My thanks to the folks at Seattle Coffee Gear. I watched this video a few times and today I successfully cleaned my Rancilio Rocky, first time since I bought it 8 years ago....... Oh it's supposed to be cleaned often? :) I followed the video and the cleaning went well. The cleaning solved a problem where I couldn't turn the dial below 10, and it was becoming difficult to turn at all. A strong oily hard buildup was the culprit. Thanks!
So happy to find this updated (with the Grindz step.) I was searching for Gail's older video which I had used for years everytime I finally got around to cleaning my Rancillo. Gail, you are the best!
Useful video. Mine was absolutely caked in grime after 10 years of use without cleaning! I used a toothbrush and isopropyl alcohol which was effective in cleaning off the tar. Worth mentioning that there is an adjustable stop on the underside of the hopper. This can be adjusted if necessary to ensure a user cannot get the blades to touch on the lowest setting. Shouldn't need touching hopefully. One other thing I did before re-assembly was to run a pencil (graphite) over the threads to reduce friction. Don't use oil or grease as it may cease the threads.
Great video, as always, SCG. Thank you. A pet hate of mine is the way that beans get stuck in the screw holes of the finger cap inside the hopper. So I dropped 8mm (blue) masonry plugs (a.k.a. star plugs or wall plugs) into the screw holes and the beans are excluded. One less place to gather coffee bean gunge!
Re: SEIZED TOP BURR. This grinder was not suiting out needs and as probably too common neglected from cleaning. I recently decided to list for sale when discovered the top burr (and of course adjustable hopper ) had seized and would not turn. Since realized I couldn't sell if not functioning and after some dilemmas about how to remove and clean, I screwed in 2 longer screws (M5-.80x50) into 2 of holes that hold the hopper and inserted a long heavy screw driver between the extended screws to provide a little torque. After a little encouragement, I felt the burr give and now am in process of cleaning. Hope this helps someone else before they decide to throw out the grinder or worse cut up their hands on the sharp edges or mangle the burr edge with a wrench as I started to do.
Thanks so much Gail! My Rocky must be 20 years old and was real overdue. OK, it got stuck in the ideal setting for my espresso machine and I never did try to unstick it. So when I got to the step of removing the top burr, just couldn't. So I got out my trusty vice-grips, got on the floor, and held the Rocky in position with my feet. And then pulled! Pulled!!! PULLED!!!. I finally got it going. No problem! OK, I spent a lot of time that afternoon cleaning out all the threads. I've got a nice metal pick and it got right into those threads. Its pretty damn clean now. Given the age of the Rocky and the abuse it has taken, it went back together just fine. The zero point lined up just right. One request: When I had it apart, I felt that I should judge whether the burrs should be replaced. Each individual burr is not the same length but maybe that's the design. Could you post a photo or two of what new burrs look like & maybe some comments on what to look for in old, abused Rockys?
Great Job Gail! You REALLY added a lot of value here. The top burr is removed before your hands get even close to the bottom burr screws. It’s idiot proof. That’s most likely why this isn’t in the video. But great value add!!
As always, you are a good Tutor, I need to clean mine, thanks for showing. I love my Rancilio coffee grinder and coffee machine they make fantastic coffee, it also depends on common sense how you can work the things out to learn more and more , for best result, thanks for your advises .
Great video. Thanks. I have a question and a comment: 1. On my Rocky Grinder (w/ doser), there is a little gap in the chute where coffee grinds collect inside the Rocky's housing. When I take the bottom off the grinder I find almost a pound of ground coffee dumps out. How do I fix this? Bubble gum? 2. I've had good results cleaning my grinder by grinding uncooked white rice until it flushes all the brown grinds out.
Whoa! Just got done doing this to my Rocky. Note to self. Never ever, ever, ever grind an oily bean again as long as I live. I've used Grindz but apparently not often enough. I would imagine some people are totally shocked when they open theirs up. Mine's only a few years old.
