Barley Crusher not crushing

I'm having trouble with my barley crusher. It started during my last brew where it would periodically stop crushing, but now it won't crush at all. I ground 4 pounds of grain this afternoon, then went to put in an additional 5 of base malt and nothing happened. The main roller will spin but the slave roller won't pick up anything, neither with the drill nor by hand. Occasionally If toss a handful of grain in the slave will pick up, but it will quickly stop again. Any tips as to how to fix this? I've tried adjusting the rollers, everything from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock, to no avail.

Maybe the bushings on the idle roll are just full of flour. Just because the idle roller isn't turning, doesn't mean it isn't crushing.

No, when it crushes I can feel the resistance through the drill, there's no resistance now. Plus I've picked up the mill base just slightly to look underneath and there's no crush coming through.

Had the same thing happen the other day. Make sure the idle roller is free to turn. Mine had a lot of resistance and I cleaned it out. Once it turned freely, it worked fine again. Let us know if you find another reason.

Try brushing out the rollers from underneath getting into the bushing ends and clearing out as much dust and debris as you can. Spraying with compressed air or an aerosol dust spray can help too. Another trick is to turn the rollers backwards slowly for about a half rotation and then engage them in the crushing direction and see if they grab the malt.

Happened to me today... A little squirt of olive oil Pam inside the rollers, wipe off excess and it was good to go. Guess I need to take it apart and clean it though.

I always shoot my mill with compressed air after. Cleans the rollers and I am good to go for the next batch. Montanaandy

I finally got to a workable solution, although I don't have compressed air, so I ran some water down into it to flush out stuck flour. The slave roller even beforehand was spinning with hand pressure, but not with malt. And it also had a fair bit of lateral play. But I reset the rollers to the factory setting and managed to crush alright, then tried to tighten slightly and send the crush back through a second time and got the same problem. So, I think I'll definitely have to clean things up a bit. If I use oil to clean things out, it should evaporate within a couple weeks so that it won't contaminate the malt, right?

I would pull it apart, clean it completely, and put lubricant on the bearings. I would also check to make sure it is mounted square. If my Monster mill is a little off it can put torque on the axles in a way where one spins fine and another has alot of resistence. Maybe not the problem in this case, but it could be a contributing factor along with the flour build up.

I used my Barley Crusher for the first time today. Noticed something like this going on, I just tapped the side of the hopper a bit & it worked fine. Don't know if its the same problem but same symptoms.

pomofo said:

If I use oil to clean things out, it should evaporate within a couple weeks so that it won't contaminate the malt, right?

Click to expand...

Wrong. Oil does not evaporate...

If the problem is buildup of flour on the rollers you should use a small brush (such as a pastry brush) to clean it if you don't have air. Unless you have the stainless option I would never run water through it.

I've been having the exact some problem for months now. I've taken it apart, cleaned the heck out of it (did not lube), and it still gives me that same problem, but only when I use a drill. I can mill by hand trouble free (aside from the cramping I get). It pisses me off. So that's my only suggestion for now. Try lube, and it that doesn't go by hand and see if that works.

I hit the bushings every brewday with WD-40 and hand turn the slave roller to make sure it rolls free.

If I don't do this I get no crush.

I had a similar problem with my Monster Mill. When I got it I quickly attached it to a bucket lid to get milling right away (still haven't done anything better). A few weeks later the idler roller was sticking. After messing with it for a while I noticed that the side plates were pinching the roller. I used a small bar clamp as a spreader to open up the gap for the roller as a quick fix. Worked like a charm after that.

This has been a growing trend with BC's, and from new ones to old ones as well. I had this same problem, contacted the company, did everything they said to dotill wouldnt mill grain, so I got rid of it, and bought a different mill.

Hope you get your working.
Cheers.

Gila - Just remember the WD-40 is a lubricant solvent so it will break down its own lubricating properties. On the flip side its solvent capacity does wonders to clean things up.

Another thought is that any liquid lubricant will attract the flour gumming things up further.