“they also installed an o-ring around the secondary(non-driven) roller”
Interesting to me because I got my Barley Crusher a little over three years ago. I used it several times and was happy with it. Then, when I was crushing a batch I felt the handle slip several times, but each time it would start working again. When I was transferring the crushed grain into another bucket I found a broken o-ring. The mill worked fine for a couple of batches, then it again started slipping, this time considerably worse than before. It eventually began working, but I found a second o-ring in my crushed grain. I contacted the folks at the company and they offered a couple of suggestions, including dismantling and cleaning. They said if it did not work correctly they would arrange to have me send the mill in for repair. I dismantled, cleaned, etc (without finding anything suggesting a problem), put it back together and it has worked fine ever since. I’ve crushed for about 35 (5 gal.) batches with no issues, but I’ve got my fingers crossed. FWIW I hand crank the mill.
Here’s a bad iPhone photo of the o-ring. It’s on the end of the drive roller left below the nut in this pic.
I’m pretty sure it didn’t have one on it when it was new. I guess I can see how that would get both rollers going simultaneously and help grain intake. As long as it works I’m OK with it.
BC must have changed something with the mill. I had mine for nearly 6 years and 1000’s of pounds of grain through it before I started having the slipping problem, now people are having problems at 6 months or less. It does seem to work better after taking it apart and cleaning it, but that gets to be a hassle.
I’ve emailed the company a couple time but have never heard back. I think I’m going to move on and get a new mill, after 9 years or so this mill doesn’t owe me anything.
I started using my BC this past spring, and have done 8-12 grain bills through it. The only problems I encountered was after trying to run the grain bill through the second time, it would slip, and I had trouble getting the rollers to grab the grain. I took my fist and pushed down on the grain and then it would grab and pulled the rest of the grain through.
The black O ring on the drive roller broke off of mine with in two or three batches. I stopped brewing a couple of months ago (20 kegs and four cases of bottles filled), but I am getting ready to get brewing again. I think I'll take tome down time and give my BC a good cleaning in hopes of another year of good service. If I remember correctly, I keep my BC at 0.032 (?) :cheers:
[quote=“MollyHatchet”]I started using my BC this past spring, and have done 8-12 grain bills through it. The only problems I encountered was after trying to run the grain bill through the second time, it would slip, and I had trouble getting the rollers to grab the grain. I took my fist and pushed down on the grain and then it would grab and pulled the rest of the grain through.
The black O ring on the drive roller broke off of mine with in two or three batches. I stopped brewing a couple of months ago (20 kegs and four cases of bottles filled), but I am getting ready to get brewing again. I think I'll take tome down time and give my BC a good cleaning in hopes of another year of good service. If I remember correctly, I keep my BC at 0.032 (?) :cheers: [/quote]
I keep mine at .030 and only do one pass crush.
I guess maybe the lesson is keep some of those o-rings on hand?
I am in need of taking mine apart for a cleaning as well. It’s been acting up lately and not catching very well. Last time this happened I took it apart, might’ve even put some 3-in-1 oil in there somewhere. Not sure I’ll do that this time because it just doesn’t seem like a good idea. My next mill will probably be a Monster Mill. A lifetime investment might as well be a good one.
[quote=“dannyboy58”][quote=“MollyHatchet”]I started using my BC this past spring, and have done 8-12 grain bills through it. The only problems I encountered was after trying to run the grain bill through the second time, it would slip, and I had trouble getting the rollers to grab the grain. I took my fist and pushed down on the grain and then it would grab and pulled the rest of the grain through.
The black O ring on the drive roller broke off of mine with in two or three batches. I stopped brewing a couple of months ago (20 kegs and four cases of bottles filled), but I am getting ready to get brewing again. I think I'll take tome down time and give my BC a good cleaning in hopes of another year of good service. If I remember correctly, I keep my BC at 0.032 (?) :cheers: [/quote]
I keep mine at .030 and only do one pass crush.
I guess maybe the lesson is keep some of those o-rings on hand?[/quote]
If I remember, the instructions mention the O-ring will break off and is not needed. The only way to replace it is to remove the roller.
I’ve had mine about 5 years and couldn’t tell you how many lbs have gone through it. I do blow it out after each use, so far no issues.
I haven’t had a chance to use it yet but so far I’m quite impressed. Just the roller assembly itself weighs about twice as much as the BC. It looks to be built very similar to the MM3 in fact the hopper looks identical. It has 1 1/2" X 6" rollers set in bearings rather than bushings (the description on their website says it has oil-impregnated bronze bushings) and it has a 1/2" shaft. It doesn’t come with a base so I’ll have to fabricate one which should be no problem. I’ll post an update once I have a chance to use it.
