Adjusting Monster Mill 2.0

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jgaepi

Brewer In Need Of Guidance
Joined
Sep 18, 2009
Messages
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Location
Davis
So the Monster Mill 2.0, that I waited over 5 weeks to finally receive, came out of adjustment. I am attaching the standard stock photo to help explain my question. So looking at it from this angle, the adjustable roller on the right was not tightened down out of the box and spins freely. The front knob that you see on the right was not tightened down but the knob in the back, that can't be seen, was hand tightened. When I try to tighten this front knob, it does not seem to catch. So I am not sure which direction CW or CCW is used to tighten that knob.

I also need to buy feeler gauges now - yeah, I love buying additional cr@p - just to use an item out of the box. Should I tighten with the gauge in the gap?

The manufacturers inst are pretty pathetic and primarily focus on the 3.0. Clearly that is what they wanted me/you to buy.

Please help so I can get this $180 item to just work ... Thanks.

First impressions thus far - quality/appearance 9/10, while having spoken to customer service a few times to actually get the item they get a 1/10.

mm2.jpg
 
If you buy the feeler gauges, you'll be able to figure out the knob direction rather easily. To expect the mill to come pre-set is OK, I guess. But most of us have our own preference, so buying the gauges was no big deal or an unexpected purchase. You simply place the desired size gauge in the gap and adjust. You may find you'll also need to either buy bolts instead of the thumb screws (if you contact the MM they will send them to you free if you request them). As far as I'm concerned, you've just purchased the best mill a home brewer can buy for the money.
 
I have the same mill. I'm not sure I follow what you are doing, but here is how I would adjust the gap.

A) Loosen the thumb screws (labeled 1 in the picture).

B) Set the gap with the end nobs (labeled 2 in the picture). These rotate 360 degrees so they don't "tighten".

C) Tighten the thumb screws (labeled 1 in the picture).

On a side note, I was have trouble with the gap staying consistent. Over time the gap would grow. I talked to Monster Mill who sent me some hex headed replacement bolts to replace the thumb screws.

mm2.jpg
 
iandh's directions should get you there so you can use your mill. But note that you can use an old credit card to set the gap without having to buy feeler gauges. The thumb screws will loosen up, so crank those suckers down tight after you get the gap set. And be sure to set the gap so it's consistent on each end (you should be able to "eyeball it" to get pretty close or slide the credit card on one side and then the other and adjust the knobs until you feel the same drag when you slide the card through.
 
iandh,

Interesting. So it is actually the screws labeled 1 that holds it in place. I assumed it was the knobs labeled 2. Then one you can't see is tightened and doesn't spin freely. The knob you can see spins freely. I assumed the reason for the thumb screws labeled 1 was for holding the hopper in place - and that was it. So I am surprised. I bought the feeler gauges so I will have to play around with it tonight. Recommend you share your photo with MM. Their instructions need something like that. Not all of us brewers are engineers.
 
Much thanks for clearing this up.
I have been double crushing and hitting my numbers spot on.
Will be happy to set my gap precisely and get the same result.
 
If the screws are coming loose over time could you hit them with a little bit of thread sealer (Loctite)?
 
i went and replaced all the thumb screws on my MM with nice big knob screws. If i have a problem mid crush (jams, etc) i don't need to fuss around much to get things right again.
 
I got hex head retention screws from Fred (the man from Monster) when I couldn't get the thumb screws tight enough. Using a simple socket wrench I was able to get them tight and they've not moved. Mo thread locker was needed for that.

jgaepi, if you're still having issues, reach out to Monster. IME, they'll reply quickly and help you to resolve the issue. I've had very positive experiences with them when needed.
 
Golddiggie, no joke, he has been worthless as help. Told me to get the screws myself. Unmoved that it took 5 weeks for me to receive his product, etc. First time I would give a beer product customer service a 0. I can post my emails with him to prove.
 
Golddiggie, no joke, he has been worthless as help. Told me to get the screws myself. Unmoved that it took 5 weeks for me to receive his product, etc. First time I would give a beer product customer service a 0. I can post my emails with him to prove.

Complete opposite was my interaction with him when I needed assistance with mine, after using it the first time or two. It might be faster/easier to get the correct spec screws where you are though.

