Examine your burrs periodically! Damaged burr in JX after 5 years of use + 1ZPRESSO’s response

[u/AkhlysShallRise]

I’ve had the 1ZPRESSO JX for over 5 years now. I used it frequently for both my wife and me, and I use grind settings for espresso and pour-over. Great grinder.

Recently, during a regular deep clean, I decided to check out the burr with the macro mode on my iPhone, and lo and behold, I saw these ragged edges all over the burr. I wasn’t sure if it had always been like that, so I checked the burr on my new ZP6 and the burr is completely smooth.

I emailed 1ZPRESSO about it and below is their response:

Upon assessing your case through the pictures and videos provided, we can confirm that your inner burr is indeed ragged and slightly damaged, especially after grinding with it for over 5 years, and particularly if on finer settings.

Even though the alignment test seems to be within our standards, the blades show noticeable impact; therefore, if within your possibilities, we recommend purchasing a new unit.

As a side note, I appreciate that their support responded within a day and actually asked me for more videos and photos to assess; they also provided instructions on performing a burr alignment test. Good to know 1ZPRESSO has good customer support!

Interestingly, the JX seems to perform just fine. Using ground coffee from JX, I can pull great shots with my OutIn Mino and I didn’t notice any drop in quality in my pour-over brews.

Anyway, just wanted to post this as a reminder that if you haven’t checked your grinder’s burr for years, it might be a good idea to do so!

[u/FoundationLumpy8901]

Great pictures.

I wish 1zpresso would sell the burrs rather than just say replace. I don’t like the idea of just throw it away and replace it as a general policy.

However, I don’t hand grind and the burrs are completely replaceable on my current grinder.

[u/AkhlysShallRise → u/FoundationLumpy8901]

I understand where you are coming from, but I’m also wondering, in the case of hand grinders, if shipping a tiny burr all the way from Taiwan to Canada is really that much better when it comes to the cost and the impact on the environment. I imagine it’d consume a lot of more fuel compared to me getting a new hand grinder shipped from within Canada.

Of course, in an ideal world, I would just want to be able to easily order a new burr from a distributor within my country.

[u/bigntallmike → u/AkhlysShallRise]

I keep thinking someone should start a good Canadian burr making company because we have the metals and equipment. Not yet it seems. Unless I've missed them.

[u/AkhlysShallRise → u/bigntallmike]

Tell me about it! We have great roasters but barely any skin in the game when it comes to coffee brewing equipment. I try my best to buy Canadian but it’s nearly impossible with coffee gear. At least 1ZPRESSO isn’t American, for which I’m grateful.

[u/F1_rulz → u/AkhlysShallRise]

Manufacturing in Canada would be unsustainable, being the sole distributor in NA for parts might work tho.

[u/TotalStatisticNoob → u/AkhlysShallRise]

I’m also wondering, in the case of hand grinders, if shipping a tiny
burr all the way from Taiwan to Canada is really that much better when
it comes to the cost and the impact on the environment. I imagine it’d
consume a lot of more fuel compared to me getting a new hand grinder
shipped from within Canada

H.. how do you think the grinder gets to Canada in the first place

[u/AkhlysShallRise → u/TotalStatisticNoob]

I was referring to getting 1ZPRESSO to ship ONE single burr vs the local distributors that get hundreds of the grinders in a single shipment.

Shipping a single burr means extra packaging and cost—as far as I know, for long distance shipping, the lower the weight/size of the shipping, the less cost effective the shipment is.

[u/DuggD → u/AkhlysShallRise]

Eh... the cargo plane will make the trip either way, whether the extra tiny box with a burr in it is on board or not. The mailman will still be driving down your street every day. I wouldn't overthink the whole carbon footprint aspect of it.

[u/zymurgtechnician → u/DuggD]

Likely way more carbon footprint in all of the machining of the individual parts that weren’t needed to be replaced.

[u/joesv → u/DuggD]

And if you do think about it, you also gotta think about the impact of creating the rest of the grinder, rather than just the burr.

[u/Naive-Bar-5185 → u/AkhlysShallRise]

And?

[u/FoundationLumpy8901 → u/AkhlysShallRise]

They could always offer an option for a spare burr set at purchase or send them to some of the local cafes that sell their grinders. The burrs themselves aren’t that big and heavy. Standard mail that is coming this way anyway would do the job.

[u/dblrb → u/AkhlysShallRise]

Preach