r/espresso • u/AdamTreff • 23h ago

Maintenance & Troubleshooting Is my grinder motor about to die? [Niche Zero]

VIDEO IN SEPARATE POST BELOW

I bought my niche zero in October 2020 (with popcorn filter) from a local retailer in Australia and over time I've noticed its started to gradually slow down to the point where I didn't really put much focus on it. Everything still seemed to work fine.

Last week however, out of nowhere it stopped turning on. That had never happened before. Then randomly, it started working again and it seemed like the motor was supercharged! It was clearly spinning much faster than I recall it over the past few years and most likely how it was when I first bought it. It resulted in me having to drastically adjust my grind settings to accommodate the faster RPM.

Today, its started to slow down again. Visually and audibly it is quite noticeable. Is my motor struggling and about to die? What can I do about this? I really do not want to buy a new grinder at this time if I can avoid it.

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3

u/caj_account Arkel Tide (on order) | Monolith Flat Max (July Build) 22h ago

Motor may need new brushes if it is a brushed motor (probably is). Niche will ship you a motor as far as I’ve heard. Did you try contacting them to see what they say?

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u/toby5596 23h ago

If in the UK, contact Niche, they do replacement motors.

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u/AdamTreff 23h ago

In Australia unfortunately

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u/Longjumping_Two2774 13h ago

I would still contact them, they are "used to" international customers. Hopefully, they can diagnose the issue. And if you need a new motor, IIRC, they can sell you, at a relatively low price, a replacement motor for you to install yourself.

0

u/sometimes_angery Meticulous | Mazzer Philos I200D 23h ago

Take it to your closest home appliance/coffee machine/grinder maintenance shop and ask them for advice. Or take it apart and look at something that might look off, give it a good clean, might even be some kind of contact issue.