The local maintenance shop for grinders told me the main problem with this design is that fine thread. They said people keep it at one setting, a fine one and then try to change it to a more coarse setting after years of using it at the single setting. The threads get contaminated and they force adjust it causing damage. I'm confident if the cleaning is done as your demonstrated here, that wouldn't happen. I only question if this needs to be done every two weeks. Why do you think this needs to be done so frequently?
Gail how often should I do this cleaning? I never cleaned mine for a decade. I owned grindz but never used it. I clean my ransilio from watching your videos all the time. My coffee never tasted so good after cleaning the grinder! How often do I clean it with grindz? How often disassemble it and clean it with a vac. I drink 1-2 cups a day. Thank you!
I have a problem with the Ranchello coffee grinder which is when installing a grinding gear with a clock stop in the middle before reaching a soft grinder
A comment slightly off-side from the cleaning process which I have just done. The last 2-3 grinds for coffee wouldn't come out the Shute when clicking the handle, it appears as thought the "blades" inside the lower are are just pushing the grinds round and over the silver finger guard thing. Ant help on why would be appreciated!
I have a rancillio doser grinder and someone put flavored coffee in it and now the whole grinder smells like vanilla. I am trying to clean the doser part where the coffee falls in and am not able to remoce the container to wash it. Is there a way to do this? Thanks for your great videos.
like the shop vac good idea . got my rocky and silvia from you guys I also use a chemex and don't like messing with grind settings on rocky what grinder would you recommend for my chemex
You're adjusting the grind while the grinder isn't running, isn't that dangerous to the burrs? I recall in one of your videos you advised not to adjust the grind setting while the burrs aren't spinning.
I am disappointed in the lack of instructions on cleaning in the owners manual. It implys you don't need to do anything other then what is suggested by manufacturer. I like others in the comments did not clean mine for years and used it daily. One day it stopped turning and just hummed. Took it apart and it was completely clogged. I also suggest unplugging - and using dental tools(gently) since they are stainless. to get at the gummed up nooks and granny's also a brass/copper cleaning brush is a must to avoid damaging brass threads. Gun cleaning supply's/tools I found also helpful. Since both are made from similar materials. I had trouble desolving the tar like residue. Baking soda has been suggested(for next time), but I mechanically removed most and goo gone helped a little. I also put a tiny amount of food grade grease on the treads. To see if that might provide a barrier to prevent threads getting gummed up. The lesson I got was use cleaning pellets regularly and deep cleaning is a pain. Oh yea I will remember to purge grounds ground in the morning but I make my wife's coffee in morning first so ha shes been getting a bit of staleness in her morning coffee, oh well.
So why does the Rocky seem to get such a bad wrap these days on the various forums? I have a nice grinder, a Compact K3 Elite, but I seem to be having issues dialing my grind. I was debating selling it and getting something else and the Rocky seems to be at a pretty good price point for me.
I haven't been on the forums lately but a few months ago when I was researching my first grinder purchase...I was seeing a lot of people asking about the Rocky and folks would quickly say to stay away from it that there were much better options. Nothing specific as to why. I mean I know there's better options but better at the same price point? I'll have to go and see if I can find some reasons why people are being steered away. I remember several years ago I wanted to get a nice setup and the Rocky was all the rage. People couldn't recommend it enough. At the time I ended up not having the extra cash to get into a grinder and espresso machine so I stopped reading the forums until several months ago and that's what I came back to.
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Hello , I have a Rancilio Rocky and I cleaned it as it was shown on your YT tutorial. I made it nice and clean as new, the problem is when I screwed it back and re-calibrated it, It was completely blocked at the 0 setting. It's like someone put super glue on the thread, it can't be moved at all! I'm completely desperate, I hope you can give me some resolution tips! Thanks
+Seattle Coffee Gear I re-calibrated it - screwed just until the burrs slightly touched each other, set it on the o position there. Right after that, I tried to set it on position 4-5 where it's my dial for espresso , but it got stiffed on the 0. When I re-screwed it after the cleaning process I was not able to turn it down just with my bare hand, I had to put the bean hopper and use my full force to turn it down until the burrs were touching. The more I turned the upper brass burr the harder it moved ...until it was stuck!
