Eureka grinder handicapped...

Lizzi

OK, so I still have no idea what did it, but the Eureka bag grinder has done its nana.. all three big lugs on the bottom burr carrier snapped off, and one of the smaller ones near the bottom burr as well.... interesting gouges on the metal in the chamber too
I ran a bag of beans through it after I put it together again and she seems to grind OK, with 99% of the weight in beans ending up in the bag as grinds.
The Eureka is usually only grinding a medium fine grind for some of our customers.
Ofcourse now the question is: how well will it get rid of the grinds now it does not  have the lugs to propel them out of the chamber???
And, then the second question? how the heck am I going to get the bottom burr carrier off ( as that was the problem the first time I took her apart... ) to replace it with a new one, complete with all the pointy bits??

derrilex

Bloody hell ! What did that ?

Koffee_Kosmo

Chemical weld is the cheapest to join the direction flaps - but may not work if the join is under push pressure Next is welding but the cost will be more than a replacement grinder My advise is to look for a replacement deli grinder with a bit more muscle and built for purpose KK

Brett H

I can't understand what would do that... A rock, screw??  KK I thought a Deli grinder was made for higher volume.  Clearly a 150mm burr grinder has a higher volume than an 83mm but what size become too small and ergo what then is their purpose?

Lacehim

Can you take the bottom burr off?  Might be another set of screws under it. Someone will have a bag with a bit of metal in it!  ???  Wow.  I would be getting it properly checked out and I wouldn't use it either.  Did it make a noise when it happened?

derrilex

Must have been something hanging down from the static upper burr carrier like a bolt that was too long or similar.  Those lugs are quite out of the way of everything except ground coffee - well they are in my Eureka anyway. Lizzi, post a pic of the upper burr carrier upside down.

Lizzi

No idea what did it, and yes, it did make a big noise when it shattered the small lug and put it through the grinder. the bigger ones simply broke off and then stalled the burr carrier. I cannot get the bottom carrier off, that was the problem when I replaced the burr-set a few weeks ago; apparently you need a special tool to do so, so I just cleaned underneath as good as I could and fitted the burrs. I am not comfortable with chemical welding... it may well be that that is the cause of the problem, that someone tried to repair a broken piece which came off: one of the smaller lugs had some lines over it, but I really did not pay attention at the time. I can only assume there was a bit of very hard metal in one of the bags of roasted beans, which did not get picked up by the magnet OR the smaller lug near the bottom- burr broke off and in turn smashed the larger lugs off their moorings before it disappeared in the throat of the grinder; I could find only slivers of metal, no sand or gravel in the bag. I was grinding for myself, not for sale, so no fear about customers coffee being contaminated. When I put her back together and trued up the burrs to find '0', there did not seem to be any difference to when I trued her up after replacing the burr-set. At the moment I am using the Eureka only for my own decaf plunger grinds, and so far no further hassles..... but I will open her back up again in a few days to see how much of the fine stuff is being left behind now there is no accelerated airflow because of the missing lugs. At most she will do 10 bags of ground coffee per month, so it may well be that we live with her 'as is'. L The machine is built like a tank, so methinks it would be worth replacing the bottom burr carrier, if I could get it off...

Lacehim

Why don't you give these guys a call http://www.eurekagrinders.com.au/index.php/products.html See what they have to say.  You should be able to get a part number if you give them your model number, then you can google or contact other parts suppliers or maybe even source a second hand one. Good luck.

Lizzi

Thanks for that Lacehim, I have emailed them yesterday, but have not heard back. In the meantime I took the Eureka apart again and found there was about 20gm of superfine ground coffee stuck to the inside rim of the case... not too bad after grinding 5-6 bags. So, I can use her the way she is now, as long as I pull her apart every 10 bags Still would like to replace the bottom burr carrier though... And, I double/triple checked to see if there was anything hanging off the top burr/top plate which could have caused the shearing off  of the lugs... nada, nothing, zip. All three burr screws still tight, and, actually, the burrs still in fine form too, so I suspect the small lug got simply smashed up by the bigger lugs ( which made them being sheared off)  and flung out the side, then under the bottom burr carrier and into the bag. Another example of the infamous 'Lizzi-jinx'... a litany of inexplicable events damaging things electric/electronic when I am in coee...  :head: L

FreshCoffee2

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.

Lizzie

Thank you, FC.. I have pasted my replies in the quote.

on 1378527580:

