Barley Crusher Passive Roller Failure

[Glibbidy]

Ack! My barley crusher's passive roller stopped rolling, and I have misfiled the paperwork that came with the mill.
Anyone have their's handy to post, or PM me?

A small pebble got stuck in the rollers, I removed it, repositioned the roller spacing, and it still wouldn't spin.

I broke down the unit, and cleaned it up, then pick it back together. Still no luck.

Any ideas on troubleshooting this?

 

[Bytor1100]

All you did was lose the oring that went around the main roller. This is normal and actually better for your crusher.

 

[Evan!]

so you can't even get it to spint if you try to roll it with your hand?

And hey, bytor, did you even read what he said?

 

[the_bird]

I might have the paperwork in the basement, if I can find it, I'll shoot you a PM. Well, it's definately around somewhere, but it's just a matter of whether I can put my hands on it again or not...

EDIT: There's an email contact right on the website (http://www.barleycrusher.com/) I'd shoot them a message and see what they say. Lifetime guarantee, IIRC!

 

[EdWort]

Mine stopped rolling several crushes ago. I have not bothered to get the O ring replaced as my inefficiency continues to get better.

 

[Glibbidy]

Thanks for all the insight fellas.
I emailed barleycrusher before checking in here. I have since resolved the issues with the failing passive roller.

I disassembled again, cleaned it carefully, little keg lube. Amazing what a little lube will do.
Put it back together, dialed it out as far as I could. Dusted off the hand crank, and tried that. It WORKED! What a relief.

I slowly closed the roller gaps to ~.038. Hand cranked a few handfuls of malt...then put the drill back on that sucker and let her rip. Back in business. Guess it will be a double batch day Saturday morning!

BTW the O-ring flew out of the hopper over 500 lbs. ago, so I can't day that it actually played a factor in this event.

 

[EdWort]

Good to hear you are back in action and ready for tomorrow! It's gonna be a great brew day!

 

[Glibbidy]

Hee Haw! Wifey and kids are out of town, so I'll be doing a double batch starting at 7:00am.
Oh....and bird I saw Ray and presently I'm enjoying a growler of ruby red & the sox right now.

 

[the_bird]

Oh, you bastard!

Mmmmmm..... McNeill's Ruby Ale........... I'm not sure if that's in my all-time top 5 or not, but it's in my top 10.

 

[Glibbidy]

go figure. I disassemble the mill, lube it, re-adjust it, and now my efficiency goes thru the roof!
My target gravity for my Amarillo Pale all was 1.053....I hit 1.062. F-ing brilliant!
Only catch is, I only brewed one batch today, as now I need to make adjustments for the grist composition of my next batch.
Go barley crusher go!

 

[Evan!]

go figure. I disassemble the mill, lube it, re-adjust it, and now my efficiency goes thru the roof!
My target gravity for my Amarillo Pale all was 1.053....I hit 1.062. F-ing brilliant!
Only catch is, I only brewed one batch today, as now I need to make adjustments for the grist composition of my next batch.
Go barley crusher go!

So when did you take the efficiency reading? Start of the boil? It would kinda suck to have an under-bittered pale ale because your gravity was 9 pts higher.

 

[Glibbidy]

I took the gravity reading just prior to pitching the yeast. I figured out how I was so far off. I ended up just about a gallon short on my total volume. So between a small increase in efficiency, and coming up short on the volume, I can see where my gravity is off.

Luckily I do have a gallon of my Pale ale (same grist composition) cold conditioning in the lager chamber. I plan on blending this in with the higher gravity beer when I'm kegging it.

Oh....one more thing. I calculated 45 IBU's for the initial recipe. It may end up being slightly sweeter then anticipated, but still very drinkable.

 

[Glibbidy]

The beer finished out at 1.006. Freaky! So now I got this somewhat malty beer to drink. I'm sure it will age well. Gotta love Alchemy.