Barley Crusher mill is dead - going back to LWBS mill

[masonsjax]

I've had my BC mill for about 10 years. I've probably crushed around 4000 lbs as well. The mill was junk when I bought it, and is junk today, but somehow it's still working. I've certainly got my moneys worth.

The drive shaft was bent and the base was cracked when I got it. The set screws don't go in all the way so the one cover rattles. The whole thing shakes like an earthquake while in use. I've had to disassemble several times to get the rollers unbound and have done dozens of cleanings and adjustments. I will buy a Monster Mill next.

 

[m1k3]

Glad you were able to mill your grain. I should have my MM2-Pro this week! Hope your Barley Crusher keeps crushing!!

Noooo! It's not working again. My Barley Crusher is acting up just like before.

I milled 30# of Pilsner malt for a 15 gallon batch and I was back to using the handle of my wooden paint brush to get the roller going again with ever cup full of grain that went into the mill.

It seems that the o-rings that Barley crusher say are not needed really are needed.... at least with my set up. The mill seemed to work flawlessly until they broke.

The Barley Crusher site says the mill can be run at 500 RPM... my really old Craftsmen 1/2" drill is rated at 425 RPM (I think).

How is the MM2-PRO @Nagorg ?

 

[jtp137]

Noooo! It's not working again. My Barley Crusher is acting up just like before.



I milled 30# of Pilsner malt for a 15 gallon batch and I was back to using the handle of my wooden paint brush to get the roller going again with ever cup full of grain that went into the mill.



It seems that the o-rings that Barley crusher say are not needed really are needed.... at least with my set up. The mill seemed to work flawlessly until they broke.



The Barley Crusher site says the mill can be run at 500 RPM... my really old Craftsmen 1/2" drill is rated at 425 RPM (I think).



How is the MM2-PRO @Nagorg ?

I have to ram a screwdriver down through the grain to spin the dead roller every couple minutes mine sucks as well thinking of getting a monster mill cant stand the barley crusher

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

set your gap to .050 and wet the grain in a bucket making the outside damp but not wet, I had to do this and it worked, the grain was too dry and dusty

 

[m1k3]

set your gap to .050 and wet the grain in a bucket making the outside damp but not wet, I had to do this and it worked, the grain was too dry and dusty

You may be on to something with the gap. I went back to factory marked settings and it milled Rahr 2-row perfectly. But the next batch was Schill Pills malt.

I was hesitant to wet the malt but at this point I guess I don't care much about this mill.

The grain bill for my next batch is around 40# (for a 15 gallon batch). The base malt will be Crisp Maris Otter.

How do I best wet that grain prior to milling?

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I just wet about half a bucket at a time, mixing with my hand until all grain is not dusty, no exact measurement of water but a cup at a time is fine

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I also reduce my rpm to around 300 rpm, I know it seems slow but it seems to have less issues at slower speeds

 

[Nagorg]

How is the MM2-PRO @Nagorg ?

I've only crushed one batch worth so far but it was ~34lbs of grain. I worked great!

I did have to run a few pounds through it first to check the crush. From reading other posts, I gapped it smaller at .035 and made flour. I wound up at .040 and got a great crush.

The next project on my list is making a table for my mill and mounting the drill along with a switch and potentiometer for better speed control. But till then, setting in over a bucket seems to work fine.

 

[blizz81]

Noooo! It's not working again. My Barley Crusher is acting up just like before.

I milled 30# of Pilsner malt for a 15 gallon batch and I was back to using the handle of my wooden paint brush to get the roller going again with ever cup full of grain that went into the mill.

It seems that the o-rings that Barley crusher say are not needed really are needed.... at least with my set up. The mill seemed to work flawlessly until they broke.

2) I sanded the end plates of the mill. There was vegetable oil / grain dust junk on the end plates and the ends of the rollers. A quick sanding with a palm sander took all of this off. I did not relube the mill this time.

I'm still gonna suggest lubing the shafts, and with something better than vegetable oil.

 

[m1k3]

I'm still gonna suggest lubing the shafts, and with something better than vegetable oil.

I have some 3in1 oil which is not food grade but the Material Safety Data Sheet online doesn't look to bad.

I can try that.

