|
Post by tbone on Jan 22, 2014 23:20:16 GMT -5
Moderator's Note: This post was originally part of this thread, but I moved it to it's own thread -b Hi, I have the same machine, Cocoatown ECGC-12SLTA with tension adjuster, and I have ran into a different issue. As the axis points up, the stone wheels will obviously push upwards and creates tension between the plastic plug of the stone and the flusher. The friction between this two melts them. I have tried many settings, using ground cane sugar added well into the grinding process and I pre-grind my nibs and add them heated to the pre-heated bowl, so everything by the book. Still the friction is a problem and the stones stop rolling because of the friction. Find some pictures attached, as you can see, after each batch a lot of plastic gets "ground" off. Anybody had this issue before? Please let me know about any solutions or ideas as it really put the handbrakes on my chocolate making. I have contacted cocoatown about the issue but and they did get back to me but could not help effectively. Thank you and all the best.
|
|
|
Post by Ben on Jan 23, 2014 9:20:06 GMT -5
Hi Tbone. I had that problem with my cocoatown melangers, too. I always attributed it to the screw head cutting into the wheel's plastic insert, though, as opposed to melting. I wonder if you could just put a large diameter washer between the screw and the insert to alleviate this.
|
|
|
Post by tbone on Jan 24, 2014 0:08:14 GMT -5
Dear Ben, thank you for the reply. I have tried the larger flusher over the smaller one but the wheel just stopped as the friction was bigger. I will hunt for some bushing and perhaps linear sleeve bearings. lets see what the hardware store has in stock.
|
|
|
Post by cheebs on Jan 27, 2014 8:34:19 GMT -5
I replaced the cheap plastic sleeves in mine with custom-machined Teflon bushings. End of issue but very expensive and difficult. Remember these grinders were designed to grind down soft mushy fermented rice, not hard and abrasive cacao nibs!
|
|
|
Post by tbone on Jan 29, 2014 23:04:16 GMT -5
Cheebs, The teflon bushings sound great! Can you sell me a couple? Ben, I stand corrected, I have tried a larger flusher on a fairly new stone and it worked a lot better. Still a bit compressed but did not cut into the bushing. Also, I think I have applied too much heat with hairdryer which added to the problem. I am getting new stones and experiment further.
|
|