Barley Crusher Hell

[Gout]

Fellow grain crushers i am at the point of throwing my mill as far as possible after 2 hours Fng about to get it to crush.... this has become more and more common of late.

Basicly i use a Barley Crusher and it was a dream when i bought it. These days it hardly grips the grain, and its really turning me off brewing due to the rage its causing. I adjust the gap to very wide and still it slips, i have tried everything and i just dont know what more i can try. ( wet the grain, turn the roller backwards then forwards to help it gip some grain, feed it slow, push the grain into the rollers etc)

Looking at past posts it seems this is semi common, some get it, some dont.

Is there any fix or do i just give up and get a new mill. ( i have spoke to the manufacture and re-built it and oiled it as they advised, tried new 'o' rings even tho they say its not needed it did help)

I'm all milled out

 

[Spoonta]

I hade the same prob tryed every thing then I saw that were I mounted it to the table the holes had been elonggated by heaps of use and as soon as i turned on the mill full of grain the thing was vibrating lose and causing it to slip

 

[Batz]

Fellow grain crushers i am at the point of throwing my mill as far as possible after 2 hours Fng about to get it to crush.... this has become more and more common of late.

Basicly i use a Barley Crusher and it was a dream when i bought it. These days it hardly grips the grain, and its really turning me off brewing due to the rage its causing. I adjust the gap to very wide and still it slips, i have tried everything and i just dont know what more i can try. ( wet the grain, turn the roller backwards then forwards to help it gip some grain, feed it slow, push the grain into the rollers etc)

Looking at past posts it seems this is semi common, some get it, some dont.

Is there any fix or do i just give up and get a new mill. ( i have spoke to the manufacture and re-built it and oiled it as they advised, tried new 'o' rings even tho they say its not needed it did help)

I'm all milled out

Is the knurling on the rollers worn? If this happens and the knurling is no longer 'sharp' enough it won't pull the grain through.
Most engineering shops could re-knurl the rollers for you.

Batz

 

[yardy]

Fellow grain crushers i am at the point of throwing my mill as far as possible after 2 hours Fng about to get it to crush.... this has become more and more common of late.

Basicly i use a Barley Crusher and it was a dream when i bought it. These days it hardly grips the grain, and its really turning me off brewing due to the rage its causing. I adjust the gap to very wide and still it slips, i have tried everything and i just dont know what more i can try. ( wet the grain, turn the roller backwards then forwards to help it gip some grain, feed it slow, push the grain into the rollers etc)

Looking at past posts it seems this is semi common, some get it, some dont.

Is there any fix or do i just give up and get a new mill. ( i have spoke to the manufacture and re-built it and oiled it as they advised, tried new 'o' rings even tho they say its not needed it did help)

I'm all milled out

got some pics of the rollers ?

 

[MHB]

Is the knurling on the rollers worn? If this happens and the knurling is no longer 'sharp' enough it won't pull the grain through.
Most engineering shops could re-knurl the rollers for you.

Batz

Hes right, but before you go that far, try cleaning the rollers with a wire brush, they can get caked up with malt dust over time.

MHB

 

[TidalPete]

Gout,

Have you tried just adding enough grain to cover the roller gap, giving a quick burst of power until the rollers grab, then adding the rest of the grain bill before milling as usual? Do this with my Cranker now that the knurling is a little worn.
If this fails try the same thing again but with a small amount of dampened grain.
Good luck.
Just saw your post MHB & agree with you there. :icon_cheers:

TP

 

[Gout]

thanks for the help, here is 2 photos i took after a crush ( and i clean it with air each time) to me it looks sharp and not worn out.

I rebuilt it - and ran it with a wide gap ( adding a tiny bit of grain till it gripped) then cracked the grain, then adjusted it to a better gap and re-cracked it.

 

[matr]

Maybe you should employ the Gryphon Brewing compulsary wheat in recipe rule.

That's the only way he got his to grip the other day..

 

[BoilerBoy]

Gout I had the same problem and fixed it only by doing firstly what MHB suggested and clean the rollers, then as Tidal pete said only add enough grain initially to cover the rollers just to check that the idle roller is turning.

Lastly and its a pain, but I have resigned myself to do 2 crushes every time with the first one adjusted wide and then adjuated back to the final gap setting.

Its a total annoyance, but its the only way I have found I can keep using it. I am so thankful I only ever ordered the small hopper after having to empty it out many so many times that a larger one would have only made it worse.

Good luck with it,

Cheers,
BB

 

[jyo]

They have a lifetime warranty....if it's not doing what it's meant to do after you try all of the above, you could contact the manufacturer. The instructions also state that the bronze bushings need to be oiled twice a year with vegetable oil, which I have not done yet :unsure:
Cheers, John.

 

[joecast]

still new to using my barley crusher. first thing i thought was maybe the gaps too wide and the idle roller isnt turning?
hope it works out for you.

