Barley Crusher Problem

[KHB]

When i was cracking my grain for my brew yesterday i had alot of trouble with my mill. I have it set at a gap of .8mm. Usually i put a small amount of grain in to get it started and then i can fill the hopper and im away. But this time when i added anymore than a cup of grain to the hopper it would slip and not crush. It eventually got so bad it would not crush at all. So i changed the drill for the handle and still no difference. I adjusted it back to the normal gap settings and after about 5mins of hand crushing it was back to normall. Any one else experience this before?? And how do i fix it from happening again??

Cheers KHB

 

[Effect]

happens to me ALL the time.

I think with mine, the knurling gets a bit full of 'grain dust' so it doesn't grab on to the grain as well.

The way that I overcome the slipping is to condition the grain first.

link

that is one way of doing it. I usually just chuck in a cup of water to a bucket of grain...mix it up, let it sit for 2 mins and then maybe add some more water if needed. Works a treat.

Cheers
Phil

 

[T.D.]

I agree with Phil. Mine does this as well. In fact did it this morning. The way I get around it is to use a little steel brush to give the rollers a once over before I crush. Does the trick most of the time. The only reason I still had some issues this morning was because I closed the gap quite a bit more than usual. Still got the job done no worries but was a bit of a hit and miss affair.

 

[KHB]

happens to me ALL the time.

I think with mine, the knurling gets a bit full of 'grain dust' so it doesn't grab on to the grain as well.

The way that I overcome the slipping is to condition the grain first.

link

that is one way of doing it. I usually just chuck in a cup of water to a bucket of grain...mix it up, let it sit for 2 mins and then maybe add some more water if needed. Works a treat.

Cheers
Phil

When you say you add a cup is that for a single or double batch worth of grain? Will also try the wire brush too.

KHB

 

[pint of lager]

Different batches of grain have different grain sizes. If the gap is too narrow for your current grain size, the driven roller just sits there spinning and doesn't drag any grain into the gap. The non driven roller is lazy, so it doesn't do any spinning or work until there is a few grains actually being crushed.

I found that by only popping a 100ml of grain in the mill, pushing a few grains to start the mill working, then when it was actually crushing rather than spinning fill the hopper.

The knurling on my mill has lost its sharpness after 5 years of use. This means the grains are less likely to be dragged in at the start.

After each use, I do use an old paint brush to remove any dust from the knurling.

Also, make sure your lazy roller is freely spinning on its bearings. Sometimes the bearing may bind a bit, meaning that it doesn't spin.

 

[KHB]

Yeah the lazy roller spins freely. I use to be able to get it going by adding a bit and then filling hopper but it wouldnt work yesterday.

KHB

 

[Duff]

Mine does this from time to time. When it does, I know it's time to pull it apart and give it a good clean and re-grease. Always works like a charm after that.

 

[Mitternacht Brauer]

My mill is a home made job with some surplus nurled rollers from work . I put two o-rings on the non driven roller and it sucks the grain in no worries at all.

 

[Effect]

When you say you add a cup is that for a single or double batch worth of grain? Will also try the wire brush too.

KHB

well 1 bucket of grain - so about 5 kilos

 

[devo]

I've never had this problem with my B/crusher but then again I dust off my rollers with a clean unused paint brush before and after every use.

 

[PostModern]

well 1 bucket of grain - so about 5 kilos

Yay, another bucket brewer!

 

[SteveSA]

Just a drop of vegetable oil on each of the bearing fixes mine when I have this problem. I only very occasionally, maybe once a year, give the rollers a brush.

Cheers
Steve

 

[KHB]

I took to my rollers with a paint brush and there was HEAPS of powder on the rollers so hopefully problem fixed.

Cheers KHB

 

[captaincleanoff]

I'm having this problem right now.

Have tried everything suggested, and still cant get it to grab

 

[Frank]

I'm having this problem right now.

Have tried everything suggested, and still cant get it to grab

Empty your machine out and then try this:
Try mixing the grain up a bit, ie specialty and wheat mixed with your base malt to start the mill grabbing. Your grain is too large and smooth to grab. Specialty grains have a less smooth husk, due to roasting etc.
Do not allow your hopper to empty until all the grain is milled (if you need to do multiple top ups). If this does not work try wetting the grain, leave for 10-15 mins and try again. Approx 100ml of water per 5kg, from memory.

 

[T.D.]

I had major troubles with this on the weekend when brewing a 150L batch. Its frustrating when doing 5kg of grain, so imagine how annoying it was doing 25kg! In the end I wet the grain and that worked a treat. In fact I think the crush was noticably better also.

But after the brew I also stripped the milld down and cleaned all the bushings etc thoroughly. Before I did this the idle roller was noticably stiff, but now it spins like new. I haven't tested it with grain yet but I imagine this will have improved things a lot.

Maybe when these mills get a few miles on them they just need that little bit extra attention to make them work properly.

 

[Ross]

.....& in a retail enviroment it's an absolute pita, just ask the guys here!!!

We have now mothballed our 3 roller Crankenstein in favour of the geared Millmaster.
A better crush & it's never missed a beat - I'd personally never go back to a passive roller mill, but on a homebrew scale I guess it's not generally too much of a bind.


cheers Ross

 

[barry2]

My BC has the factory gap setting which I think is about 1mm.I have hand cranked three 2.5kg crushes of mixed grains without any problems so far.After crushing I use the vacuum cleaner with one of the small brush attachments to give the rollers etc a good cleanup.I intend to attach a power drill for the next crush.

 

[reviled]

.....& in a retail enviroment it's an absolute pita, just ask the guys here!!!

We have now mothballed our 3 roller Crankenstein in favour of the geared Millmaster.
A better crush & it's never missed a beat - I'd personally never go back to a passive roller mill, but on a homebrew scale I guess it's not generally too much of a bind.


cheers Ross

Isnt there a fairly hefty price different between the two?

 

[Fourstar]

Isnt there a fairly hefty price different between the two?

That wouldn't bother Ross one little bit. With his mill demolishing hundreds of kilos of grain a week, I think anyone would be prepared to cough up a few extra pennies to get a geared mill.