KitchenAid Burr Coffee Mill KCG200 (aka A-9)

[rp2813]

The picture doesn't capture it, but yes, the ring is loosened and separated from the lower housing but the finger guard is just barely larger than the opening in the bottom of the ring, so it can't be lifted past it.  If the ring could get past the finger guard, I'd have been on my way and this whole thread would have been a before & after documentary.  I think the image of the adjustment ring in the owners manual document may show the type that was used on the original A-9 model.  That one probably did just lift off since it appears to be a one-piece ring/finger guard item.

 

It occurred to me while trying to fall to sleep last night that I could download and save the PDF file, then print it.  I was originally only wanting to print the pages with the cleaning instructions to have handy out in the shop, so that's why I didn't download the whole thing. 

 

I haven't bothered with the grinder again today.  It's too damned cold in the shop right now, but I'm hoping to get at it later.

 

[rp2813]

Rich Nails It Again!

The acorn nut is a left-hand thread.  It came off like buttah!

 

I have the whole burr and hopper disassembled now.  Even the threads in the housing for the adjustment ring are caked with powdered coffee.  I took the coarse brush that came with my Cuisinart Grind & Brew to the burr and it worked well, but it's a tedious process.  I decided I should stop and grab the camera to take some "before" pictures, so will be uploading later.

 

Also, there was no download option offered when I tried to save the owner's manual document.  I instead right-clicked on it once it was open, it offered the print option and the printer window opened.  I'm printing it right now.

 

[westie2]

Yeah!!!  The help from members on here is the best.  Why I love AW.

 

Now waiting on the before and after pictures.

 

[rp2813]

Before I take the last of the pictures for posting here, there's one issue. 

 

The reassembly instructions say to tighten the adjuster ring until the grind mechanism "offers complete resistance."  The ring on my mill tightens all the way down, but the burrs still spin freely.  As a result, the settings on the ring are off, with the finest possible grind corresponding to the ring's "medium" mark.

 

When I removed the bottom plate to have a look at the motor, I noticed the bottom of the motor shaft has a slot in it for a screwdriver.  I'm wondering if this is the way to adjust the bottom burr higher so that it makes contact with the top burr and offers "complete resistance" when the adjuster ring is in the proper position to reflect the correct grind.

 

If anyone can confirm this and provide advice on how to proceed, a post would be appreciated.

 

[rp2813]

Pictures

Here we go with the "before" shots.

 

First, the adjusting ring after being freed up from the motor housing:

 

 

[rp2813]

The burr on the underside of the adjusting ring before I removed it.  The retaining screws are covered with residue.

 

 

[rp2813]

Inside the motor housing after the bottom burr assembly had been removed:

 

[rp2813]

Lower burr assembly (bottom view):

 

 

[rp2813]

The other side (after I had used a brush on it).

 

I later realized that this is a two-piece assembly (duh, I had removed the pair of screws earlier) and that the top and bottom burrs are identical and interchangeable.  It was filthy in between these two components, and the most oily residue of all was on the lower portion inside the tabs that surround the burr.

 

[rp2813]

Here's almost all of the loose residue I removed during the cleaning process.  The bulk of it was packed inside the grind spout.  The only thing I had handy for scale was a dimmer switch knob.

 

 

 

[rp2813]

After:

The clean components.  The burrs cannot be cleaned with water.  Brushing only.  This was taken before I had separated the two pieces of the bottom burr assembly and was able to clean them more thoroughly.

 

[rp2813]

Inside the housing, waiting for clean parts to be installed.

 

 

[rp2813]

Back Together

There's not much to see once everything is reassembled, so this shot was taken on the kitchen counter. 

 

It remains to be seen how well the mill performs since there is still the issue with the adjustment ring settings.

 

[rp2813]

I'm going to test it out with beans to grind for another recent Savers find:  A Vev-Vigano all stainless steel espresso pot.  Here's a shot of it before I cleaned it up:

 

 

 

 

[sudsmaster]

Congrats again on reviving another find. I'm wondering where you do your shopping, though. Up here the Goodwill and other charity shops generally have only the cheapest dreck for sale. If it was ever a quality item, it's highly unlikely to appear in the charity used shops up here. There are probably exceptions, of course, such as Goodwill in tonier suburbs or neighborhoods, I just haven't found them yet... LOL... Not that I've looked very hard. Sometimes the aroma of the women's shoe section sends me right back out the door before even checking out the small appliances...