+Digital Damian It sounds like you cross-threaded the burrs or their was something within the threads (like coffee particles that didn't get cleaned all the way). You will need to bring your grinder into a repair center to have this fixed. Sorry that this happened to your grinder!
+Seattle Coffee Gear I was extremely careful to not do any cross thread. When I screwed it the first time I felt that as I go spinning down it get harder and harder; so I opened it again and check if there are traces of coffee. I cleaned each thread ditch with a cloth with isopropyl alcohol, the thread is clean like brand new. Simply when I screw the upper brass burr it gets stuck from the second half thread ...
+Digital Damian It is very difficult to diagnose the cause of the problem without seeing the machine. It sounds like the best course of action will be to find a repair center and see if they can see what is happening. Are you in the Seattle area?
What do you recommend for cleaning a Hario Mini Mill or Hario Skerton grinder? I've read various recommendations to rinse the ceramic burrs with water as well as those who claim that doing so ruins the burrs. Would that Grindz stuff work in a manual mill, for example?
A friend gift the rocky to me a year ago, and it started to clog and finally I can clean it properly! Thanks
Now THAT'S an instructional video. Truly reference material, I can't thank you enough.
Please add a note: Remove power cord out of the outlet before starting cleaning the inside!
😂😂😂
Had not done this since the grinder was new five years ago, absolutely amazed with the ooze that accumulated in there
did you have issues getting the gold ring off?
My thanks to the folks at Seattle Coffee Gear. I watched this video a few times and today I successfully cleaned my Rancilio Rocky, first time since I bought it 8 years ago....... Oh it's supposed to be cleaned often? :) I followed the video and the cleaning went well. The cleaning solved a problem where I couldn't turn the dial below 10, and it was becoming difficult to turn at all. A strong oily hard buildup was the culprit. Thanks!
Gail, you are a lifesaver!!! Thank you so much for posting this video. I've been returning to it for years whenever I have to give it a good cleaning.
Gail rocks and grinds. 👍🥇 informative, simple guidance on essential maintenance 🧑🔧
So happy to find this updated (with the Grindz step.) I was searching for Gail's older video which I had used for years everytime I finally got around to cleaning my Rancillo. Gail, you are the best!
Thanks for the video. I went to your website to get the cleaner.
Useful video. Mine was absolutely caked in grime after 10 years of use without cleaning! I used a toothbrush and isopropyl alcohol which was effective in cleaning off the tar. Worth mentioning that there is an adjustable stop on the underside of the hopper. This can be adjusted if necessary to ensure a user cannot get the blades to touch on the lowest setting. Shouldn't need touching hopefully. One other thing I did before re-assembly was to run a pencil (graphite) over the threads to reduce friction. Don't use oil or grease as it may cease the threads.
Great video, as always, SCG. Thank you. A pet hate of mine is the way that beans get stuck in the screw holes of the finger cap inside the hopper. So I dropped 8mm (blue) masonry plugs (a.k.a. star plugs or wall plugs) into the screw holes and the beans are excluded. One less place to gather coffee bean gunge!
Nice, thanks for the tip. this has bothered me for a while.
Gail, Perfect instruction. Awesome
grinder.
Just bought a 2nd hand Rocky and this will help a lot .... thank you for a great video.
Cheers! Thanks for watching!
Re: SEIZED TOP BURR. This grinder was not suiting out needs and as probably too common neglected from cleaning. I recently decided to list for sale when discovered the top burr (and of course adjustable hopper ) had seized and would not turn. Since realized I couldn't sell if not functioning and after some dilemmas about how to remove and clean, I screwed in 2 longer screws (M5-.80x50) into 2 of holes that hold the hopper and inserted a long heavy screw driver between the extended screws to provide a little torque. After a little encouragement, I felt the burr give and now am in process of cleaning. Hope this helps someone else before they decide to throw out the grinder or worse cut up their hands on the sharp edges or mangle the burr edge with a wrench as I started to do.