I did send an email about a month ago, asking if they had a base pattern (opening and mounting hole) that they could email me. No reply at all to that email. :/ I didn't want to wait, so I just used the original one as a guide. Came out pretty good, except I made the dump hole a bit too wide. :D

Maybe they're a bit over-stressed with the holidays and such.
 
I understand your frustration setting the mill. If you don't know what you're doing, it can be a little tough to get started.

FWIW - Fred at MM has been nothing but great to me as a customer and spent probably over an hour on the phone with talking about milling etc..


Anywho - I'm not sure if you bought the base for the mill, but it is imperative you get that mill mounted on a stable platform and have it aligned properly.

Once mounted - loosen both thumb screws and use a credit card to set the gap ON EACH END OF THE ROLLERS. Each end of the rollers need to be equidistant. If they are not parallel, you may experience binding during milling and a less than optimal crush.

Once you have the rollers set - go ahead and tighten those thumb screws down. At this time, get a fine tipped felt marker and mark the adjustment knob and mill body so you have your baseline adjustment. You want tick marks that you can easily line up on the adjustment knobs and body.

From here - you can mount your hopper and run about a 1.5 cups of grain through at a time to check the crush. After every small portion of grain you mill - you can loosen the thumb screws and slightly tighten the gap. You will be able to walk your crush in perfectly this way. It might take 1 or 2 brew sessions to have it perfected.

cheers
j
 
This is his response to me about asking for the replacement screws.

The threads are 1/4-20. The MM-2 uses thumbscrews that are 3/4" long. You should be able to easily find these in a hardware store, or Home Depot/Lowes no problem. The guys that I've sent these to are in Europe and SAE fasteners are just not available there.
 
In review that was the politest response I got from him, the rest were nasty about waiting 5 weeks for a mill that he had in stock the entire time.
 
To be honest, you should be able to get those bolts/screws from HD or Lowe's for all of a couple of dollars. It will cost him more to ship you a pair. I got a replacement side piece from him at the time, so he included the hex screws for me. I had asked what they were so that I could get them myself.

Maybe it's the difference in how we communicated with him initially that made the difference. In his response to my initial email he mentioned about offering a full refund on return if I wasn't happy with it. I didn't want that, just wanted it to work best for me.

BTW, when I ordered mine, it arrived quickly, shipping out within a day or two. It was also in stock, but not even close to the holiday season. This time of year can be murder on vendors/suppliers/manufacturers. Since he's all three, you can only imagine the stress levels. :eek:
 
I need to go over this thread. Mine is terrible. The thumb screws don't even touch the rollers so the gap spreads apart on first grain that goes through. So I too thought the big side screws set it in place.
Bookmarked. Thanks for the info hope this helps.
 
I understand your frustration setting the mill. If you don't know what you're doing, it can be a little tough to get started.

FWIW - Fred at MM has been nothing but great to me as a customer and spent probably over an hour on the phone with talking about milling etc..

Anywho - I'm not sure if you bought the base for the mill, but it is imperative you get that mill mounted on a stable platform and have it aligned properly.

Once mounted - loosen both thumb screws and use a credit card to set the gap ON EACH END OF THE ROLLERS. Each end of the rollers need to be equidistant. If they are not parallel, you may experience binding during milling and a less than optimal crush.

Once you have the rollers set - go ahead and tighten those thumb screws down. At this time, get a fine tipped felt marker and mark the adjustment knob and mill body so you have your baseline adjustment. You want tick marks that you can easily line up on the adjustment knobs and body.

From here - you can mount your hopper and run about a 1.5 cups of grain through at a time to check the crush. After every small portion of grain you mill - you can loosen the thumb screws and slightly tighten the gap. You will be able to walk your crush in perfectly this way. It might take 1 or 2 brew sessions to have it perfected.

cheers
j
Wait a second, this says the hopper goes on after you set the roller gap?

I have the hopper going on the outside of the milling box and thus the thumbscrews had to be removed to get the hopper on.... am I missing something here?

See this photo, http://www.monsterbrewinghardware.com/images/prod_basehop_img4_lg.jpg
 
Wait a second, this says the hopper goes on after you set the roller gap?

I have the hopper going on the outside of the milling box and thud the thumbscrews had to be removed to get the hopper on.... am I missing something here?

You are correct, the hopper goes on over the mill and the thumbscrews must be removed during initial setup.

If a remember correctly, there are also some bolts along the top which need to be screwed on after the hopper is attached.
 
