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Bodum burr grinder broken :(

PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2013 12:33 pm
by jon
I've got an old bodum burr grinder - must be 5yrs plus old now. This morning, it ground some coffee as usual and then started making a high-pitched whining noise (and not grinding) part way through grinding. I took the hopper off and cleaned out the grinder - it now sounds like the burrs are turning OK if I run the grinder empty, but as soon as I put any beans in it makes that horrid whining noise (and grinds nothing).

Any tips for a fix? Not even sure where to look on the thing...

PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2013 2:33 pm
by GreenBean
From your description it sounds as though the gearbox has failed. If you can confirm that the centre burr is not rotating with beans in the grinder when you hear the horrid noise then I think this would confirm the gearbox has failed. If so then I think a new grinder will be the best solution. :cry:

PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2013 3:01 pm
by jon
Thanks. Because of the way the grinder works - you need to put the hopper on before it will run, which obscures the view of the burrs - it's hard to tell if the centre burr is rotating. No coffee comes out the bottom, though, so I suspect it's not :(

Anything else worth looking at? To be honest, had been thinking of replacing with a hand grinder anyway...

PostPosted: Mon May 13, 2013 7:18 am
by GreenBean
jon wrote:.... To be honest, had been thinking of replacing with a hand grinder anyway...

It seems that now may be the time to do it. :wink:

PostPosted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 4:50 pm
by jon
Right - does look like burrs aren't turning :( Barring any other suggestions (or anyone wanting a free fixer-upper) look like this is for the trash.

Served me well, anyway!

PostPosted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 1:41 pm
by GreenBean
You could try dismantling it to see what the problem is but I doubt it will be fixable. :cry:

PostPosted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 4:01 pm
by jon
Fair enough - doesn't look user-servicable, so likely bin-bound... Porlex is smaller and seems to give slightly better results, at least :)