6 replies to this topic

[ncbeerbrewer]

Ok I am a bit perplexed with the Barley Crusher tonight. I crushed up 21 lbs tonight for a Belgian Tripel. I used a cordless drill to drive the mill, have for a year now as well. I have had a problem lately where the roller that is attached to drive mechanism will spin but the free roller will not wanna turn. The driven roller will spin but the grain doesn't wanna feed trough. Just wondering if anyone has experience this before. Is the gap too small? I tried to spin the dials just outside the rollers and it seems to adjust the gap width. With no grain in the hopper the free roller spins its just a bit rough and seems like it wants to get stuck. If anyone had faced this problem or has advice please share. Appreciate the feeback!!Mike

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Ok I am a bit perplexed with the Barley Crusher tonight. I crushed up 21 lbs tonight for a Belgian Tripel. I used a cordless drill to drive the mill, have for a year now as well. I have had a problem lately where the roller that is attached to drive mechanism will spin but the free roller will not wanna turn. The driven roller will spin but the grain doesn't wanna feed trough. Just wondering if anyone has experience this before. Is the gap too small? I tried to spin the dials just outside the rollers and it seems to adjust the gap width. With no grain in the hopper the free roller spins its just a bit rough and seems like it wants to get stuck. If anyone had faced this problem or has advice please share. Appreciate the feeback!!Mike

I occasionally had this problem. It seemed to be something with the grain aligning just right so it wouldn't get pulled through and would instead just bounce on top of the rollers. My solution was to dump the grain out and dump it back in and try again. Now that I hand mill all of my grain this hasn't happened again. Have you tried lowering the speed on your drill perhaps? Maybe try pulsing it when you start?

[shaggaroo]

I had a similar problem a few weeks ago. Seems the rollers need oiling; about once a year according to the manufacturer; of course I didn't know that for the last, ummm four years . Took it apart, lubed it and now it works like a dream.

[ncbeerbrewer]

I occasionally had this problem. It seemed to be something with the grain aligning just right so it wouldn't get pulled through and would instead just bounce on top of the rollers. My solution was to dump the grain out and dump it back in and try again. Now that I hand mill all of my grain this hasn't happened again. Have you tried lowering the speed on your drill perhaps? Maybe try pulsing it when you start?

I was suspect of the grains to be honest and actually did dump and pour back in a few times too, still seemed to be a problem. I will still keep an eye on it though too.

I had a similar problem a few weeks ago. Seems the rollers need oiling; about once a year according to the manufacturer; of course I didn't know that for the last, ummm four years . Took it apart, lubed it and now it works like a dream.

Hmm well I have used this mill now for over 2 years and it just started doing this recently. I will look to tear it down and oil it up then before I brew again next weekend. Thanks for the tips gents!!

[gnef]

It definitely sounds like it needs to be lubed, or at least cleaned.Have you cleaned it recently? I have an air compressor, so I use that to remove the dust and chaff from the mill, spider couplings, and the motor regularly. I have a crankandstein 2 roller if that is important.

[Steve Urquell]

Pretty common problem with them. Here's a link to a pictorial on the tear down and cleaning to fix the problem.https://www.homebrewchatter.com/board/f18/cleaning-your-barley-crush-pictorial-t9878/

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I should also note that I now clean mine out with compressed air on every other use probably. This might be helping me out now as well.