I thought I'd set up a general Solo / DF64 thread for any owners on here that wanted to discuss the grinder / modifications etc. I've stumbled across this webpage which gives numerous 3D print mods for the grinder, which may be of interest: https://www.yeggi.com/q/df64/ Has anyone changed the clump crusher on theirs? I cleaned my grinder out yesterday (original model & 1st release) and I'm wondering whether a new clump crusher might be worth investigating. Has anyone installed any of the clump crushers from the site above? Would they recommend any of them?

@"dutchy101"#p8235 I have an early one, I left the exit alone, which appeared to be some kind of membrane, with a slit/s in it?

Yes, that's the one @"DavecUK"#1 . I didn't realise you still had yours. I remember the clump crusher being a bit of a bug-bear for a few of the early adopters, particularly one user but if I recall correctly, they were quite fond of quite oily dark beans, which probably affected the mechanism more for him than most. It's not something I've really given much consideration to until yesterday when the bellows were getting quite hard to work - they'd push down and stick. I assumed the chute was getting a bit blocked by a build-up of grinds and when I took the top off there was a fair amount of coffee around the chute chamber. It broke off very easily with a cocktail stick and the vacuum cleaner got it all out so it may have just been more of a sign to give the grinder a clean than anything else. Now I'm back at work, I can access a 3D printer so was wondering whether it's worth giving a go to a new clump crusher

> @"dutchy101"#p8247 Now I’m back at work, I can access a 3D printer so was wondering whether it’s worth giving a go to a new clump crusher I think my clump crusher loosened up with usage….so I didn't get any problems. I wonder if people removed em too soon?

That's a good point. The complaints seemed to be within a few days / weeks of ownership.

@"dutchy101"#p8235 I did this mod and I quite like it: https://www.coffeeforums.co.uk/topic/58285-new-g-iota-df64-solo-64mm-flat-burr-single-dosing-grinder/?do=findComment&comment=845046

So I've just upgraded the burrs to Mazzers looking forward to seeing what difference they make. My new point zero is about -15 now -haha Was surprised how much build up there was underneath the original burrs. [URL=https://i.imgur.com/Ft7vbx5.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/Ft7vbx5.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

@"dutchy101"#p17882 the dial plastic can be heated with a hair drier, unpeeled and reattached at zero, if that becomes an ocd issue :)

Cheers I've got a 3d printed pointer which works perfectly but will bear this in mind. I've seen Bella Barista are selling replacement ones with the better font which I might get at some point.

@"dutchy101"#p8235 I have tried a few mods some more successful than others. I am currently using this clump crusher and am very happy with it. My grinds are very fluffy and no clumps to be found. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4885588 I have recently discovered that I was over prepping my basket and getting channeling and wildly differing pours. I was grinding with RDT then WDT distributing then tamping thinking I would get consistency. I am fairly new to manual espresso lately. Now I grind into portafilter use the wdt tool to very gently spread grinds evenly careful not to do too much deep prep or over stirring, basically using the WDT tool to level the grinds nicely then tamp. Now my pours are much better and consistent. I believe I may have been allowing the fines to fall to bottom of basket and clog holes causing excess pressure and channeling. less seems to be more in this instance. I also have an anti-popcorn device installed which I believe may help consistency. However on occasion if you dump all beans in at beginning then turn on machine it may only grind a few of the beans and then you will find the rest sitting atop the popcorn device waiting to drop, but a push with your finger solves the issue. I have also tried a different clump crushers not listed above that actually removes the clump crusher all together and focuses on flow and zero dust. I did find that I could completely clog the grinder if I ground close to touch point and fed all the beans at once. If feeding slowly there were no issues. It did produce very nice fluffy grinds with no clumps and very little mess. The download files are located here: [https://grabcad.com/library/df64-exit-c ... ownspout-1](https://grabcad.com/library/df64-exit-chute-and-downspout-1) and the original post is: https://www.home-barista.com/grinders/hacking-df64-exit-chute-t79493.html I may revisit the above chute since i have changed my prep routine and am grinding quite a bit coarser now and the clogging issue may be non existent then. However the grinds are so nice with zero retention with the first clump crusher there really is no reason to change.

@"BBritton"#p17899 Thanks. After changing my burrs yesterday and giving the grinder a thorough clean I decided to take a look at an alternative clump crusher and have gone with this one: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1158485851/turin-df64-declumperanti-static-screen?transaction_id=3020828443&campaign_label=proteus_transaction_buyer_notification_boe_convo_url_treatment&utm_source=transactional&utm_campaign=proteus_transaction_buyer_notification_boe_convo_url_treatment_010170_419265317394_0_0&utm_medium=email&utm_content=&email_sent=1652997729&euid=XVFPIHGp1NIXnN9lOnHcg1eD4uLt&eaid=1034529098115&x_eaid=d3a88a7d73&verification_code=a1c48cf0c26f9fc6d535133c3d8c0f4b Annoyingly I've just noticed it is shipped from the US.

The General Solo / DF64 Thread

dutchy101

I’m confirming burr touching point by manually spinning the central nut until I can hear the burrs touching. I tired the first shot at 12 off touching point and 2nd at 6.

I’ve cleaned it out again and removed all shims. Touching point is about -25 now. Will have another go and see how I get on.

DavecUK

dutchy101 I know for a fact that genuine Mazzer Burrs are incredibly accurately made and the mounting points vary by only a few Microns, sometimes even all exactly the same. So it’s possible that will mount more parallel than the Itamill ones.

