All Grain Flour Mill - not grinding all the grain, lots of dust.
I just got an All Grain Flour Mill, model A33 from ebay, and tried it out tonight and was very unimpressed - hopefully someone can confirm it is worthwhile to put some money in it. I have an old Whisper Mill, and wanted something quieter, and the All Grain seemed to fit the bill. When I ran it, about 20 percent of the berries came out unground, and the rest came out fully ground. I took it apart, saw that you can adjust the stones by turning the top part, did that and still got poor results, lots of unground berries ( plus it was pretty slow - compared to the Whisper - though it was quieter than the Whispermill ) So I turned it a little more and it when I turned the stone by hand, it would catch, then spin, then catch - so obviously it had a high spot. I took it apart and you could see that the bottom stone had a crack from one end to the other. The glue holding the stone to the motor was failing, so I was able to get the stone out, and I will try to glue it together, and true it up, then reinstall. But I am guessing I will need a new stone, plus a catch bin. I tried a muslin bag, but that let out too much flour. So the question is whether it is worth the cost of a new stone, and a catch basin, or should I just chalk it up to experience. Any thoughts would be appreciated, especially someone who owns or has used an All Grain.
Did the Ebay seller state that the mill had a broken stone or that it did not work properly? If not, I would go back to the seller. If they had accurately described the mill, I would definitely check on the cost of new stones before throwing in the towel.
Jeff
I have the A22 & it does a good job, tho' it's not as sexy looking as the Komos
Return it to the eBay seller or failing that phone the maker at the All-Grain web site. It's one man, not a company and he is helpful.
Patsy
Jeff and Patsy, thanks for your help. After looking at it more closely, it is pretty clear to me that the stone crack has a ridge, so it grinds the flour finely when it hits the ridge, and skips grinding altogether when the berries miss the ridge. The seller said it was in good used condition - the outer part is, but it certainly doesn't work correctly. I tried to call the company, and could not get through, will try again next week.
Why not return it to the seller?
Or complain to eBay.
It is obviously NOT in good condition if it doesn't grind grain. I once had eBay refund my money and shipping when something had been misrepresented.
Patsy
Update. Just wanted to post an update. The ebay seller was great, and offered to do whatever I wanted. I checked with the manufacturer, but he wanted $120 plus postage both ways to install a new stone and true it up. The ebay seller agreed to cover it, but I thought that was too much money for a used machine. It took a few tries, but I eventually epoxied the wheel back together, turned it upside down and glued it in place, then trued it up, and it is working fine. It is much slower than my Whisper Mill, but the temperature of the flour is much lower as well. I made a collection jar out of a gallon jug and based on a suggestion I saw online I used this bag http://www.harborfreight.com/3-pack-replacement-filter-bags-94764.html on the top to allow the air to escape, it works pretty well and does not let any flour out.
I'm glad it worked out for you. The seller was lucky to have someone as competent and as nice as you. Patsy