Thanks so much Gail! My Rocky must be 20 years old and was real overdue. OK, it got stuck in the ideal setting for my espresso machine and I never did try to unstick it.
So when I got to the step of removing the top burr, just couldn't. So I got out my trusty vice-grips, got on the floor, and held the Rocky in position with my feet.
And then pulled! Pulled!!! PULLED!!!.
I finally got it going.
No problem!
OK, I spent a lot of time that afternoon cleaning out all the threads. I've got a nice metal pick and it got right into those threads. Its pretty damn clean now.
Given the age of the Rocky and the abuse it has taken, it went back together just fine. The zero point lined up just right.
One request: When I had it apart, I felt that I should judge whether the burrs should be replaced. Each individual burr is not the same length but maybe that's the design. Could you post a photo or two of what new burrs look like & maybe some comments on what to look for in old, abused Rockys?
I like this video, but I would strongly recommend to pull out the power cord before putting your fingers down into the grinder!!
Yes! Do as we say not as we do :D
Wen I take the steam wand off my visa vtea out I in plug it
Great Job Gail! You REALLY added a lot of value here. The top burr is removed before your hands get even close to the bottom burr screws. It’s idiot proof. That’s most likely why this isn’t in the video. But great value add!!
As always, you are a good Tutor, I need to clean mine, thanks for showing. I love my Rancilio coffee grinder and coffee machine they make fantastic coffee, it also depends on common sense how you can work the things out to learn more and more , for best result, thanks for your advises .
I hope to pay a visit to Gail & SCG some day! From another coffee mad city...Melbourne, Australia
Great video. Thanks. I have a question and a comment:
1. On my Rocky Grinder (w/ doser), there is a little gap in the chute where coffee grinds collect inside the Rocky's housing. When I take the bottom off the grinder I find almost a pound of ground coffee dumps out. How do I fix this? Bubble gum?
2. I've had good results cleaning my grinder by grinding uncooked white rice until it flushes all the brown grinds out.
Whoa! Just got done doing this to my Rocky. Note to self. Never ever, ever, ever grind an oily bean again as long as I live. I've used Grindz but apparently not often enough. I would imagine some people are totally shocked when they open theirs up. Mine's only a few years old.
I'm looking forward to ordering my first grinder 😁
What a great video! Thanks Gail!
Thank you, my Rocky is back in action!
+rugby coaching Great to hear!
The local maintenance shop for grinders told me the main problem with this design is that fine thread. They said people keep it at one setting, a fine one and then try to change it to a more coarse setting after years of using it at the single setting. The threads get contaminated and they force adjust it causing damage. I'm confident if the cleaning is done as your demonstrated here, that wouldn't happen. I only question if this needs to be done every two weeks. Why do you think this needs to be done so frequently?
Hey Gail, thanks for a great video as usual very helpful. One question...what is the burr cleaner you use please?
Gail how often should I do this cleaning? I never cleaned mine for a decade. I owned grindz but never used it. I clean my ransilio from watching your videos all the time. My coffee never tasted so good after cleaning the grinder! How often do I clean it with grindz? How often disassemble it and clean it with a vac. I drink 1-2 cups a day. Thank you!
Hello, a great instruction, I own a pavoni domus bar, is there a possibility I can clean the grinder apart from the grindz step?
Can you remove the blue bean shoot? Mine is pretty dirty.
Just don’t want to drop the nuts into the machine if that’s what the screws are attached to.
What a helpful video! I thank you and the Rocky does, too.
Cheers!
I unscrew the chute and clean that area out as well. Lots of crud gets stuck in there.
+whiskeyminute Great idea!
Thank you for this! Made my little project so much less stressful.
Fantastic. Thank you sooo much! Off to attach my Rocky to the Dyson!
