Solis 166 Mod's (aka Starbuck's Barista, Saeco GT-1, Baratza/Solis 166

[GravityRoller]

snowboarder27118,

NO, you are not supposed to "cut" anything. If you stop the vid at 2:30 you will see that I have highlighter the indexing pin on the disk RED. What you are doing is rotating the movable bur, effectively closing the gap between the two burs. Closer the burs are together, finer the grind before it falls past the grind-burs. If you watch the video and pause selectively to read everything that I wrote into the video, think everything will be obvious. Make sure burs do not touch!

[snowboarder27118]

I'm confused. I've got the whole thing disassembled and don't quite get what I'm supposed to acutally be doing to get the grind smaller. From the vid it seems as I'm supposed to actually cut the white-disk ring to make it rotate more. Correct? Will someone that's done this please explain what I'm supposed to do here.

[GhibliFan1]

@snowboarder27118

You could just stick with the more common hack on the net, which is simpler (i.e just moving the internal ring counter clockwise). Google 'Starbucks barista grinder hack'.

[GravityRoller]

@GhibliFan1

At 0:18 into video I specifically address your comments, then again at 0:26 I support my position for why I choose not to use your suggestion (pause and read to understand a bit more b4 you comment negatively as you have on my work here). :)

Additionally, static charge to the ground coffee and a momentary switch are also part of the mod's to the grinder.

[GhibliFan1]

@GhibliFan1

Where did I comment negatively? Follow the thread, I was addressing someone who was having difficulty with this mod, so rather than letting them carry on with too coarse a grind, I suggested the simpler, more established mod as an alternative. If you want really to force a negative comment from me, well, I still find mine grinds coarse enough at the other end of the scale for cafetiere with the easier, quicker mod - which is more established for good reason.

[aikidokamks]

Nice video and interesting alternative for getting a finer grind on lower cost grinders. I'm drooling over a Baratz Vario but my pocket book is freaking out so I'm considering a Bodum Bistro Grinder which looks to be an improvement over their Antigua model. I have a Gaggia Carezza on the way so not going high end. I'm thinking if my pocket book wins the argument I can modify the Bodum grinder in a similar fashion.

[jetman127]

My grinder like this has suddenly started grinding to fine. I have noticed that other people have had this same problem. Do you think there might be a way to make it grind coarser based on your disassembly?

I will try to clean it in the meantime but, from the posts I have seen, this doesn't fix the problem.

BTW-The problem started when my wife was having a baby shower at our house, she emptied the hooper to make someone a pot of decaf. No telling what she did.

[GravityRoller]

Couple things come to mind:

1. I would not think your would want to attempt to take grinder apart to re-index the bur, because there should be no way that "your wife" could have done anything that would have changed the internal setting (based on your descriptions).

2. Make sure that the clear plastic hopper is installed correctly (only one way for it to go together in my mind, but ...).

[GravityRoller]

3. I would guess the issue your having (appears to be grinding too fine), would most likely be directly related to the grind output getting slowed down, or stopped up during discharge effectively slowing the bean down as they pass through the burs.

4. Remove the plastic hopper, removed the upper bur (no tools needed), and clean everything including past the flap door of the discharge chute.

[GravityRoller]

5. If you don't have a bean full hopper, the grind will be finer, compared to a full hopper (because there's less weight of beans pushing through the burs as you grind). this is why coffee shops overfill there hoppers increasing the gravity feed forces.

[jetman127]

@GravityRoller - Thank you. I found the problem, I think. The grounds had built up between the burr gear and the base. This caused the grounds to get bound up, in grinding. Your video helped a bunch in taking the grinder apart to find the problem.

[GravityRoller]

@jetman127

Kinda what I assumed (simple cleaning cured).

Now that you see how easy it is to remove the adjustable bur; it will be a simple maint. procedure for you to do. FYI, I clean my grinder at least weekly. Near the end of a grind cycle, I ususally lift and tap the grinder on the counter to help dislodge clumping grinds. Dark beans - means more frequesnt cleaning as opposed to lighter roasts because of oils on the the beans. Finer grinding also = more frequency of cleaning.