[size=12pt]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. As I  mentioned before, the grinder is used primarily for plunger grinds 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.As we bought this unit secondhand, who knows what happened with it before we got it... all I can say is that there were some faint lines visible on one of the smaller lugs, but, I did not pay much attention to it at the time, when I  changed the burrs 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 doesn't 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........ and yet, from a customers point of view:I always feel hesitant ringing as I know I will be interrupting whoever answers the phone in whatever they are doing.... I would rather write an email set out my problem clearly and  hope that  a qualified person will look at it at a time when he/she is not busy with things which have a deadline...If companies have this 'do not respond' approach to email enquiries, why have  that 'query' facility on their website?? 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..I emailed the supplier, told them what happened, asked if I could keep using the machine without doing any further damage to it, asked if they had the part, and also how to get the damaged part off  the machine. I have no intention of not honouring their input with my custom. Having said that, I still have not heard from them, apart form the automated internet acknowledgement of my website query 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.Living in populated areas makes it quite easy to find specialised trades for maintenance and repair. Living rurally and in a more out of the way area means out-of-the-norm things often have to be done 'in house', with the help of shipped out parts, supportive phone calls, diagrams, instructions and at times, handwritten drawings. My gratitude to those kind and wonderful professionals is immense and I have always tried to repay their magnanimity by returning to them for purchases of parts and new equipment. The unexpected upside of it all is that I am now able to fix most things myself, from washing machines to mowers, water pumps to incubators. 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.I am still hopeful to get the information and the part from the supplier... but if that does not happen, we will explore ship/travel options. [/col[/size]or] L

Lizzie

Surrender... Eureka being farmed out  for repair. L

Lizzie

Grinder still in repair.. waiting for the part from Italy. Grumble grumble... :tearhair:

Brett H

Thank you for the update!  I have a compak a8 awaiting a similar fate I fear.  The worm drive adjuster winds blithely past my zero point.  I reckon the fixd be worth more than the whole beastie!

Lizzie

I weighed up the cost of repair to the cost of replacement... still 1:3, maybe 1:4  Hopefully the repair cost will stay under $400... and it would have been fixed a lot earlier, if the part Eureka WA sent my repair guy would have fitted. But the spindle in our grinder is tapered, the part was for a straight cut hole. We thought of having it engineered to fit, but then Eureka announced they had ordered the correct part, so we wait. Patience.... L

FreshCoffee2

hmmm..... Did they give you the option of having the part sent out individually from the factory rather than waiting for it to come out in the next ordered consignment of grinders and spares......which could be months away..... If sent individually it would be here in a week and max of 2, and the cost of freight can be weighed up against whether you are prepared to pay the extra, or wait for it to come in with the next full order of spares (which would be an inconvenience leaving you without a functioning grinder). That said....after many years of running coffee and equipment business, I can honestly say the failure in your grinder is rare and I can understand it would not be a part that would be readily carried as a spare. And of course in this day and age it should not be difficult for the agent to order something and get it sent out promptly by the manufacturer. We currently are waiting on a set of rare 120 mm grinding plates to come out from Italy the same way (different manufacturer), by themselves in a small package. You probably wouldn't have much chance trying to order direct but if the Australian agent has a good relationship with the manufacturer then it will get done despite the minute size of the order (which in itself causes some inconvenience where manufacturers are geared to deal with companies that order stuff in pallets and containers). They probably wouldn't put it in the post, it would go by air courier.....no one trusts the Italian mail system I'm afraid AND, couriers will pick up while the sender would otherwise have to deliver to the post office.....there is a cost to "inconvenience". Hope you find this helpful.

Lizzie

thanks for the reply As the repair-people already had spent time and effort on getting the broken 'porta-machine' off ( making a special tool for that purpose) and then ordering the spare part from the importer, I felt it was more polite to leave the handling of the repair in their hands, even if it means that the part will arrive with the next shipment of Eureka parts ordered by the importer. It was not their fault that the 'porta-machine' in our machine has a tapered hole... I dare say that the model number obviously did not indicate that, otherwise Eureka would have picked it up and sent out the correct part. But yes, doing the right thing can be time-consuming and frustrating L

Lizzie

Shortish update... Got the grinder back today... not fixed. The repair people have tried everything for weeks, with the help from the Eureka staff, but apparently the burr carrier in my grinder is an unusual one, in that  the centre hole needs to be fitting the cone-shaped spindle in my grinder instead of a straight one like in most other similar  Eureka machines... and it therefore  seems that it is a very rare machine. (read: old???   ) Eureka said they could not supply the burr carrier for my machine, so, as a last resort, the straight-holed burr carrier they could supply needs to be lathed out to suit the cone-shaped spindle in my machine. So, the next instalment of this saga will be played out in the work-shop of one of our local and very excellent engineer, while crossing fingers and any other available  extremities. Will keep you posted! L

Brett H

What a saga Lizzie! Here's hoping you get the desired result!

QM0996

on 1387445930:

Shortish update... Got the grinder back today... not fixed. The repair people have tried everything for weeks, with the help from the Eureka staff, but apparently the burr carrier in my grinder is an unusual one, in that  the centre hole needs to be fitting the cone-shaped spindle in my grinder instead of a straight one like in most other similar  Eureka machines... and it therefore  seems that it is a very rare machine. (read: old???   ) Eureka said they could not supply the burr carrier for my machine, so, as a last resort, the straight-holed burr carrier they could supply needs to be lathed out to suit the cone-shaped spindle in my machine. So, the next instalment of this saga will be played out in the work-shop of one of our local and very excellent engineer, while crossing fingers and any other available  extremities. Will keep you posted! L

So how have you progressed on this matter... We got Brett's grinder sorted in a few min...