I would guess that the upper portion of the hopper goes on after the lower portion is installed w/ the the thumb screws tight. The hopper is two pieces, and should be separated when assembling the mill.
 
I worded that poorly, my apologies.

You are correct - the thumb screws go on AFTER the hopper is mounted.

No worries. I just thought for a second that the extra depth of the hopper sheet metal was the reason my thumbscrews do not touch the rollers. But I am back to square one I guess.
 
My take has been good quality materials but bad design and pathetic instructions. My 3 year old can give better directions.
 
When I first setup my MM-3, I used different settings and marked the end plate with a Sharpe so I wouldn't have to use the gauges again. I started at .030 and went up to .045. Fred was easy to deal with and responsive, but I bought mine when the company was first formed. I found that mounting square to the base was imperative. They didn't have a hopper for sale when I bought mine and I quickly found my feed hole was too wide. It seams like anytime you purchase a product these days the instructions are lame. I do think it's the best mill out there. I bought a mega old skill 1/2" hole shooter for mine. Works great now! It did take some tinkering to get it right though. I just took mine apart and disassembled it. I was shocked to see how much grain dust had made its way into the bushings.
 
Fred was very responsive to my e-mail question. I purchased my mill just before Christmas and it came with the adjustment screws loose. I bought a set of feeler gauges for $5 and set the gap where I wanted it. Setting the gap seems like a maintenance item, everyone wants their gap set to their specification and knowing how to do that is a plus. I didn't have any problems with their instructions but I was a mechanic for 20 years so I'm somewhat mechanically inclined. I may buy some screw with larger knobs on them as suggested by someone previously or I might go with the hex head bolts to get a little extra grip on the adjuster screws. It's a great mill for a great price and I'm really happy with the product and the service!
 
I found that replacing most of the screws with thumbscrews can really save a brew day (ours are hectic - 4 or 5 brews/day). Ours jams occasionally no matter what and we have to true it up. Having the ability to do this without tools has been key for us.
 
We had a big brew day this past weekend and the replacement screws i put in saved the day. It got jammed so bad we had to take apart the mill, being able to do this w/o tools was key.
 
I replaced the top hex screws with thumb screws, and the side thumb screws (holding the roller in place) with set screws. This has worked pretty well.
 
This is his response to me about asking for the replacement screws.

The threads are 1/4-20. The MM-2 uses thumbscrews that are 3/4" long. You should be able to easily find these in a hardware store, or Home Depot/Lowes no problem. The guys that I've sent these to are in Europe and SAE fasteners are just not available there.

Reviving an old thread but glad I found this info...I managed to break off the tab on one of the thumb screws spending an inordinate amount of time trying to adjust my mill after mounting in for motorizing. I'm pretty sure I can get the screw out with some locking pliers, but having hex heads for these is going to be much easier.
 
I converted to MM's new style adjusting knobs which do away with the thumb screws and I've had no problem with the gap slipping. It is well worth the conversion.
 
OK, I did. Guess I'm out of luck

They aren't designed to fit on the smaller frames of the MM-2 or MM-3. The knobs are almost 2" in diameter, and the MM-2 frames are only 2" high. They'll hang over the edges. The new knobs shouldn't be necessary on the smaller mills, as we haven't had issues with the gap holding on the small mills.

~~fred francis
MBH
 
I emailed Fred about the replacement bolts and this is the answer I received:

"All the hex head bolts allow you to do is overtighten the bolt, and ruin the threads in the frame. If you make sure that the adjustable roller is coming up from UNDERNEATH the drive roller on both ends when you set the gap, then the thumbscrews should hold. There is TWO positions of the adjustable roller where you can set the same gap, one with the roller coming down from above, and one with it coming up from underneath. If you notice the thumbscrews are OFFSET from the centerline of the knob. they are below the knob centerline. If you imagine the grain pressing against the knob trying to turn it while you are milling, you can see that the thumbscrew will either get pressed against or pulled away from the knob when milling depending on how you set the gap. We have found that the gap should hold with the thumbscrews are finger tight if the gap is set such that the roller is coming up from underneath the drive roller when setting the gap. To state it another way, the gap should get smaller when you turn the knob on the drive shaft side of the mill clockwise.

The threads in the frame are 1/4-20 and you will need at least 1" long bolts for the MM-2."