Regards,

[jetman127]

@GravityRoller So I thought it was a simple case of being clogged but, after further investigation, it looks like the flapper was stuck down, causing the clog. I removed the flapper for now (I ran out of time) and the grinder is working for me. I need to see what is causing the flapper to get stuck and reinstall it.

Any ideas?

BTW - We have had our grinder for about 5 years and never cleaned it before now. We usually use medium beans, we used to use dark quite a bit with our other maker.

[GravityRoller]

Posted by macpaullin

Comment on your video: Solis 166 Mod's (aka Starbuck's Barista, Saeco GT-1, Baratza/Solis 166

Hi. Did you see any fuse on the bottom side of this machine? I'm afraid the fuse has been burned since the moter won't driver since the last time.

[GravityRoller]

No "fuze" inside that I remember.

1. If problem started after decreasing the bur gap (to grind finer you reduced the gap), make sure motorized bur is not contacting fixed bur (this condition may not allow bur to spin, potentially burning out the motor and/or some of the wiring).

2. Check inner switch by bypassing with jumper wire.

3. Check for loose wires at all inner connections.

Let me know if I can be of any other help.

Good luck & thanks for watching ...

[NukePilot]

I have two of these branded "Saeco Titan" bought from Fry's ($79 BTW) at different times. One creates huge static electricity, the other does not. Go figure. I took the one in my office apart, and found the pin 5 holes from the red paint. It would not grind fine enough for the commercial espresso machine in the office. I reset it so the red paint mark and pin line up now (ie, 5 clicks finer). The resulting grind is finer, but I can hear the burrs clash more now.

[GravityRoller]

@NukePilot,

PLEASE - anybody who changes the factory indexing of the movable grinder bur, please confirm the burs do not make contact BEFORE you re-assemble your grinder. I thought I covered this in my vid ... If you run the grinder with the burs in contact, the teeth will grind metal to metal contact effectively ruining the burs the first time and forever after. This is BAD!

[kenw30]

hey, nice video, i have a baratza maestro but its slightly different on the inside. i tried the 3 clicks finer mod but didnt help one bit...

[GravityRoller]

kenw,

Thanks for the comments.

As you mentioned, there are probably a number of differences with the Maestro that you mentioned owning and the Solis 166 in this video. I am assuming that you are looking to grind finer with your Maestro. Conceptually, you would need to decrease the gapping between the burrs. Hopefully, these following comments may help you.

[GravityRoller]

#2

At 37-seconds into the video I show a chart that indicates the burr adjustment range (it illustrates an average of .004 burr movement change between each position). At some point (position 19 on this example sheet) the gapping between the burrs will stop decreasing (turning the dial further will make no change). If your grind does not change when you rotate the dial finer, then I would assume youve hit this limit where the burrs stop moving closer.

[GravityRoller]

#3

Keep in mind that I illustrate an option for changing the grind range, as specifically I found a number of issues with what most of the other vids illustrate, the 3 clicks finer mod that you mentioned. At 20 & 26-seconds I reference that there are alternate methods for changing the grind adjustment, then show an option to modify the indexing stop. To change the grind the burr gapping must change! As illustrated the dial position is not specifically relative to the burr gapping.

[GravityRoller]

#4

If you need a finer grind, there should be a number of ways that you could decrease the gapping between the burrs in your grinder (adjusting the indexing stoppage of the movable burr, shim the burr, etc). The goal is to move the adjustable burr closer, just make sure the that burrs will not make contact. For espresso grinds - If you are looking to increase the timing-pour of an espresso shot, you might try increasing your tamp pressure.

[GravityRoller]

#5

You might want to check to make sure that you are making the adjustments in the proper direction just a last minute thought.

Measure the position of the burr b-4 and after the adjustment to make sure that the adjustable burr is moving closer to the fixed burr effectively decreasing the grinding gap.