Barley Crusher Nightmare

[Picobrew]

So, my reliable barley crusher has got me through about 30 all grain batches so far, and twice now it has gotten into a mode where the grain just stops grinding. That is, the left roller still keeps on rolling, but the right hand one doesn't get engaged by the grain. Is this because the gap slowly moves apart? Or moves together? I can't really figure this out, i had to try a bunch of different gap settings to get it working again today and now I think my crush is WAY too fine. This was the only way I could get it grinding again.

Last time this happened, I was able to set my gap back to the '1 o clock' sort of setting and it worked well for a couple more months. Today, it was a total fiasco and now I know my gap is too small. Widening it seemed to put me back in this eternally spinning roller scenario. I don't have feelers to measure the gap so I sort of eyeball it. Do I need to lubricate the rollers? Do I have broken o-ring? Am I just crazy?

 

[motobrewer]

measure the gap with a feeler

 

[Edcculus]

I'veI've never had this happen, although I've heard of it. You will never really know anything about the gap without a feeler gauge. My advice would be to find a spacing that gives you a good crush, and check that its even every few batches. As far as the O ring, its not supposed to stay on. The mill relies on friction of grains to spin the other roller.

Are you hand cranking or using a drill? Maybe you are spinning the rollers too fast? I use a low speed drill with gear reduction so I can crush slow.

 

[Picobrew]

I'veI've never had this happen, although I've heard of it. You will never really know anything about the gap without a feeler gauge. My advice would be to find a spacing that gives you a good crush, and check that its even every few batches. As far as the O ring, its not supposed to stay on. The mill relies on friction of grains to spin the other roller.

Are you hand cranking or using a drill? Maybe you are spinning the rollers too fast? I use a low speed drill with gear reduction so I can crush slow.

I use a drill in first gear to do it, supposedly 400rpm. It was worked beautifully for many batches. It sounds like I need a feeler gauge. Where can I get one of these? home depot?

Is there any regular maintenance I need to do on the mill (like lubrication?)

 

[Cape Brewing]

I would jsut try slowing the RPMs down a bunch.

Almost every crush I do, I open my crusher up too wide, add some grain, slowly turn the crusher while closing the gap, until I get the exact crush I want. Then I load the sucker up and crank it with a drill but at way lower than 400RPM.

"dialing in" the crusher like I do takes all of about a minute, I get great crushes and I don't have spinning rollers anymore.

 

[Picobrew]

I would jsut try slowing the RPMs down a bunch.

Almost every crush I do, I open my crusher up too wide, add some grain, slowly turn the crusher while closing the gap, until I get the exact crush I want. Then I load the sucker up and crank it with a drill but at way lower than 400RPM.

"dialing in" the crusher like I do takes all of about a minute, I get great crushes and I don't have spinning rollers anymore.

With a Barley Crusher you can't change the gap without loosening/tightening two set screws, so you can't adjust it on the fly, unfortunately. My drill has two settings "1" or "2" and I think 1 is 400rpm so I was using that. The barley crusher site mentions this, so that is why I thought 400rpm was ok (and has seriously been awesome for months arg):

Using a 3/8 drillmotor at 500 RPM gives you a crush rate of 6 pounds a minute making the big grain bills fast and easy.

 

[lustreking]

It sounds like I need a feeler gauge. Where can I get one of these? home depot?

Is there any regular maintenance I need to do on the mill (like lubrication?)

Though they won't fix anything, you can get feeler gauges at an auto parts store.

I think that you can lube the bushings for the rollers.

Sometimes the grain just gets jammed up in there. This has happened to me twice, and I just poked around in there with a long spatula.

 

[ColoradoXJ13]

you may want to try putting some lube on the bearings, sounds like the non-driven roller is sticking.

 

[Cape Brewing]

With a Barley Crusher you can't change the gap without loosening/tightening two set screws, so you can't adjust it on the fly, unfortunately. My drill has two settings "1" or "2" and I think 1 is 400rpm so I was using that. The barley crusher site mentions this, so that is why I thought 400rpm was ok (and has seriously been awesome for months arg):

hmmm... we must just have different models...

Mine has the one knob you can turn to adjust

 

[Edcculus]

Cape - he is saying that in order to adjust said knob, you need to loosen the set screw (that screw on the far right of the picture.) If the set screw is loose, your knobs (which should be on both sides) will spin as you turn the crank. With the set screw in, you shouldn't be able to turn the adjustment knobs.

 

[Cape Brewing]

Ahhhhh... gotcha...

yeah, I don't have screws... my screws are large wing-nuts so I can loosen them in 1/2 second and adjust on the fly.

(I forgot about those)

I can loosen those wing nuts in half a second and adjust the knob on the fly... and if I don't tighten those wing-nuts... my knob won't spin... I can crank grain through and adjust the crush at the same time. Once I find a crush I like, I "lock" it in by tightening those wing-nuts.

 

[Cape Brewing]

... and now that I really think about it... It's only one wing nut... not two

 

[Blender]

The same thing happens to my crusher off and on and I really don't know the cause. If I remember there were some comments on here that others were having the same problem.