What is that stuff you put down to grind and where can you get it?
I use minute rice. It seems to work ok...
nice video! i hope u also make a video for isomac professionale inox grinder..
Thank you for this helpfull video
I have a problem with the Ranchello coffee grinder which is when installing a grinding gear with a clock stop in the middle before reaching a soft grinder
Thanks, great video.
+mayassa58 You are very welcome ;)
A comment slightly off-side from the cleaning process which I have just done. The last 2-3 grinds for coffee wouldn't come out the Shute when clicking the handle, it appears as thought the "blades" inside the lower are are just pushing the grinds round and over the silver finger guard thing. Ant help on why would be appreciated!
Thank you for posting
Thanks for this. I need to give a little love to my grinder.
Show it some love :D
If I don't have the cleaning beans, can I submerge the burr in cafiza like the espresso parts?
I have a rancillio doser grinder and someone put flavored coffee in it and now the whole grinder smells like vanilla. I am trying to clean the doser part where the coffee falls in and am not able to remoce the container to wash it. Is there a way to do this? Thanks for your great videos.
Hi there,
This is a tricky one, my recommendation would be to get some grindz to run through it to see if that will help with the smell.
Top burr (3 minutes) seized and will not un-screw. Suggestions please.
like the shop vac good idea . got my rocky and silvia from you guys I also use a chemex and don't like messing with grind settings on rocky what grinder would you recommend for my chemex
+rocknroor We love the Encore as a second grinder: www.seattlecoffeegear.com/baratza-encore-grinder Great price point, and a solid build :)
The hopper does come off
they are calling this morning maintenance. is it to be done every morning?
No. Depending on how oily your beans are you could could go one month for oily beens or three months if your beans are not oily.
Amazon is selling Grindz at $135 Canadian. Iws there an alternative to using Grindz?
Can anyone tell me where I can find the grindz in Sydney to clean my Rancilio Rocky grinder ?
What is the expected life of the burr grinders that are in my 12+ year old Rocky? I use it a couple of times every day.
mine must bw about 16 years old and still going strong! What
idont know is when or if new burrs are needed!!
how bad it would be If you had some grinder cleaner in your shot :/ are those cleaners chemical based ?
Grindz is all-natural, gluten free and completely food safe. But it would certainly make your espresso taste a bit off!
You're adjusting the grind while the grinder isn't running, isn't that dangerous to the burrs? I recall in one of your videos you advised not to adjust the grind setting while the burrs aren't spinning.
7:19
Gail, you saved my butt again
I like your videos
Thanks for watching!
I am disappointed in the lack of instructions on cleaning in the owners manual. It implys you don't need to do anything other then what is suggested by manufacturer. I like others in the comments did not clean mine for years and used it daily. One day it stopped turning and just hummed. Took it apart and it was completely clogged. I also suggest unplugging - and using dental tools(gently) since they are stainless. to get at the gummed up nooks and granny's also a brass/copper cleaning brush is a must to avoid damaging brass threads. Gun cleaning supply's/tools I found also helpful. Since both are made from similar materials. I had trouble desolving the tar like residue. Baking soda has been suggested(for next time), but I mechanically removed most and goo gone helped a little. I also put a tiny amount of food grade grease on the treads. To see if that might provide a barrier to prevent threads getting gummed up. The lesson I got was use cleaning pellets regularly and deep cleaning is a pain. Oh yea I will remember to purge grounds ground in the morning but I make my wife's coffee in morning first so ha shes been getting a bit of staleness in her morning coffee, oh well.
I miss Gail
Subscribe to our channel if you love coffee as much as we do! Thanks for watching! goo.gl/hRKEhR
I know it's about 4 to 6 weeks to clean rocky with grindz, but how often should you take it apart to clean.
About every 6 months or so.