I'm fine with sticking with the thumbscrews if he says they're good enough when used correctly, but I'm really completely confused what he means by "coming down from above" and "coming up from beneath". What does he mean by that? I don't see the second roller as being movable up and down, though I'll admit I haven't tried. Can anyone better explain this?


Rev.
 
I doubt this is any better but what I'm understanding is:

As you turn the adjustment knob clockwise, the adjustment roller will move towards the drive roller until it gets as close as it can and then it will move away from the drive roller. It will do this endlessly: toward then away, toward then away... This means that you can actually set the gap (0.035" for instance) at TWO points when turning the adjustment knob; once when the adjustment roller is moving toward the drive roller, and once when it is moving away from the drive roller. He seems to be suggesting that you ensure to set the gap (tighten the thumb screws) only when the adjustment roller is moving TOWARD the drive roller.

But, I'll admit, that I'm not totally confident on my understanding :D
 
As you turn the adjustment knob clockwise, the adjustment roller will move towards the drive roller until it gets as close as it can and then it will move away from the drive roller. It will do this endlessly: toward then away, toward then away... This means that you can actually set the gap (0.035" for instance) at TWO points when turning the adjustment knob; once when the adjustment roller is moving toward the drive roller, and once when it is moving away from the drive roller. He seems to be suggesting that you ensure to set the gap (tighten the thumb screws) only when the adjustment roller is moving TOWARD the drive roller.

But, I'll admit, that I'm not totally confident on my understanding :D

This is how I understood it as well.
 
I emailed Fred about the replacement bolts and this is the answer I received:

"All the hex head bolts allow you to do is overtighten the bolt, and ruin the threads in the frame. If you make sure that the adjustable roller is coming up from UNDERNEATH the drive roller on both ends when you set the gap, then the thumbscrews should hold. There is TWO positions of the adjustable roller where you can set the same gap, one with the roller coming down from above, and one with it coming up from underneath. If you notice the thumbscrews are OFFSET from the centerline of the knob. they are below the knob centerline. If you imagine the grain pressing against the knob trying to turn it while you are milling, you can see that the thumbscrew will either get pressed against or pulled away from the knob when milling depending on how you set the gap. We have found that the gap should hold with the thumbscrews are finger tight if the gap is set such that the roller is coming up from underneath the drive roller when setting the gap. To state it another way, the gap should get smaller when you turn the knob on the drive shaft side of the mill clockwise.

The threads in the frame are 1/4-20 and you will need at least 1" long bolts for the MM-2."

I'm fine with sticking with the thumbscrews if he says they're good enough when used correctly, but I'm really completely confused what he means by "coming down from above" and "coming up from beneath". What does he mean by that? I don't see the second roller as being movable up and down, though I'll admit I haven't tried. Can anyone better explain this?


Rev.

I doubt this is any better but what I'm understanding is:

As you turn the adjustment knob clockwise, the adjustment roller will move towards the drive roller until it gets as close as it can and then it will move away from the drive roller. It will do this endlessly: toward then away, toward then away... This means that you can actually set the gap (0.035" for instance) at TWO points when turning the adjustment knob; once when the adjustment roller is moving toward the drive roller, and once when it is moving away from the drive roller. He seems to be suggesting that you ensure to set the gap (tighten the thumb screws) only when the adjustment roller is moving TOWARD the drive roller.

But, I'll admit, that I'm not totally confident on my understanding :D

Wow, I never knew (or expect) that would make THE difference. I've always had to use a pair of pliers to tighten the thumbscrews just enough to keep the screws from loosening and the gap from widening.

It now makes sense, when you turn the eccenter clockwise the free roller moves toward the driven one from underneath, then away when above, once it's past the narrowest point.

Thank you!
 
That's great info! I was having a hell of a time setting up my gap adjustment and now I think I know why. Going back at it later today
 
That's great info! I was having a hell of a time setting up my gap adjustment and now I think I know why. Going back at it later today

Glad to share it, even if it's because I couldn't understand it and needed some clarity :D

I have to check this out too. I'm at work at the moment, but I'm curious to check this at home. Only concern though is I hadn't changed anything from the default setup except to tighten the gap a little, so unless they come setup by default in that improper position I don't really know if that is the problem afterall. Anyhow, we'll see. You all report back as well!


Rev.
 
I believe I understand what Fred was telling us, but he should probably create some sort of exaggerated schematic of which way the eccentric adjuster should be rotated to produce this self-tightening effect. Does he have anything on his site with a schematic like this?
 
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