Also on the particular coffee. My regular is a “full city roast” and I find I like it at 7g per and coarse grind. Also I wait about 30 seconds before putting the pot under filter, and give the grounds a stir.
I think I’m heading towards replacing the grinder. Short list in my price range is looking like
Breville SGP
Capressa infinity
OXO Barista Brain
(Some sort of measured dose control is a requirement hence Baratza Encore not on list)
Primary usage is Moccamaster brewed with Dark Roast, secondary is espresso (pressured portafilter) but I’m not an espresso geek. Any comments would be very helpful.
How do you clean? With Grindz? I assume you pull out the burrs and inspect.
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Dont use Grindz, hadnt heard of it till now. Do you think that might fix it?
Yes, I pull out the top part of the burrs and use the brush or toothpick to pull out any pieces. Ive done that and can not see anything stuck. But as I said, the pitch of the grinder has changed, its a higher pitch than it used to be (a bit like what happens if the hopper gets empty mid grind).
I have seem comments in several reviews that grinders in this price range don’t last for ever. This one is over four years. I haven’t had a reply from Breville yet, but if its correct that four or five years us a reasonable life span (with rather more than daily use; ie once or twice a day) it may not be worth agonising further over fixing the current machine. (Also, a very minor issue is the the plastic jar for the grounds got dropped a year or so ago and cracked; it holds the coffee just fine but doesnt look so great!).
In terms of replacement, between different reviews I am getting a little confused as to how well these machines are rated for my primary use for relatively coarse grind (with the Breville I find a couple of notches below max coarseness is good for the Moccanster and my coffee and taste buds) and also at least Ok for occasional espressos.
I use grindz to clean my grinder. About every 90-120 days. Used to use rice but these seem to be easier to clean.
Just ordered it. Curious to see if it has any effect.
Any thoughts on expected life span of a $200 grinder, or Breville specifically.
my amateur hour opinion:
grinders for home use go fairly long, especially if you are primarily doing for brewed coffee.
10-15 years is not strange at all. a little ‘maintenance’ (cleaning in this case) goes a long way.
Equally could inadequate cleaning (ie periodic brushing etc to remove detritus, but not using Grindr or any other cleaner) cause this malfunction or shorten life span?
I guess we’ll see what happens when I get the Grindz tomorrow. Unusually, My wife seems to be pushing to replace. - she’s not keen on having to weigh / measure the coffee. I’m still on the fence as to what to get by way of replacement so the day or two’s delay for the cleaner is not a problem.
Weighing the beans is just part of the ritual, takes maybe 30 seconds. Tap the grinder to loosen grinds from yesterday, tap the grounds container into the trash, weigh beans directly into the container, dump into the hopper. Anything that automates this is just more moving parts to wear out.
You are not wrong. 
I weigh beans every morning. Have a designated cup I use to keep grounds and junk out of the grinder. Wife uses the scoop and eyeballs it. She can’t taste a difference in the brew. I can. Haha!
We have the same grinder you have. It’s been incredibly accurate for drip for 6 plus years. Other than using grindz we leans similarly to you. We use La Colombo Corsica a dark oily coffee. I don’t know if that’s easier or harder on the grinder.
Thanks, glad it’s working well. Our coffee is similar roast. I read somewhere that type of coffee is worst for cleaning or wear. Good to hear life span is more four years. Breville also in touch they’ve asked for serial number etc.
I’ve never had a grinder with a timed dose, in part because I think the timing would depend on the beans (size, roast, etc).
Richard’s grinder sounds like it either has a partial clogging issue or a wear/alignment issue that is slowing the delivery of the beans to the burrs (so, less output and higher pitched whine like when it’s getting towards empty). The Grindz seems like a cheap test of one of those possibilities.
-Al
I came across Fellow Drops recently – they send you a different offer each week of a coffee and you can opt-in to a shipment. I have yet to bite, but like to try out different beans and roasts so it seems promising. The format is also pretty similar to what you see with some offers-based wine merchants.
I’d be curious to hear if anyone has any experience with them: https://drops.fellowproducts.com/
If I interpret your posts correctly, you haven’t disassembled the bottom burr for cleaning? Try that, just be aware of that the nut unscrews the wrong way. There are videos on YouTube demonstrating it.
Meant to post an update.
I didn’t feel up to disassembly.
My guess is that was the issue. A further suspicion I was having that it was grinding too fine seems to be correct. So likely a burr alignment issue.
I’m slightly embarrassed to confess that I have replace it with …. A Breville Smart Grinder Pro. We were very happy with it until this happened, and it did last over four years of daily use. The alternatives didnt quite cut it, and my wife is used to how this works. New one working great and the grind is better.
My 3 year old electric milk heater/frother needs to be replaced. I would like my next one to be ceramic or stainless on the interior of the pitcher, as the nonstick coating on my current one is very difficult to clean. Any recommendations?
Tried to be a coffee snob for awhile with a burr grinder, chemex, etc. I like french press coffee but could never find one larger enough. Recently we’ve given up a bit; have a Bonavita drip machine and we’re buying ground beans. It works well enough. That said I have developed a bit of a taste for espresso, but am trying not to get sucked in there.