The new Monster Mill 2 2.0 design!

[MNDan]

I posted a while back regarding my problems with the original MM design, and was also in touch with Monster Mill regarding the problems I was having with the adjustability along with striped/deformed screws. They said they were working on a redesign and that they would send the new frames once they they got it right.

Well, guess what showed up in the mail the other day?!? I couldn't be happier! There is one of these adjusters on each side, and to adjust you just loosed the hex bolt, turn the wheel, and tighten. No more thumbscrews! Kudos to Monster Mill and their dedication to customer satisfaction - time to mill some grain!

 

[mux]

Nice.

 

[mariojr]

I have that same mill. Wonder if I'll get a free upgrade? I had to replace the thumb screws with some grade 5 bolts. Well I didn't have to, but it made it easier to adjust

 

[HDIr0n]

I do hope they offer an upgrade.

 

[mikescooling]

I wonder why that's not an issue on the MM3 1.5?

 

[daksin]

Man oh man- I've been fighting this issue. Let me know what he says about the upgrade.

 

[funnycreature]

I ordered the mill a couple of months ago and will probably contact them for an upgrade. My biggest, if not only, complaint is that the gap seems to be changing during milling. What did you do to get the upgrade?

 

[funnycreature]

Just heard back from Fred. The upgrade will be performed at cost for existing customers but they need to either drill a hole or send the frame in. They also want to update the website with new options... Again, great and very quick communication with Fred. I definitely made the right choice with this mill :rockin:

 

[one-L]

Any idea from talking to Fred whether this locking option will be an "upcharge" item going forward, or if they will all come standard from now on?

 

[funnycreature]

Any idea from talking to Fred whether this locking option will be an "upcharge" item going forward, or if they will all come standard from now on?

His email said they're working on implementing an option to upgrade once they have the parts available. Not sure if that's for for existing customers or new mills. I can paste the email tomorrow

 

[smokinghole]

When I got my mill, I bought a MM3, the first thing I did was get rid of the rounded end thumb set screws. I bought proper hex key set screws and my gap hasn't budged in three years. I check periodically, but its the same each time. I do adjust on occasion to run wheat very coarse then tighten it back up.

 

[funnycreature]

OK, here's Fred's email (I hope he doesn't mind):

We are going to offer the new knobs at cost to existing customers, but it will require that you drill and tap your frames with a new hole. We can do this work for existing customers that can send the frames to us. We will also offer complete frame sets for more $$ if you don't want to drill/tap or can't wait. We don't have enough parts in stock yet, but there are more in production. I plan to add ordering buttons on the web site for upgrades when they're widely available. The bolts will hold, you should tighten them ever so slightly more, and they should hold.

EDIT: When he's talking about the bolts I mentioned that I replaced the original bolts with hex key bolts like mentioned in the post above.

 

[one-L]

I hear nothing but good things about their customer service, and I'm very impressed at what they're going to do for folks who have already purchased, but kind of disappointed if they are going to have this as an updgrade option (presumably for more money), when it addresses what is the only consistent complaint I have heard about these mills. Oh well, still in the market, and will keep an eye on them to see how they wind up going with this.

Edit: Just sent them an email about this asking about time frames for the feature new mills, and whether it will cost more money. Will post back with what I hear.

 

[63belair]

Interesting, I've been eyeing the 2.0 for a long time now, I think this might be enough to get me to pull the trigger, provided there isn't a big cost to 'upgrade'.

Thanks for posting!

 

[one-L]

As of now according to Fred, the MM2-2.0 is currently shipping with the new design, and they are working on the redesign for the MM3-2.0's. They won't be changing the design of the MM2 and MM3 as they say they haven't experienced the same loss of gap setting on the non-2inch roller mills. Also after talking to Fred though, I am probably going to get just the MM2 instead of the 2.0, because even though bigger and shinier is always nice, according to Fred, "unless you're running a brew shop or small micro" anything over the MM2 is overkill. Going to use the extra money saved for my first bulk purchase of grain. Props to Monster for answering all my questions, and for not trying to upsell me just for the heck of it.

 

[63belair]

Hopefully they update the pictures on the website soon.

 

[TopFlatBrwr]

As of now according to Fred, the MM2-2.0 is currently shipping with the new design, and they are working on the redesign for the MM3-2.0's.

Did he say anything about when the MM3-2.0 redesign would be available?

 

[one-L]

Double checking what he sent me, what he actually said was "all 220s are shipping now with new mechanism, 320s will begin shipping soon but not until all the old ones are gone", so shouldn't be long. They are happy to answer questions though so I would send them an email if you are looking to purchase.

 

[funnycreature]

Here's what happened to me: I milled my grain too wet and it clogged up my knurling bad so I had to disassemble the mill (MM2 2.0) to clean out all the gunk. I had replaced the thumb screws that came with the mill with stainless steel bolts. Bad idea. I had trouble getting them out and it was impossible to get them back in. So I contacted Fred and asked about options. He educated me that, over time, two different metals would react and that SS bolts are a bad idea basically. I could actually see a blackening of the bolts where they had been in the aluminum frame.
He then offered me to send in the frames and to replace the old adjustment system with the new one shown in the OP. It cost me a total of $33 including all shipping! I received them ~1 week after I sent them so very fast. They look awesome but I haven't had a chance to use them. Hopefully this weekend though.

Long story short - Awesome service from Monster Mill once again!

 

[beer2day]

I've been looking at different mills lately to be able to start all-grain. I keep seeing that mills have gap adjustments on both ends of the rollers for tapered gaps? Can anybody tell me why is this necessary? Why not have one adjustment for the length of the rollers?

 

[outside92129]

The idea isn't to have different widths on each side of the roller, it's to have a reasonable cost to make the unit. A single knob that controls both sides of the roller would dramatically increase the cost.

So with the adjustable knobs on both ends you will need to manually keep them at the same gap setting.

 

[beer2day]

Thanks outside92129. That makes sense now that you mention it. I wonder what engineering feat it would take to develop a one nob/screw system?