Dialing in crush on a weak motor

[Jtvann]

I'm running a MM3 with a malt muncher motor. I used to do 3 vessel with a gap of .040. The motor and mill did fine.

I recently switched to biab and wanted a finer grind. I set the gap .030 and the motor would instantly bind up when dumping the grain in. I did have the rollers running before dumping grain ... a commonly asked question.

I'm now taking incremental adjustments down to figure out what the smallest gap setting is that I can use without binding the motor. I think i remember trying .035 without success.

My question is, once my minimum gap is found, how much does a double crush really help? I'm tempted to send the motor back and just get a powerful corded drill.

 

[bracconiere]

I'm tempted to send the motor back and just get a powerful corded drill.

i've got a harbor freight 1/2" drill, & i crush fine at something like .028 (not that i BIAB, but still...)


apparently they stopped selling the ones with the speed lock trigger, but a fan speed controller would probably work.....


edit: not familar with the MM3, but does it have something to feed the malt gradually to the rollers? or does it dump the malt onto the whole length of them?

 

[Jtvann]

i've got a harbor freight 1/2" drill, & i crush fine at something like .028 (not that i BIAB, but still...)

Yep, considering doing the same.

 

[bracconiere]

I'm tempted to send the motor back and just get a powerful corded drill.

Yep, considering doing the same.

lol, thus my quote...

 

[wilserbrewer]

I have a kegco 3 roller aka mm3 clone.

I was surprised how much torque it takes to spin it.

I had it set way to tight initially and my 1/2” corded drill just grunted in defeat.
Set at a more reasonable gap it doesn’t fine but I wouldn’t want any less power.

Imo a double crush will help....try it and eyeball the crush closely single vs double pass.

 

[Jtvann]

I have a kegco 3 roller aka mm3 clone.

I was surprised how much torque it takes to spin it.

I had it set way to tight initially and my 1/2” corded drill just grunted in defeat.
Set at a more reasonable gap it doesn’t fine but I wouldn’t want any less power.

Imo a double crush will help....try it and eyeball the crush closely single vs double pass.

I've got some bigger projects coming up around the house, and the wife wanted me to buy a nice hammer drill. I got a 10 amp dewalt drill/hammer drill combo. If that cant handle it, I dont know what else will. Ofcourse I won't be using the hammer setting in the grain mill. The drill is supposed to be able to handle mixing cement etc. Hopefully its overkill.

 

[wilserbrewer]

10 amps should be plenty. For an overly aggressive crush, I bet the hammer feature would get it spinning then turn it off.
I used to think that hammer drills were only for drilling Rock and concrete.
My eyes went wide open when my buddy showed me how well they drive long stubborn screws.

 

[Jtvann]

10 amps should be plenty. For an overly aggressive crush, I bet the hammer feature would get it spinning then turn it off.
I used to think that hammer drills were only for drilling Rock and concrete.
My eyes went wide open when my buddy showed me how well they drive long stubborn screws.

I'd be worried that the hammering would possibly lose balance in the rollers. Might be worth a try though like you say if it does lose traction.

 

[501irishred]

10 amps should be plenty. For an overly aggressive crush, I bet the hammer feature would get it spinning then turn it off.
I used to think that hammer drills were only for drilling Rock and concrete.
My eyes went wide open when my buddy showed me how well they drive long stubborn screws.

I'd be worried that the hammering would possibly lose balance in the rollers. Might be worth a try though like you say if it does lose traction.

A 10A hammer drill would likely destroy the bearings in your mill in short order. I imagine the hammer function that drove the screws was little more than an impact setting (standard cordless drill with a “hammer” setting). A dedicated hammer drill does much more “hammering” and surely wouldn’t be suitable here.

 

[Jtvann]

This drill chews through beautifully. Was able to start with a loaded hopper and down to .025. Doesn't ha e a trigger lock, but I can hold the trigger at a very slow speed without any issues.

Wish I'd started with this

 

[bracconiere]

This drill chews through beautifully. Was able to start with a loaded hopper and down to .025. Doesn't ha e a trigger lock, but I can hold the trigger at a very slow speed without any issues.

Wish I'd started with this

glad your problem is resolved!

 

[cubalz]

I have an MM3 driven by a 1/2 hp Dayton motor which is geared down to around 250 rpm's and I can grind my grain down to flour without any issues.

 

[bracconiere]

I have an MM3 driven by a 1/2 hp Dayton motor which is geared down to around 250 rpm's and I can grind my grain down to flour without any issues.

but i got two dayton 12" subs, with 1,000 watt amp, (at 8ohms for you car boys), and i can get the neighbors to call the cops at 1/4 volume!