@@SeattleCoffeeGear can someone tell me how to make a cappucchino using Bustelo coffee in my rancilio sylvia sing boiler
So why does the Rocky seem to get such a bad wrap these days on the various forums? I have a nice grinder, a Compact K3 Elite, but I seem to be having issues dialing my grind. I was debating selling it and getting something else and the Rocky seems to be at a pretty good price point for me.
+Chad Ashton We love the Rocky. A solid grinder for sure. We haven't heard any negative reviews lately, what are you hearing?
I haven't been on the forums lately but a few months ago when I was researching my first grinder purchase...I was seeing a lot of people asking about the Rocky and folks would quickly say to stay away from it that there were much better options. Nothing specific as to why. I mean I know there's better options but better at the same price point? I'll have to go and see if I can find some reasons why people are being steered away. I remember several years ago I wanted to get a nice setup and the Rocky was all the rage. People couldn't recommend it enough. At the time I ended up not having the extra cash to get into a grinder and espresso machine so I stopped reading the forums until several months ago and that's what I came back to.
+Chad Ashton I wrote a reply above..Put in the wrong spot sorry...Happy brewing/shot pulling chad...
New Videos Every Day! Subscribe ▸ goo.gl/hRKEhR
Check Out All Our Morning Maintenance Videos: goo.gl/8M0Zli
Visit Us Online: www.seattlecoffeegear.com
Seattle Coffee Gear fans are the best! Thanks for watching all our videos!
Hello ,
I have a Rancilio Rocky and I cleaned it as it was shown on your YT tutorial. I made it nice and clean as new, the problem is when I screwed it back and re-calibrated it, It was completely blocked at the 0 setting. It's like someone put super glue on the thread, it can't be moved at all!
I'm completely desperate, I hope you can give me some resolution tips!
Thanks
+Digital Damian Hello. Are you able to get the burrs separate? It sounds like you may have cross-threaded the burrs.
+Seattle Coffee Gear I re-calibrated it - screwed just until the burrs slightly touched each other, set it on the o position there. Right after that, I tried to set it on position 4-5 where it's my dial for espresso , but it got stiffed on the 0. When I re-screwed it after the cleaning process I was not able to turn it down just with my bare hand, I had to put the bean hopper and use my full force to turn it down until the burrs were touching. The more I turned the upper brass burr the harder it moved ...until it was stuck!
+Digital Damian It sounds like you cross-threaded the burrs or their was something within the threads (like coffee particles that didn't get cleaned all the way). You will need to bring your grinder into a repair center to have this fixed. Sorry that this happened to your grinder!
+Seattle Coffee Gear I was extremely careful to not do any cross thread. When I screwed it the first time I felt that as I go spinning down it get harder and harder; so I opened it again and check if there are traces of coffee. I cleaned each thread ditch with a cloth with isopropyl alcohol, the thread is clean like brand new. Simply when I screw the upper brass burr it gets stuck from the second half thread ...
+Digital Damian It is very difficult to diagnose the cause of the problem without seeing the machine. It sounds like the best course of action will be to find a repair center and see if they can see what is happening. Are you in the Seattle area?
What do you recommend for cleaning a Hario Mini Mill or Hario Skerton grinder? I've read various recommendations to rinse the ceramic burrs with water as well as those who claim that doing so ruins the burrs. Would that Grindz stuff work in a manual mill, for example?
+tenor79 We would not recommend washing the burrs as there are some metal components. Grindz is a great product for cleaning all grinders. :D
did you turn the power off before taking it apart????
+deanmatters While we love to live dangerously, we always recommend unplugging the machine before taking it apart :)
+Seattle Coffee Gear just asking. i didnt notice you do this step. i wouldnt want anyone getting hurt from missing such a critical safety step.
+deanmatters Absolutely agree. We had the grinder on a powerstrip, which was switched off for Gail. Thanks for pointing out that safety step!
You the best madam ;)
+Hugo Bouchard Cheers!
im on the weird side of youtube 0_o
+Destiny “pandagirl” Rose Don't think you are..... ;D
Old tooth brush 🤢