MillMaster Mini Mill slow after adjusting gap

[Markbeer]

Here is something you can try. Mill a kg then get this crushed grain and mix it with some uncrushed grain and then feed this.

it feeds great for me. Every time I add grain to the hopper I take some crushed and mix it through. Stops the dancing on the rollers.

Mark

 

[QldKev]

So geared mills are not all they are cracked up to be?

My old Valley Mill, one driven roller now over 10 years old and never missed a beat. :beerbang:

Now thats a crack up




Bit more serious, I would be checking with the supplier if you can't even mill grain at a 1.0mm setting.


QldKev

 

[Crusty]

Now thats a crack up




Bit more serious, I would be checking with the supplier if you can't even mill grain at a 1.0mm setting.


QldKev

I'd be doing the same.
Somethings not right. They are a great mill & mine is set at 0.9mm or so & I have no issues with mine at all.
I'd be surprised if it's the rollers though, it's a quality mill.

 

[Batz]

Just me Kev, I've got a crush on my Valley Mill.

It's a bit husk husk, but sometimes the flour does seem to have died from our relationship, hopperfully with a bit of gap adjustment and a good knurl tonight I'll be happy with the crack.

Here's hoping for a good result.

 

[Aydos]

Just me Kev, I've got a crush on my Valley Mill.

It's a bit husk husk, but sometimes the flour does seem to have died from our relationship, hopperfully with a bit of gap adjustment and a good knurl tonight I'll be happy with the crack.

Here's hoping for a good result.

Ha ha that's great, good play on words!

 

[Aydos]

Just me Kev, I've got a crush on my Valley Mill.

It's a bit husk husk, but sometimes the flour does seem to have died from our relationship, hopperfully with a bit of gap adjustment and a good knurl tonight I'll be happy with the crack.

Here's hoping for a good result.

Ha ha that's great, good play on words!

 

[.DJ.]

ive found if the rollers are SLIGHTLY out (as in, not a perfectly straight gap all the way) then they wont grab the grain...

Also, some flour/husk can get caught in the sides of the rollers (and is impossible to see) and this effects it aswell...

 

[tallie]

Here is something you can try. Mill a kg then get this crushed grain and mix it with some uncrushed grain and then feed this.

it feeds great for me. Every time I add grain to the hopper I take some crushed and mix it through. Stops the dancing on the rollers.

Mark

If I don't get it resolved any other way, I'll keep this in mind for a backup. It doesn't sound like I've got any unreasonable expectations though, so I'd be a bit disappointed if it came to that.

ive found if the rollers are SLIGHTLY out (as in, not a perfectly straight gap all the way) then they wont grab the grain...

Also, some flour/husk can get caught in the sides of the rollers (and is impossible to see) and this effects it aswell...

Whilst I didn't take a measurement from the centre of the rollers, I did measure both sides. I'm pretty sure the rollers are parallel otherwise.

What do you mean by "the sides of the rollers"? In the knurling on the main surface, or between the edge of the rollers and the frame? The knurling is clean and I don't see how the latter could affect the ability to pull the grain through.

 

[.DJ.]

between the edge of the rollers and the frame... dont ask me why, but it does effect performance...

this is an email I got back after having issues...


The two roller should be the easiest to set up. There's a few things that
are important to make it work. The rollers have to spin freely before and
during crushing. If the idler won't spin very easily then feeding is a
problem. If there's too much endgap then grain can get caught between the
frames, and the rollers, and cause problems. Remove the hopper, loosen the
mounting bolts, press frames together to minimize endplay. Center one frame
in the mounting holes, and tighten that frame fully, then move the opposite
frame back and forth to find the center of the freeplay, and then slowly
tighten making sure that there's no binding. Spin the rollers to check for
no binding. They should spin very freely, and keep spinning like a wheel
when you run your hand accross them quickly.

If the gap is much smaller than 1mm, then you won't be able to feed. Not
knowing what the gap is, it's entirely possible that its too tight. Without
setting it with a feeler guage there's no way to know. Set the gap at both
ends of the rollers to 0.038 to 0.040" of an inch. Make sure that both ends
of the adjustable roller are either coming up from underneath toward the
drive roller, or coming down toward the drive roller. If one is coming up,
and the other is going down, it won't work.

All this assumes he has our hopper. If he doesn't then all bets are off,
and the hopper could be causing the problems. Hopper issues arise when the
grain bounces over the tops of the rollers, and can get caught between the
base, or sides of the mill (when top mounted, and the sides of the mill are
covered) and then this stopps up the idler from rolling.

Key is that the idler spins without any binding during and before milling so
that the drive roller can pull the grain in.

 

[tallie]

between the edge of the rollers and the frame... dont ask me why, but it does effect performance...

Ah, sounds like that's for a non-geared mill, where only one roller is driven. The Mini Mill is geared, so both rollers turn even when there's no grain going through.