 

[Nagorg]

FWIW, Monster Brewing Hardware (Monster Mill) recommends "food grade" mineral oil for lubing mill axle's and coating rollers for storage. Apparently it dosent take very much of this stuff so it may be cheaper to buy the small bottle from MM even though its technically pricier per ounce than what you can find elsewhere. Of course you may find it somewhere else too.

http://www.monsterbrewinghardware.com/store/pc/Mineral-Oil-4p110.htm (~$8.00 per ounce)

While I dont know if its the exact same thing or not, it looks like this may also be sold as Butcher Block Oil elsewhere. (~ $0.72 per ounce)

 

[jbb3]

You may be on to something with the gap. I went back to factory marked settings and it milled Rahr 2-row perfectly. But the next batch was Schill Pills malt.

I was hesitant to wet the malt but at this point I guess I don't care much about this mill.

The grain bill for my next batch is around 40# (for a 15 gallon batch). The base malt will be Crisp Maris Otter.

How do I best wet that grain prior to milling?

To condition the grain with water, get a spay bottle that sprays a fairly fine mist. Put grain in bucket, spray 6-10 squeezes (depending on how much water the sprayer puts out) than stir that in. Keep repeating until you have mixed in enough water to equal about 2% of the grain weight (i.e.; 40 lbs of grain = 12.8 oz of water). Then let it sit for 10-15 minutes so the water soaks in good. You want the grain to almost begin to feel leathery and not dusty and dry. But you don't want it to feel wet or it will gum up your mill.

With 40 lbs of grain, you probably want to split it up and do 10 lbs at a time. 10 lbs of grain (160 oz) x .02 = 3.2 oz water.

 

[m1k3]

Despite the title of the thread I have not gone back to the LHBS crushing my grain.

Today I serviced the mill again.

While lubing it up with 3in1 oil, I found that turning the adjustment screw would cause the free roller to not spin freely.

Rather than gaping the mill, I just set it to the setting where the roller would spin freely.

I milled a half pound of the Maris Otter base malt that ill be using for the next batch and threw that out... In case it had 3in1 oil on it.

---

Edit: Finally milled the grain after the service that I preformed on the mill. It worked perfect. Had to bump start the free roller to begin the crush every time the hopper ran out. But once it started milling it did not stop.

Maybe that was my issue: The gap adjustment knob was causing the roller to bind and not spin freely.

Only time will tell!

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

you can take these apart and replace the bushings, I wore my drive side bushing completely out, it effects the cam adjustments and when crushing will hold the gap wide open under stress

 

[day_trippr]

you can take these apart and replace the bushings, I wore my drive side bushing completely out, it effects the cam adjustments and when crushing will hold the gap wide open under stress

Any chance you have a source and the part number for the bushings?

Cheers!

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I do not I haven't even opened mine up, I yet just broke it yesterday, ill probably just go with a local parts supply house and dig into it this week, Ill let you know

 

[augiedoggy]

Might want to try the local hardware store.. most carry the standard sized bushings in the nut and bolt aisle.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

just took mine apart and it has bearings not bushings and the bad news is they fell apart in pieces, trying to dig the races out now

 

[Epos7]

FWIW, Monster Brewing Hardware (Monster Mill) recommends "food grade" mineral oil for lubing mill axle's and coating rollers for storage. Apparently it dosent take very much of this stuff so it may be cheaper to buy the small bottle from MM even though its technically pricier per ounce than what you can find elsewhere. Of course you may find it somewhere else too.

http://www.monsterbrewinghardware.com/store/pc/Mineral-Oil-4p110.htm (~$8.00 per ounce)

While I dont know if its the exact same thing or not, it looks like this may also be sold as Butcher Block Oil elsewhere. (~ $0.72 per ounce)

Just FYI, you can buy food grade mineral oil at the grocery store/drug store very cheaply. I think it's $2-3 per 8oz bottle here. It's sold as a laxative

I build butchers blocks/cuttings boards, so I go through a decent amount of it, although I typically use a mixture of mineral oil, bees wax, and carnauba wax for that.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

for Millar's B2 Barley Mill this is the correct bearing to buy, also very hard to get the old ones out, had to drill them out from the inside then pull the races out with an angled flat screw driver, you have to be careful not to damage the aluminum

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IPT11TM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I pretty much found my issue, Im sure some others will be the same. when using a drill or a motor attached to the shaft, any pressure on that shaft up down left or right can put stress on the bearings or bushings. over time that pressure will wear them out, my drill was mounted on plywood and the mill was too, the shim I used was just a piece of plywood I had and not perfectly lined up, may be a 1/16 of an inch off " but just enough to wear on the bearings and 3 years later they just gave out. the same thing can happen to a drill attached to the shaft hanging in the air, lots of pressure in the wrong direction, eventually it will wear out

 

[day_trippr]

I imagine the same side-loading bushing wear-out would eventually afflict pulley-driven mills...