 

[rp2813]

This was a true Goodwill fluke.  I usually walk out of there empty-handed, particularly the store where I found this mill.  At a different one I've scored some deals on Corningware items and more McCoy Canyonware to add to the place settings I found some time ago at Salvation Army, but Savers seems to have less insider skimming going on than the other thrifts.

 

I'm not declaring this latest process a success just yet.  Based on how the adjusting ring is behaving, I don't think it will render a very fine grind.  I have a question in to KA's support staff and will wait to hear if they can offer any advice.  I'm not getting my hopes up, but you never know.  It seems to me that the bottom burr assembly is too low and needs to be raised somehow, or perhaps spacers/washers placed under the top burr.  I don't know of any other way to achieve the "complete resistance" described in the owner's manual and thus get the markings on the ring to correspond to the desired grind.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, Ralph, I'm not sure the gears are ever supposed to contact each other - that could be disastrous if the machine was turned on, with one gear trashing the other.

If it were me, I'd tighten the upper ring until it won't go any more, don't worry about the burrs being able to be turned, then turn the ring back to the "M" setting and finish reassembling the machine. Then try a test grind at "M". I gather that should be the correct setting for a drip coffee maker. Try grinding some beans at that setting and see if the coffee comes out ok. That's my thought for the night.

Meanwhile this is spurring me to do a more thorough cleaning of the Cuisinart Thermal Burr Grind 'N Brew machine I've started using again (got tired of the finicky Keurig machine). I've been cleaning the coffee chute every weekend but haven't cleaned out the hopper and the upper burr plate for a while.

Which also reminds me - the KA you're working on has conical burrs. These are supposed to be superior to the flat burrs that most cheaper burr grinders have (like on the Grind 'N Brew). So it should give a superior result.

 

[rp2813]

I think the burrs making contact might have been residual old-school instruction from back in 1937 when people actually read their owner's manual, but I agree it could have disastrous consequences even if the screw that locks in the ring's range of rotation hasn't been tightened.

 

Still, with markings provided on the ring and an indicator arrow on the base that they should line up with, it seems to me that if you want a fine grind, the word "fine" should be rotated into position above the arrow.  This isn't currently possible on my machine.

 

I'm doubtful that this machine could grind beans fine enough for a batch of Turkish, and that seems like an indication that something's not right. 

 

I'm still waiting to hear from KA customer support.

 

Regarding the Cuisinart, I don't recall ever seeing instructions about cleaning the hopper and burr plate.  Maybe I should check my literature again, or slap the DVD into my laptop?  So far, the maintenance I've been doing with the chute has been enough to keep the grinder functional for over three years, which is far, far longer than my first two machines lasted.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, I took a closer look at the hopper, and it does not hold either burr plate. The burrs are basically inaccessible unless one wants to start disassembling the machine past the mfg's recommendations.

However the owner's manual does recommend cleaning the hopper bin ever couple of weeks. I took a look at mine and it did have a build up of fine coffee powder in certain spots, so it was worth the effort, which was minimal anyway.

I generally use a vacuum cleaner to clean out the beans left in the depression above the grinder mechanism when I pull the hopper plate.

Back to the KA-9.

Are you sure the upper and lower burrs are identical? Perhaps they are not, and this is why the clearance may be off. Even if a difference isn't readily observable, you might try swapping them and seeing if that changes anything important.

I'm thinking maybe they have different depth counterbores or other precision surfaces that could affect grind height depending on which part of the grind mechanism they are mounted upon. Just guessing, mind you.

 

[rp2813]

Well Rich, you're batting 1.000 thus far, so it's worth switching the burrs around.  It had occurred to me that they might be different and that they had been improperly installed, but when I had them side by side they looked identical.  That doesn't mean they are, but I decided not to switch them around.   It's worth a try.  If I could find a parts list that would answer the question, but information on these machines is very limited.

 

I read reviews on Amazon and there are a lot of unhappy owners who returned their mills.  I know people who have had a bad experience are more likely to write about it than those who didn't, but the reviews are disproportionately negative.  I think these mills were designed with light roasted, non oily beans in mind, as they were likely the most prevalent type back in 1937 America.

 

Meanwhile, I'll check the hopper bin on my Cuisinart.  The hopper is nearly empty, so I'll be performing maintenance fairly soon.