 

[Florian]

That email sounds like it's talking about non geared mills, which the mini mill isn't.

EDIT: beaten and confirmed...

 

[Beerisyummy]

Tallie, I have experienced the same problem to you fairly recently. Grain struggles to get dragged through... You can feel it in the drill that it isn't taking properly etc... I was at .9mm so I opened the gap to 1.5mm. Worked fine again. Closed it back to 1.2-1.4 and still works sweetly but now I crush twice. Second run only takes a minute.

Haven't gone back to under 1mm yet.

I'm convinced its a knurling issue. My old Crankenstein had a really aggressive pattern on it, much more so than the mini mill.

Maybe our mills were built on a Friday afternoon?

Hi Nath (and Tallie),

From what I've been told an aggressive knurling is not the answer.

I've got the same mill ( I think) and it's been working a treat. Using a high torque dc drill between 200 and 400 rpm is my routine.
Lower would be better IMO.

With settings below 1mm it will kick grain back up unless the hopper feed stops it.
If grain is pushing down on top of the grain feeding into the rollers it does not kickback.

As much as I'd like to crush grain in one pass, I'm moving to the two pass method for consistency.
I've also heard of people wetting the grain prior to milling which might be more sensible.

PS. The last few brews I've just hosed off the mill and put it in a good spot to dry with no ill effects rearing up so far.
They are an awsome piece of kit.

 

[bradsbrew]

Tallie, did you resolve this problem? My mini mill is giving me the shits lately. Unless I do a double pass I am waiting at least 25 minutes for 4kg. With just a handful of grain it just bounces around when set to around 1mm. If I set it any wider too many uncrushed grain get through.

Cheers

 

[Spiesy]

Tallie, did you resolve this problem? My mini mill is giving me the shits lately. Unless I do a double pass I am waiting at least 25 minutes for 4kg. With just a handful of grain it just bounces around when set to around 1mm. If I set it any wider too many uncrushed grain get through.

Cheers

How old is your mill and how much use has it seen?

 

[bradsbrew]

How old is your mill and how much use has it seen?

Not quite sure on age but probably 2 years and would have done a few hundred kilos. Are you saying these things have a life span at a homebrew level? This is a pic of the gap, will upload a video of how it performs at this gap setting shortly.

 

[huez]

Tallie, did you resolve this problem? My mini mill is giving me the shits lately. Unless I do a double pass I am waiting at least 25 minutes for 4kg. With just a handful of grain it just bounces around when set to around 1mm. If I set it any wider too many uncrushed grain get through.

Cheers

there's another thread on this forum that i posted my issues in with this mill. Contact mashmaster or whoever you bought it off. I had exactly the same problem. Craftbrewer ended up sending me a new mill but frank from mashmaster offered to send me new rollers.

 

[Spiesy]

Not quite sure on age but probably 2 years and would have done a few hundred kilos. Are you saying these things have a life span at a homebrew level? This is a pic of the gap, will upload a video of how it performs at this gap setting shortly.

Everything has a life span.

I'm no metallurgist, but I don't believe stainless is the most hardy of metals for wear, not the sort of wear that a mill roller sees. And I don't believe the knurling found on the MiniMill is overly deep, so it is going to wear over time - I guess it just depends on when.

How often you mill, how much, what time of gap and what types of grain would dictate how long that life span is.

I used a MiniMill for a year, commercially, and in the end I was getting a similar result to you.
At a rough guess, our mill may have seen 3 tonne go through it, which for the average homebrewer could mean a lifetime of milling.

 

[bradsbrew]

Everything has a life span.

I'm no metallurgist, but I don't believe stainless is the most hardy of metals for wear, not the sort of wear that a mill roller sees. And I don't believe the knurling found on the MiniMill is overly deep, so it is going to wear over time - I guess it just depends on when.
How often you mill, how much, what time of gap and what types of grain would dictate how long that life span is.

I used a MiniMill for a year, commercially, and in the end I was getting a similar result to you.
At a rough guess, our mill may have seen 3 tonne go through it, which for the average homebrewer could mean a lifetime of milling.

Yeah I get that everything has a life span and If I thought I had over used and got my moneys worth then I would just buy another. However I do not believe this to be the case and to be totally honest I think I achieved a better service from my old marga mill (that I gave away to a brew club member) than this thing.

The knurling "looks" as good as when I got it?

 

[Spiesy]

Yeah I get that everything has a life span and If I thought I had over used and got my moneys worth then I would just buy another. However I do not believe this to be the case and to be totally honest I think I achieved a better service from my old marga mill (that I gave away to a brew club member) than this thing.

The knurling "looks" as good as when I got it?

Perhaps you should contact your retailer.

 

[bradsbrew]

Here is a video,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoN9mm9N6oc