Tech Tips: Cleaning a Rancilio Rocky Grinder

Even if you regularly run Grindz through your Rocky, it's a good idea to take it apart and thoroughly clean it every now and again. Gail shows us how to take apart, clean and then reassemble a Rancilio Rocky grinder.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• rancilio
• rocky
• burr grinder
• maintenance
• cleaning
• how-to
• take apart

[mark2500]

with 3 holes as guidelines, finding the zero point is actually alot easier than I initially thought.

Do you think that this method can also work on other grinders of the same class? A Gaggia MDF or a Mazzer for example?

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@mark2500 They are all constructed differently so will need to be dis/re-assembled differently. There's no universal design spec -- not sure if I answered your question...? - Kat

[kickchick1974]

Hi girls - I'm tackling this at the moment, but am stuck at 6:00... the top grinder is extremely difficult to screw back on, it's not spinning freely like your one. (In fact it took rubber gloves and a tea-towel to get it off in the first place). It's as if the threads are crossed, but they're not. Any ideas? Oh and another tip - I found that a vacuum cleaner nozzle was the best thing to remove beans from the screw holes. Thanks for another great clip, I'd be lost without you guys!

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@kickchick1974 Hmmmmm...I am not sure; I would check to ensure that the threads are thoroughly cleaned and don't have any build up, but other than that it's difficult to give tech support via YouTube. Don't force it, though, whatever you do -- if you warp those threads, you've got to replace the whole grinder. - Kat

[pigsnack]

Thanks.... I think the crappy emergency beans I put through my machine were responsible for gunking it up and messing with my grind. I went for a couple months before I thought it might have something to do with buildup. Don't ever put Starbucks espresso [sic] beans in a Rocky, even when desperate. Too much oil.

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@pigsnack Yeah, any dark roast will be hell on grinders - Kat

[mark2500]

@SeattleCoffeeGear Ok thanks.

I'm currently looking at either a Gaggia MDF or a Rocky as possible upgrade options from my hario hand mill. From the few forum posts I've read about the MDF though, looks like "zeroing" it might actually be very similar to what Gail did in this video.

I'm guessing all these stepped grinders always have their hoppers screwed directly on the top burrs.

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@CoffeeDre No, this is definitely something we see on all Rocky grinders. Can you take a fine paintbrush and clean it out that way? It's tough not to have build up on any grinder, but I don't dig how it gets caught up right at the exit of the Rocky. We can generally get most out with a brush on our demo models without taking the chute off. Let me know how it goes! - Kat

[CoffeeDre]

@SeattleCoffeeGear

To me, the rubber connection piece between the spout and the machine actually seems to be the biggest issue. I was very negatively surprised how much the entire channel in there was clogged up and how much old ground coffee seems to get stuck there, after i took off the spout (my rocky is only 2 months old). I'd love to be able to rid my grinder of old powder daily without reaching for the screw driver... what's your take, general grinder weakness or rancilio misconstruction?

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@Radders123 Great tip! Thanks for sharing :) - Kat