My Barley Crusher has stopped feeding grain again and I’ve decided not to have it refurbished again since I only get about 2 years out of it before it needs to be redone (I put 350-400 pounds of grain through it per year).
I’ve narrowed the search down to either a JSP Maltmill or a 2 roller Monster mill.
Most mills seem to do a pretty good job of milling the grain so I’m looking at longevity. What are the experiences of those of you with either of these mills and the time (or the amount of grain) before the rollers need to be re-knurled or other repairs are needed?
Are you by chance using a drill? My thoroughly unscientific opinion is that most problems with homebrew mills are caused by bushing wear through misalignment.
I wish you could figure out how you have done that because it would save me some aggravation and money.
The knurling on the rollers is substantially worn down when compared to how it felt after the last refurbish two years ago.
I’ve been having problems with my barley crusher not feeding the grain as well. I think I’ve found a solution to my problem- I don’t know if it is yours as well. I noticed that my non-powered roller was not rolling. When I cleaned the axles of the roller by blowing air around it, it works again for a while.
I think it is a two part problem. First I think malt dust is clogging up the axle by the housing over time, especially when it is humid. Second I noticed that the hopper has a gap on the side where the metal was cut and bent. Sometimes grains will fall through this gap and get between the hopper bottom and the roller. And then sometimes the resistance of having a grain between the hopper and the non-powered roller is enough to stop the roller from moving.
Today I tried my solution. I took out the hopper and placed tape over the gap- on both sides, so there would not be a sticky side open. That way no errant grains would fall the wrong way. I did not have any issues milling today, whereas last time my mill stopped feeding about twenty times. I will have to try it out a few more times to test my hypothesis, but I’m hopeful.
I will try this. Nothing ventured, etc.
The last time the mill stopped feeding grain I did take it apart to see if I could find the problem. There was nothing I could see that was wrong (other than that the knurling on the rollers was worn) and there was no crud on the roller bearing surfaces. I put a little mineral oil on the bearings to see if that might help. It didn’t. Let me know how your experiment turns out.
On my BC you can actually see the wear on the rollers. What used to be sharp, pointed pyramids are all flattened and dull. I had it rebuilt just 2 years before which was disappointing.
I gave up on the BC and replaced it with a 3 roller Monster Mill which I have only used once. It gave me issues but I’m still figuring out how to adjust a 3 roller mill. Someday the addition/kitchen remodel will be done and I’ll be able to brew again.
For simplicity, if I replaced it again I’d stick with a 2 roller mill.
My BC stopped feeding first try at my new Denver location. My solution that appears to work for 2 grinds now is…I open the rollers almost double what I normally crush. I run the grain through that no problem…then I put the rollers back to the original gap and run through again…I will probably have to upgrade some day…but this is working for me for now…
I’ve owned my BC for a long time, almost since they came out. Hundreds of 5 and 10 gallon batches of beer later, it just still works. I have the gap set fairly wide, just barley enough to crack the kernels (I look for kernels that look whole with husks intact, but when you pick them up they break apart). It is powered by an 18v DeWalt cordless drill. I tend to avoid milling at the drill’s highest speed. I’ve honestly not even looked at the knurl on the rollers, but I do check the uniformity of each crush after about the first half pound, and it’s always the same.
