Some thoughts, after having read through all the above. To use the grinder in that kind of (damaged) condition is not a good idea for the reason that the grinds are not being flung out of the grinding chamber as they should be, This means, that there will be a certain amount of "re-grinding" of the already ground grinds in the chamber. Which means the resulting end grind will not be as intended, and will be variable depending on how much re-grinding has happened in any particular sitting. That might be ok for plungers and filters, but not ok for equipment that requires a precise grind eg an electric pump driven espresso machine. Eureka grinders are very well designed and built. The damage wouldnt just happen, something caused it to happen, usually by way of a foreign body going through with the beans whether now or in the past. You wouldnt replace the grinder on the basis of the damage as seen here. You would replace the damaged plate with a new one. I would never rely on emailing a service provider wrt spare parts or service, if I wanted / needed a prompt reply I would use the telephone. It is not unusual nowadays for busy workshops to have a policy not to respond to email enquiries as they come in, because it disrupts the flow of work and very often results in the giving of advice or information that does not result in a sale. The bottom line is, if it doesnt result in direct cash flow for the business, then it is a waste of (valuable, chargeable) time. People are not employed to sit next to a phone or keyboard to give out information for nothing..... If the service provider was able to advise a part number, then he should be able to provide the part concerned. In any case he wouldnt necessarily provide a part number, he would simply identify that he Does, or Doesnt have the part for sale to you. I expect that asking someone to spend time looking up a part number, then using that information to canvass other parts suppliers for the part instead of buying the part from this supplier, is pretty bad form. While many people that frequent the forums like to service their own equipment, it must be remembered that the equipment is not intended to be user serviceable, and if the grinder needs fixing, and if it needs fixing promptly for whatever reason, and the user has not been able to do so, then the best course of action is to deliver it (or book a call out) to the local commercial coffee equipment repairer and have it done so the grinder can go back into service as soon as possible. This information is given freely as a means of helping resolve the problem as efficiently as possible to the required, successful, outcome for all. My advice would be to take the grinder in and have it professional repaired, so it can keep on keeping on, giving good service, for many years to come.
