The General Solo / DF64 Thread

dutchy101

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?

DavecUK

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

Petre

dutchy101

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

BBritton

dutchy101 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 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.

dutchy101

Yes, that’s the one @DavecUK . 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

DavecUK

dutchy101 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?

dutchy101

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

dutchy101

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.

Petre

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

dutchy101

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

BBritton

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.

dutchy101

So I’ve fitted the new burrs and despite my best attempts at shimming I eventually gave up and just stuck it back together. The bottom burr seemed pretty good with the dry rub pen test. The top burr was difficult. I’ve run a kilo of cheap beans through to season the burrs, but then when I’ve tried to make myself a coffee it’s been really bad - literally pouring through the puck, not getting up to pressure etc.

Think I’m going to have to start again. Does anyone have any advice on the best way to shim the Solo - I was thinking the best place to put the shims was on the outer side of where the screw holes are so as to raise up the outer edge of the burrs - pehaps this is where I was going wrong.

Any advice would be gratefully received please @DavecUK ?

DavecUK

dutchy101

How did you confirm the touching point and how close to the burr touching point are you grinding?

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.