CoyoteOldMan

These may all be “old news” to people with the DF64, but I found some of the ideas interesting (and I may try producing a ‘wedge’ for my Ceado)

dutchy101

You are indeed right. I took it all apart again, cleaned it all out and got rid of the shims etc. I didn’t bother with the dry eraser marker efforts or shimming - just putting the burrs on and then finding the zero (I watched your video on this beforehand). I pulled my shot just now after grinding at setting 12 (this bean was dialled in at 6 on the Italmills) and it almost choked the machine. I could just tell from the grinds how much better the shot would be than the previous attempts.

So it appears less is clearly more - what a waste of time that was this morning haha.

In any case, it feels a little like getting a new grinder - the new Mazzer burrs are so much faster than the Italmills.

Thanks for your help!

DavecUK

dutchy101 Genuine Mazzer burrs are so much better, unfortunately this seems to be the internets best kept secret. makes me wonder how many people change their “assumed genuine Mazzer burrs” on a used grinder to SSP, Redspeed or something else expensive and then see a huge improvement, which they might had got simply by moving to genuine Mazzer burrs.

FadedFrontiers

dutchy101 Did you go for the Mazzer mini E (189D) or SJ burrs (33M)? And how are you getting on with them?

Was considering picking up the mini E burrs purely because it has a compatible motor size to the DF64 and some mini users who used SJ burrs complained about stalling due to a more aggressive cutting surface. Although those who did have success with them did enjoy faster grinding times..!

dutchy101

Music to my ears!!!

dutchy101

FadedFrontiers Did you go for the Mazzer mini E (189D) or SJ burrs (33M)? And how are you getting on with them?

I got the Super Jolly 033M burrs. They work a treat with the grinder - I haven’t had any issues with stalling and they are a vast improvement on the standard Italmill burrs.

Elcarajillo

I do not have this grinder but I did have a Mazzer mini (new) I found the standard burrs very slow.

I contacted Mazzer technical and asked about using the SJ burr’s, I was told they would not recommend for commercial use but should be fine for domestic use. I found the 33M much better and used them all the time I had the grinder and the member who bought the grinder carried on using them (even though he had both sets)

I never once had a stall or change in motor sound / speed. I tend to use fairly dark roasted beans.

FadedFrontiers

Thank you both, think I’ll go for the SJs in that case!

dutchy101

FadedFrontiers

I got mine through this seller on ebay. Mine were only £28, which was a steal:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255034260793?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=B3-ukL3rTQO&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=G4UUZto2TeC&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

FadedFrontiers

dutchy101 thanks for the pointer, I’ve picked up a pair so waiting for them to arrive.

Good news about the clump crusher replacement, I’m interested in hearing how many grinds it collects when you next do a clean!

pete4eyes

dutchy101
Hey! Came across this suggestion that genuine mazzer burrs are better than the italmil burrs so thought I’d give it a whirl given the relatively low cost.
Did your bottom burr fit well? I found the inner diameter of the bottom burr is fouling a little bit with the carrier so it isn’t sitting flat. I’ve managed to tighten each screw a little at a time and alignment is ok but I’m concerned it’s not sitting firm on the carrier. Did you have the same issue? Using the 033M burrs as suggested.

dutchy101

Cleaned out the grinder yesterday and decided to change the clump crusher when it was clean. Wow, the original one was completely caked and was a fair bit in the chute.

Replacement seems to be working a treat - the grinder even sounds different running.

dutchy101

Since putting the grinder back together my shots have been running through very quickly and the Minima is only getting up to 8 bars of pressure. I know the heat has an affect on the beans so not sure if this is that at play, or whether my touching point was off when setting my dial again. I took it all apart again last night and re-did the touching point, but again experiencing the same behavior with my shots so hoping it’s a case of the heat affecting the beans and them requiring a finer grind than ususal

DavecUK

I’m needing a slightly tighter grind today, could be the heat.

prezes

Same here

dutchy101

Managed to get one coffee up to a 27.5 second pull with a tighter grind. Think it’s the heat. Will know better tomorrow I guess.

FadedFrontiers

pete4eyes yeah I had the same issue with the inner diameter being slightly too small and causing a tilt. I tried best to centre it using foil, checked with the marker method and although alignment seemed okay I didn’t notice a major difference between them and the Italmills so in the end switched back.

It’s an annoyingly slight difference in sizes. As you say filling the inside burr surface should do the job otherwise if you can find something to add some height to where it sits on the bottom burr holder ever so slightly that could also fix it.

This may work if it’s thick enough, but I haven’t tried it, just going by pictures: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1251632818/df64-burr-gasket

dutchy101

Initially I tried with the marker test for alignment but gave up trying to shim until I saw a video that helped me with this (the key was to put a hole through the folded foil for the screw to go though that would hold the shim in place. I ordered a new sticker for the dial and then redid the burrs a couple of weeks ago. Pretty much perfect alignment now.

pete4eyes

dutchy101 nice! My issue is the inner diameter of the burr. Seems the 033m are 37mm but the italmil are 38mm and the burr isn’t happy with the carrier. Will check it out again tomorrow and maybe file the inner edge of the burr down a touch… 0.5mm all the way around ain’t much…! But maybe tolerances meant yours was fine. Lucky me…

dutchy101

pete4eyes

Ah that’s a shame. I didn’t have that issue fortunately. Hope you can sort it

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