I will stop the drill and shake the mill and it will again begin to grab the grain, yet other times I have to empty the hopper and refill and off I go. I check my gap from time to time but it has been pretty consistent.

 

[DrinksWellWithOthers]

Ahhhhh... gotcha...

yeah, I don't have screws... my screws are large wing-nuts so I can loosen them in 1/2 second and adjust on the fly.

Damn that's a good idea. Did your BC come with them or did you add them yourself? If the latter, do you know the diameter and thread pitch?

 

[alohanole]

This happened to me once when I accidentally included oats with the rest of the whole grains when I crushed them. I was making an oatmeal stout. Since the oats don't need crushing and they are rather thin, they just slipped through the rollers. This resulted in the rollers slipping. It was a huge pain. Not a problem since.

 

[Dr Malt]

I have had this probelm with my mill several times. I have found the following sequence seems to clear the problem.

1. Clean your mill of dust. If you have a compressor, blow it out well. Check the screws on your mill to make sure all are tight.
2. Add a small amount of lube oil to the non-contact regions (non-contact of the grain) of the rollers. Dust accumulates in the spindle of the rollers and the bushings and causes problems.
3. Make sure your gap is set such that kernels are not getting caught between the rollers but are getting crushed as they enter the rollers. This means you may have a bit finer crush but as long as you have fairly whole husk and no lautering problems, don't worry about it. I can adjust my mill while it runs and I found if the gap is too wide, it tends to jam.
4. Some grains like CaraPils are very hard and tend to jam the mill if not mixed well into the grain bill. If a large portion of CaraPils goes through the mill it can jam easily.

That is about it. This seems to work for me. I have seen jamming problems from all of these thing. I hope this helps.

Dr Malt

 

[jspence1]

The only time mine has stopped feeding grain is when the bucket below it is full. Hope you get your problem resolved soon.

 

[McCuckerson]

I use a drill in first gear to do it, supposedly 400rpm. It was worked beautifully for many batches. It sounds like I need a feeler gauge. Where can I get one of these? home depot?

Is there any regular maintenance I need to do on the mill (like lubrication?)

My Valley Mill says "do not exceed 300RPM", I'm scared to put power to it. You should see my left arm though

 

[Picobrew]

My Valley Mill says "do not exceed 300RPM", I'm scared to put power to it. You should see my left arm though

On www.barleycrusher.com , where I got this mill, they suggest using a drill, and suggest 400rpm as the speed.

I'm going to get a feeler gauge tomorrow, clean the heck out of the mill, and lubricate it a bit (with some tri-flo thats all I have).

The right hand roller is pretty hard to roll compared to the left, and the mill runs very noisy. I have done about 350lbs of grain in it, so it isn't surprising it needs some tune-up.

 

[The Pol]

Check to make sure the pins that align the rollers, are actually fully engaging the rollers.

Those are not solid shafts... on the NON drive end of the rollers there is a pin that mates with a LPF ream on the roller, aligning it with the bushing. On my last mill, one of these pins wiggled out far enough that there was slop and binding on the drive roller. You could have this issue, perhaps on your NON drive roller.

They sent me a new mill

 

[AnOldUR]

Some grains like CaraPils are very hard and tend to jam the mill if not mixed well into the grain bill.

Along with this, I've actually gotten small stones mixed in with the grain that cause the same problem. What has always worked is spinning the roller in reverse. I don't do this under power, but rotate the entire pistol drill backwards a few times. With a cordless this is easy. Might be a PITA with a corded drill.

 

[masonsjax]

When you lube the roller bushings, you should use a few drops of vegetable oil, according to the instructions that came with my BC.

 

[Cape Brewing]

Damn that's a good idea. Did your BC come with them or did you add them yourself? If the latter, do you know the diameter and thread pitch?

Came like that... you can check it out tuesday night

 

[david_42]

Consider going to an auto parts store and buying feeler gauges, $3-4. Your efficiency will thank you.

 

[Picobrew]

Consider going to an auto parts store and buying feeler gauges, $3-4. Your efficiency will thank you.

I'm headed to NAPA tomorrow. Before this fiasco my efficiency has always been 80%. After tightening it up to get it going again, this last batch was 85%.

 

[Steelers77]

I had this same thing happen to me. Check the gaps at the end of each roller(where it butts up against the plates) for some reason my opened up and grain got stuck in there which caused friction and prevented the rollers from rolling. If this has happened there are screws that you can loosen to push the plate closer to the roller. Make sure there is still a gap so the rollers don't rub against the plates. Im me if you need any help.

 

[Picobrew]

I think this is what is happening to me! Which screws are you referring to? I'll have to go examine my crusher to look for them. I had this problem again even after setting my gap at .035" inches and cleaning everything out. I just emptied the grain, cleaned out, and it worked. I hope I can fix this soon.

 

[Steelers77]

If I remember correctly, you have to take the hopper off and remove the base. Then loosed the 4 screw connecting the side plates( the thin ones) then push the unit together. Just loosen the screws a quarter turn. I'm pretty sure these are the step I took. I emailed the guy who makes these and he responded with the procedure. I'm trying to find that email. Good Luck! If I find the email I'll get it to you.