help barley crusher isn't working

I've used it 3 times now without problems. Last time the rubber ring snapped. This time it won't crush grain it just spins. Any suggestions?

"They" say that it will work without the o ring. I found that "they" were wrong. When mine broke I happened to have some rubber o rings that fit and put two of them on the roller.

I would get some from Home Depot and keep them on hand. There is nothing worse than getting ready to brew and not being able to crush your grains

I run about 500 lb of grain a week through a barley crusher without the o ring..that thing flew off a year ago. Check your gap. If it is too tight sometimes you have to start the crush real slow to start the feed. I keep mine just shy of 1 o clock on the dial.

I have had mine for over a year with at least 20+ batches run through. My O-ring broke within the first few batches. I have never had an issue but I have tighten up the crush from what it was set to from the factory.

I've never touched the gap from factory. It's just spinning and not grabbing grains. Slower is the trick?

LouBrew13 said:

I've used it 3 times now without problems. Last time the rubber ring snapped. This time it won't crush grain it just spins. Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

Hello, What a PITA, Im so glad I purchased a Monster Mill, works great, NO o rings to break.

Cheers

Do you have a set of feeler guages to test the width? Perhaps it is too tight.

Also how aggressive does the teeth feel on the rollers?

FWIW I had it only "free spin" twice and I remedied it by running the rollers slow to "bite" at first and by slowly pouring grains in. When they crushed, I then added till the hopper was full. I dunno why it happened but I went right on without so much as a hiccup.

I fixed it thanks guys. The back roller was seized up. I loosened the set screws and adjusted the gap a bit. All crushed. Cheers

LouBrew13 said:

I've never touched the gap from factory. It's just spinning and not grabbing grains. Slower is the trick?

Click to expand...

Your drills not in reverse, is it? I actually did that the other day..... Wondered why it didn't crush lol

arborman said:

Your drills not in reverse, is it? I actually did that the other day..... Wondered why it didn't crush lol

Click to expand...

No, but I did that on my first attempt out of the box. The back roller just needed some coaxing. I'm back in love with my grain mill again.

LouBrew13 said:

I fixed it thanks guys. The back roller was seized up. I loosened the set screws and adjusted the gap a bit. All crushed. Cheers

Click to expand...

Glad to hear you figured it out. Was going to post this exact suggestion since I've had the second roller seize up too once and as you found just had to loosen, realign, and re-tighten the screw and I was set.

As far as the rubber O-ring, no it is not needed at all. I have zero problems without it and have the exact same efficiency as I got when the ring was still on. The grains being pulled by the one roller moves the other roller by pure friction.


Rev.

Rev2010 said:

Glad to hear you figured it out. Was going to post this exact suggestion since I've had the second roller seize up too once and as you found just had to loosen, realign, and re-tighten the screw and I was set.

As far as the rubber O-ring, no it is not needed at all. I have zero problems without it and have the exact same efficiency as I got when the ring was still on. The grains being pulled by the one roller moves the other roller by pure friction.

Rev.

Click to expand...

Exactly. The funny thing is that I received no info when I got it for Xmas. But a quick you tube search saved my brew day. Funny though last batch I stirred and stirred until I was able to get the broken o ring out of my mash tun. What is that thing for anyway?

I used mine for the first time today and love it. My efficiency came out awesome on my brew today. I noticed that rubber ring too and wondered what the hell it was for. There is no way that little rubber ring is a necessary part. I cannot see that they would design the barley crusher so that a thin piece of rubber getting mauled by spinning metal teeth needs to survive in order for it to function properly.

So I said to myself today, "I'm going to crank it by hand for the first brew, just so I can say I did it once. Then I'll use the power drill for the next brew. Well, after the first 30 cranks I said "The heck with this". That power drill makes it run slicker than snot on a doorknob.

Cider123 said:

Well, after the first 30 cranks I said "The heck with this". That power drill makes it run slicker than snot on a doorknob.

Click to expand...

Ha, I've done it once too... when I brewed after Hurricane Sandy and my house was still without power (was 8 days before we got power!). Anyhow, cranking by hand sucks big time! But if you want to really feel the burn try cranking wheat by hand, which is what I did. Holy cow it's tough since wheat is so hard.

@Loubrew - that ring is just to drive the other roller more easily but it doesn't last more than a few crushes at most before it breaks.


Rev.