March 4, 2019 - 6:32am
magic mill has developed slow grain intake.
hello,
i have been using a magic mill for a decade. recently the flow of grain through the hopper has slowed to a crawl. only careful pushing will keep the kernels reaching the grinding wheel. The wheel makes the same ear-torturing Noise as always so i assume it is travelling as fast as always. i have followed the suggestion to grind a cup of rice but it doesn't seem make a difference. i'll Try grinding some more rice tomorrow. Any help welcome.
thanks, malcolm
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Hi Malcolm. I don’t own a Magic Mill, but you might try to remove the stones and have a look. Have you ground any oily grains or seeds lately?
Dan
hi dan,
thanks for the thought.
the magic mill doesn't use stones, it uses a snazzy cluster of
metal teeth turning at 28,000 rpm. they are enclosed in a strong
housing with hopper molded into the top. a previous post in this
thread mentions the many small parts which have to be held in
place when the housing has to be reassembled after being opened.
the poster advises against opening the housing. i've ground wheat,
corn, rice. can't recall anything else.
cheers, mm
Is it possible that some parts have become worn or misaligned? (If the sound hasn't changed, then I'd be inclined to check for worn or damaged grinding teeth first before bothering to check the motor, because most motor problems would cause the sound to change.)
thanks, dave.
possibly worn or damaged teeth slowing the grinding therefore the intake flow? i am probably going to have to Take the mill to a retired small electrical appliance repair guy who now works part time from his basement. if he can't Fix it he'll tell me.
cheers, mm
Malcom, I haven't owned a magic mill, but had a whisper mill which used a similar grinding mechanism - two disks with opposing teeth, that spin, and shatter the grain upon impact. Rice is unlikely to clean the teeth, that works much better on stone mills. There is a plastic adjustment that allows the grain to fall into the middle of the teeth or slightly further away from the middle - that is the way it adjusts how finely the flour is ground - it is possible, though unlikely, there is some defect there which is impacting the feed of the berries. Other than that, you may be better off buying a used one, or a used stone mill, or even a new one if you like the Mockmill and its pricing. It is unlikely your repair person will be able to get any parts, if parts are broken.
oh oh. thanks anyway barry, in a case like this bad news is more useful than no news.
i inherited the mill when my in-laws downsized. it had served them well for decades.
the motor always sounds like a small jet plane revving before take-off, i use it outdoors
where the sound doesn't echo and the dust doesn't need cleanup. my sister has found
that the large size nutri-bullet juicer/blender does a useful coarse grind of wheat berries.
cheers, mm
mm, the small jet engine sound is exactly how it is supposed to sound, it is a universal motor on ac current, and probably spins around 10,000 to 20,000 rpm. I had one other thought - it is possible that something has gotten stuck somewhere in the feed tube , which is clogging the berries and keeping them from dropping into the impact teeth. That something is either hard - like a pebble, or something soft, like a pair of wheat berries, a piece of plastic, or some food substance. If it is hard, and you forced it through the feed area, and it hit the impact teeth, it could shatter one or more teeth, and basically be the kiss of death. On the other hand, if you have a small appliance repair guy, he may be able to disassemble it, and remove it with no harm. If it is softer than the teeth, like berries or a food substance, then if you force it through , the teeth should grind it and spit it out, and it should work fine. Again, this is only a possibility, but if you have decided not to take it in for repair and instead will just trash it if it is not fixed, then I would try to rig up an air compressor hose to the outlet first, to see if I could blow the obstruction up and out the intake, ( that should not cause any damage ), and if that failed, I would use the air compressor hose directed at the intake and try to force the obstruction into the teeth - then turn it on and see what happens.
more useful thoughts, barry, thank you.
28000 rpm according to the manual.
if i can't see it fixed then it will go to folks
who Can Use the parts. i think There is an air
compressor here. i could certainly try blowing out.
i would be less certain about blowing in.
My repair guy will give Me a rough estimate
if he decides to do the job. all for now. cheers, mm