could figure out. This particular one, in addition to the "pressure switch" that Jason mentioned, has a magnetic safety interlock switch in the lid. Looks like this is meant to prevent operation of the grinder if either the hopper or doser lid is not in place. Problem is that this one no longer has the hopper magnet. I'm halfway inclined to just rip out all of that extra junk and wire it like the manual version... but in the interest of keeping things stock I'll be ordering a new hopper tonight instead.

What a weird grinder.

Thanks!

You were right, by the way. Once I had the bottom off and the lid apart it was pretty clear what was happening. Got a lucky break and eventually found a users manual (more like tipsheet) on EP that made reference to the magnetic safety switch or else I'd probably never have figure out what that component on the lid was.

So, does the Auto version have a different hopper bezel, or is it just supposed to pick up the field from the standard hopper's contaminant magnet? I tried a hopper with that magnet intact and it wasn't strong or close enough to work, so I hope its the first option.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Haeger on January 16, 2010 at 9:52am

The hidden magnet in the doser lid contacts a little piece of metal built into the doser. You could possibly use some other piece of metal and just keep the lid off.

More importantly, I would suggest replacing the grinder with something a little easier to work with. I realize that's not always an option, but that's what I would do in that situation if it were possible.

I've seen this grinder fall apart at the seams. It still works, but it shouldn't. The body isn't very well built.

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Permalink Reply by Brady on January 16, 2010 at 3:45pm

Jason Haeger said:

The hidden magnet in the doser lid contacts a little piece of metal built into the doser. You could possibly use some other piece of metal and just keep the lid off.

More importantly, I would suggest replacing the grinder with something a little easier to work with. I realize that's not always an option, but that's what I would do in that situation if it were possible.

I've seen this grinder fall apart at the seams. It still works, but it shouldn't. The body isn't very well built.

Yeah, I agree. Unfortunately this customer just purchased this as part of a whole batch of gear from a restaurant supply company - the rest of the stuff is garbage as well. It looks brand new, except for the hopper. Its for the second, smaller, espresso station in the upstairs bar area of a restaurant. Its been paired with a Wega Mini. Gotta love it.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Haeger on January 16, 2010 at 5:09pm

Well, things could certainly be worse. It beats the pants off of a home grinder sold as a commercial unit any day of the week.

Brady said:

Jason Haeger said:

The hidden magnet in the doser lid contacts a little piece of metal built into the doser. You could possibly use some other piece of metal and just keep the lid off.

More importantly, I would suggest replacing the grinder with something a little easier to work with. I realize that's not always an option, but that's what I would do in that situation if it were possible.

I've seen this grinder fall apart at the seams. It still works, but it shouldn't. The body isn't very well built.

Yeah, I agree. Unfortunately this customer just purchased this as part of a whole batch of gear from a restaurant supply company - the rest of the stuff is garbage as well. It looks brand new, except for the hopper. Its for the second, smaller, espresso station in the upstairs bar area of a restaurant. Its been paired with a Wega Mini. Gotta love it.

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