Vario Grind Settings - Help

macken04

Hi all,

Thanks to Karl in Coffee Angle, I am now the proud owner of a new Vario grinder.

All is well with the grinder, but in the past few days, I have noticed by perfect espresso range (2 e to m based on beans) is now far too coarse. 38g grams from a 19 gram shot in 12 to 15 seconds, last week i could easily get 38g in 26 seconds.

A little reading pushed my in the direction of needing to clean the machine, however, this has not solved the issue and this morning I noticed it was still grinding too coarse on the max two setting, which with the same beans last week would have choked my machine.

I do not believe it was a calibration issue and only noticed this when i changed from my Aeropress setting to espresso of my next grind

Any advice to trouble shoot? I may mail Malkonhig today.

regards
dave

adrian522

Not really sure what your problem is, are you at the finest setting and its still not fine enough?

If so you can use an allen key to do a small adjustment. If not you just need to grind finer.

Grinding the same beans will still need an adjustment to the grind as the beans will change over time.

Also I've found it impossible to switch back and forth between espresso and filter without having to completely dial in the espresso grind again.

macken04

Thanks for your reply.

It's not that it's yet at the max, but is close. It's more that suddenly I had the perfect 38g extraction in 26seconds or so and now the same setting extracts 38g in 12 settings. Same roast of the same beans, which I think is a bit odd? I don't know if the very recent change in weather conditions makes a difference here?

I am just thinking if there was an explanation here?

adrian522

How long ago since it was 26 seconds?

It does seem like a bit of a drastic change,

You could send Karl an email to see what he thinks.

I had a similar issue last year where I had to make an adjustment. Thread is here.

donnacha

Are you running the machine whilst changing grind settings? I'm pretty sure this is an important step in case you haven't been doing this. You should also only be moving one micro or macro step at a time.

If your Vario is new then I wouldn't be worried about it needing a clean - if anything the burrs will need seasoning (though not sure how relevant that is for ceramic burrs). How long have you owned the grinder?

You should also have a read on the baratza site - they have loads of manuals and advice, and their own support guys are amazing if you fire them an email: http://www.baratza.com/troubleshooting/

macken04

Watches the calibration video online and I think the machine is not calibrated. If I set at 1 and m the motor is not labouring like it should.

Best drop into Karl, it's to expensive for me to be messing with.

Prisoner6409

I also got my Vario from Karl. I have noticed in the past if I change the setting from grinding say for espresso to filter or press and then go back to my original espresso setting I have to recalibrate. Nowadays I just use it for espresso and I have also come across a similar issue to yours where for no apparent reason the grind setting I am using goes way out and the only way I have found around this is to recallibrate. It does not happen that often but it does happen. It is as if a gear or whatever in the machines mechanism slips. I do not not understand the internals of these grinders but that is what it appears to me is happening.

Apart from those few issues the Vario is a very capable grinder and does a great job at grinding for all types of grinds.

ch2008

macken04 wrote: »

Hi all,

Thanks to Karl in Coffee Angle, I am now the proud owner of a new Vario grinder.

All is well with the grinder, but in the past few days, I have noticed by perfect espresso range (2 e to m based on beans) is now far too coarse. 38g grams from a 19 gram shot in 12 to 15 seconds, last week i could easily get 38g in 26 seconds.

A little reading pushed my in the direction of needing to clean the machine, however, this has not solved the issue and this morning I noticed it was still grinding too coarse on the max two setting, which with the same beans last week would have choked my machine.

I do not believe it was a calibration issue and only noticed this when i changed from my Aeropress setting to espresso of my next grind

Any advice to trouble shoot? I may mail Malkonhig today.

regards
dave

Have you changed the beans your using? Different beans will grind at different settings to reach the same end. Density has a massive impact and often varieties like bourbon and Pacamara can be miles apart on a dial. The ageing if the beans also has a big impact.

aristotle25

I have the vario too and overtime it started grinding less fine to the point where I couldn't even make an espresso as it was too coarse.

Anyways, it can be fixed by adjusting the calibration screw in the vario (it is hidden behind a rubber seal just near the shute where the ground beans come out. Read about it online somewhere.

Its a bit finicky and you need an allen key but its well worth doing. I am back to being able to grind properly now.