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EK43S Axial Alignment Help!

3.2K views 30 replies 6 participants last post by  senfromsydney  
#1 ·
Dear Coffee Forums,

Hello I recently purchased an EK43S and wanted to ask if anyone has had issues regarding clogging in their pour overs (I use V60 and Kalita) I'm still clogging (4mins +) at the 12.5 range (on a scale of 16). I have come to the conclusion that it is an axial alignment issue as my calibration chirp is first faint then loud.

Anyone know of an alignment (mainly axial alignment) service in London or a know a barista who could do it? I know there's videos on YouTube and a tool etc etc..

I don't want to do it myself as I'm super clumsy and more importantly minorly disabled in my right hand.

Money is no object as long as they know what they're doing...

Any help would be tremendously appreciated.

Thank you very much!

Leo Kuyumcian
 
#2 ·
I have an EKS and use V60 regularly. I think 12.5 is too fine - I use 14 - 15 and even 16 occasionally and check results with a refractometer to get EY between 20-21%. I brew 500grms of water with doses between 30-32grms and most brews are complete in under or around 3mins with four pours.

Would suggest you open the grind before engaging in costly realignment work.
 
#5 ·
My routines are fairly similar for both

My recipe

15g/250g

2xweight bloom

Do a Rao spin

40 second wait

120 gram pour

Wait until 1:45

Light Rao spin

Pour remaining weight

(Here is where it clogs)

Drawdown at around 4-4.5 mins

I know the Rao spin might impact the drawdown but I also tried without doing it to no avail...

I'm sure I'm screwing up somewhere but it's not my first rodeo just my first EK:)

Thank you for replying and being generous with your time.
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
Yes, I have both the ceramic 185 and the tsubame 185... It's quite interestiing because I know Kalitas are prone to clogging due the filter clogging the holes so if I had that issue only with my kalita I'd say fair enough put a metal mesh below and call it a day!

But my V60 does the same which blew my mind (I'm a little skeptical of the white paper filters in the plastic wrap as opposed to the boxed ones, they seem to be a little thick but maybe I'm being paranoid :)
 
#8 ·
Yes, I have both the ceramic 185 and the tsubame 185... It's quite interestiing because I know Kalitas are prone to clogging due the filter clogging the holes so if I had that issue only with my kalita I'd say fair enough put a metal mesh below and call it a day!
But my V60 does the same which blew my mind (I'm a little skeptical of the white paper filters in the plastic wrap as opposed to the boxed ones, they seem to be a little thick but maybe I'm being paranoid [emoji4]
Well I know there are different v60 papers and some are known to be slower, I forget which are which.

Aligning can never hurt but may not be the cause here. Can't help thinking it would have to be miles out to cause real problems like that. Do you make espresso? Poor alignment might show up as having to grind right on the limit of 0
 
#9 ·
I use a separate grinder for Espresso (Ceado E6P, but ordered Levercraft Ultra Grinder which is arriving June) - my decent espresso machine should be arriving anytime so that's a whole other journey :) but I'm a pourover guy at heart so unfortunately my heart is currently broken haha

What makes me think it's an axial alignment issue is that when I calibrate my birds I don't get one loud chirp its first faint then loud as if one section of the burr is touching prematurely. But due to my inexperience I'm to do it myself along with a minor physical disability that prevents my right hand from "properly" functioning... so I would rather have someone who knows what they're doing take the challenge:)

I totally see your point regarding the alignment though another member mentioned that 12.5 can still be too fine for an ek43s so I will try at 14 or so tomorrow and see where that gets me!
 
#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
What makes me think it's an axial alignment issue is that when I calibrate my birds I don't get one loud chirp its first faint then loud as if one section of the burr is touching prematurely
Last time I tried calibrating birds in my EK43S, the chirping stopped dead quickly. Bloody mess to clean up, too.

Sorry!

In all seriousness, is it possible to return the grinder to shop? I ask because it sounds way out (if new). For comparison, I have brew burrs in my EK43S, which is about 8 months old, and using a 1 cup V60, I can't get near a 2m30s brew time using 2 pours and a bloom unless I grind at 1 or finer, and even then I have to use a large dose (20g in to 313g out) in a 1 cup V60 to slow things down. There's just no way I could clog a brew. Needless to say, I coarsen the grind to about 5 and do 4 pours + bloom to slow things down to a 2.5 min brew.

For reference: I have 0 calibrated to be 2 or 3 small increments off chirping and use 0.2 for a 13g in 26g out espresso on my post mil La Pavoni. I brew v60 with light and medium light roasts from SqMile and Assembly, mainly.
 
#11 ·
Hahahah nice catch! It's been a long day my mind is pureed from working

The place I got it from aren't very helpful I sent mahlkonig a rather hard email hopefully theyll get back.

I have the original coffee burrs, and most people grind in the 6-10 range so I'm trying to figure out what's wrong...

Isn't 1 or fine near espresso range?
 
#14 ·
Hahahah nice catch! It's been a long day my mind is pureed from working

The place I got it from aren't very helpful I sent mahlkonig a rather hard email hopefully theyll get back.

I have the original coffee burrs, and most people grind in the 6-10 range so I'm trying to figure out what's wrong...

Isn't 1 or fine near espresso range?
Yeah 1 is pretty fine, although with brew burrs, because they produce relatively few fines, using standard parameters an espresso needs to be ground closer to 0 than 1. I tend to prefer a small dose so grind at 3 or 4 small increments above burr chirp (0.3 to 0.4, if I had 0 set to burr chirp). That gives a 32 second 2:1 pour on the La Pavoni (with about 5s of that being 0 to 2 bar pre-infusion).
 
#12 ·
I was lead to believe the EK43s was pretty much aligned from factory? I had an old EK43 with Turkish burrs for a while, and I had a few attempts at aligning that beast. Patrick (@The Systemic Kid) had it for a while to check against his and they were pretty close in when I'd fettled mine. You're right in not wanting to do it yourself, it's a pain in the backside..
 
#20 · (Edited by Moderator)
It might be worth taking the plastic chute off, to give the exit hole a good clean. Removing it is Dead easy to do with a large flat head screw driver.

It can be a real magnet for espresso fines, which might be contributing to your slow pour overs. They get embedded like glue in the narrow metal opening at the top of the chute and need a stiff brush to clean up.