 

[Gout]

They have a lifetime warranty....if it's not doing what it's meant to do after you try all of the above, you could contact the manufacturer. The instructions also state that the bronze bushings need to be oiled twice a year with vegetable oil, which I have not done yet :unsure:
Cheers, John.

I am pulling it apart and oiling it every brew now it tends to work better ( but still a mega pain in the arse)

think its time to give up on this mill. Its putting me off brewing with all the wasted time.

I guess the next question is, what mills have the rollers driven off each other eg so there is no slip and hopefully means i will never see this problem again...

 

[dicko]

I am pulling it apart and oiling it every brew now it tends to work better ( but still a mega pain in the arse)

think its time to give up on this mill. Its putting me off brewing with all the wasted time.

I guess the next question is, what mills have the rollers driven off each other eg so there is no slip and hopefully means i will never see this problem again...

Heres one

http://www.mashmaster.com/p/563201/millmas...rain-mill-.html

Cheers

 

[Gout]

Heres one

http://www.mashmaster.com/p/563201/millmas...rain-mill-.html

Cheers

Thanks Dicko - it looks great, I want one... sorta not sure i can afford it tho - is this the only one on the market? the MosterMill looks nice but i cant see any gear on their web.

I assume the gears will solve all these "no grip" issues - does anyone use the mill master mills and can give some idea of how well they work?

 

[alowen474]

What are you turning it with? how fast is it spinning?

I don't think these like to turn too quickly, and if they do I don't think they draw the grain well initially.

 

[mje1980]

When new, the barley crusher has a rubber O ring that makes the non driven roller turn, regardless of the gap. Brilliant thinking, however they don't last very long, and you get that problem. i've had mine for years, and never had the problem til recently, just means i have to reverse it manually til it grips, then im good. Im thinking of stripping mine and adding another O ring. Would like a mill with two driven rollers, but its a minor inconvenience for me at the moment. If i get to your stage i'll look at other options.

Cheers

 

[Gout]

i often replace the "o" ring even though the manufacture claims its not needed, it does help however is such a pain. I drive mine with hand drill and motor trying to find a good way to crack the grain. The motor is running slow, the drill is a bit harder to control and via hand very slow. The same problem with all methods it may grip for a bit then slips and it wont grip untill i empty it and make it "catch" with either back wind and a slow forward wind or a large gap. However it soon jumps loose and i am kicking kegs in rage.....

 

[bradmcm]

I have had one for well over 10 years and it's had a regular work out, many hundreds of kilos have gone through it, and it's still working like new and it's really only been cleaned a few times, and maybe oiled once or twice.

Yes, it sometimes has a problem with an initial grip of the grain - depending on the size of the grain. As it often crushes single varieties of grains for customers, it does become noticeable. A batch of chocolate malt we have is notorious for not wanting to feed.
There are two things you need to do - get the right gap for the majority of situations - and as another poster stated, feed in a small amount first and wait for the rollers to grab, you may need to gently help it in, obviously not while you are turning the roller!
However it is rare that we need to do this - the gap that is set feeds through 90% of the time. The other 10% takes only a few seconds to rectify, I haven't had to adjust the gap setting for a long time - and then only for doing unusual tasks like rye.

 

[Gout]

I have had one for well over 10 years and it's had a regular work out, many hundreds of kilos have gone through it, and it's still working like new and it's really only been cleaned a few times, and maybe oiled once or twice.

Yes, it sometimes has a problem with an initial grip of the grain - depending on the size of the grain. As it often crushes single varieties of grains for customers, it does become noticeable. A batch of chocolate malt we have is notorious for not wanting to feed.
There are two things you need to do - get the right gap for the majority of situations - and as another poster stated, feed in a small amount first and wait for the rollers to grab, you may need to gently help it in, obviously not while you are turning the roller!
However it is rare that we need to do this - the gap that is set feeds through 90% of the time. The other 10% takes only a few seconds to rectify, I haven't had to adjust the gap setting for a long time - and then only for doing unusual tasks like rye.

Thanks for the help, i tend to pour about 1cup of grain in, and use the hand on the roller shaft to grip onto the roller, once it grabs i turn it on and pour more in, often it takes off for a while, but often it stops within 20 seconds.

I am cracking 14 odd kgs each run but it never gets half way without a hick up.
I have tried a large gap - it helps but means 2 runs, and a tighter gap = no chance.

It used to be great but i wonder if its wearing out, either way its really getting to me. I was going to brew today however the entire day was spent trying to get the mill to work. Finally with a double pass its worked ( about 2 hours) so i can brew tomorrow but i doubt i can keep spending such time to crack grain. A slow crack is one thing but the start stop anger is just doing my head in

 

[manticle]

I use a corona but recently bought a second hand mill from another brewer. This thread made me check - it is indeed a barley crusher malt mill with 7 pound hopper. I got a motor gratis from the same brewer so have been wanting to set it up to run with motor and belt.

Hopefully I don't encounter these problems but if I do, I know where to look for answers.