1Zpresso J-Max calibration plus quick disassemble and reassemble 

Thank you Timothy, thats really appreciated, really happy that it helps you.

Thank for the positive feedback. Really happy the video helped.

Thank you very much, really appreciate your positive feedback.

You are very welcome. Really happy that it helped.

Chris you are very welcome, really happy the video helped. Its not normal to receive a new grinder with any issues like a seized burr, so i am a little surprised to hear that. Sometimes the outer burrs can be very tight to screw off though, so i do recommend that you disassemble your grinder to clean it as often as possible and also take off the outer burrs and clean any small particles that might have gotten in the threads, but don't over tighten any parts when you reassemble the grinder. I have had a few customers who have dropped their grinder and the impact has been to the top of the adjustment dial. This causes major issues with the adjustment dial alignment and jams the inner burrs and stops them from being taken out, the only fix for that is also a gentle tap with a hammer on the top of the burr shaft. Have a great weekend Chris.

Had the same issue. A tap with a rubber hammer on the center rod did the trick. Also the the the burr ring unit was stuck upon arrival. I managed loosening it by using two old bike inner tubes and quite some force...

@@mightymightyironhead thank you!

Brandon you are very welcome. Really happy that the video helped. Have a great weekend.

Richard you are very welcome. I am really happy that the video helped you. The J-Max is an excellent grinder and one of the best manual Espresso grinders on the market. Please message me if you need any help with your J-Max and i will do my best to help you. Have a great weekend.

@@mightymightyironhead Thank you.

Thank you for the positive feedback. Happy that the video was useful to you. Please feel free to message me if you need any help.

You are very welcome. Thank you also for the positive feedback.

Yes the burrs can be a bugger to get off sometimes. Its not so easy to get them off without using a tool either. I sometimes use some rubber bands wrapped around the bottom of the outside of the burrs, this can give you enough grip to turn the burrs. Another way is to use gardening gloves, the ones with the rubber material on the gloves, these are pretty good for getting a decent grip. I also have a rubber strap wrench that is really good for turning the burrs without scratching them. Channel lock pliers are great, they loosen the burrs quickly and like you pointed out, you really need a towel to stop getting any marking on the body of the grinder. Dry lube PTFE lube is also a good idea, its a little costly, but it does really help to maintain your grinder, i use the WD-40 Specialist Dry Lube with PTFE.

No problem Joel, you are very welcome.

Renan you are very welcome, really happy that the video helped you, have a great weekend.

You are very welcome Evan. Really happy that it helped you.

Aaaa forgot to ask with my j max the lower part cannot be screwed off, seems stuck somehow. Any ideas ?

Hi Pascal, I am i genuinely happy that my video has helped you and thank you very much for your positive comments. I really started to post the videos so i could help people understand the basics with these products because i remember that i was a little confused myself when i first started to use them, especially the difference between the zero point and the zero number and calibration. Also the information from the 1Zpresso website is translated from Taiwanese and can be a little confusing. The J-Max is an excellent grinder and one of the best proper Espresso grinders on the market. Those 8.8 microns can be hard to beat when it comes to fine adjustment. Please feel free to message me if you ever need any help or information, i will always do my best to help. Greetings from Malaysia.

Thank you very much Shauntelle, hope the video was useful for you.

It's kind of hard to push the bottom part to get it in to zero position. The method shown is easier to screw in.

Really sorry for the late reply, sometimes RU-vid is very bad at notifying me when i have a message. This can work, Its very important to 100% push up the burrs from below to get the thumb nut on 100%. It is possible to do that, if you close the adjustment dial and make sure that the 0 number is in the starting position (level with the top of the first square on the pyramid) then push the burrs up hard, then screw the thumb nut back on 100% the adjustment dial should be good to go. I have also tried this and its ok. Sometimes the 0 number can move past the starting position slightly but its perfectly acceptable.

Hi Jennifer. Really happy that the video helped you. I also made the mistake of taking the adjustment dial of my J-Max when i first got the grinder, without realising that its not supposed to come off. Please let me know if you need any help or advise about your J-Max, always happy to help.

How do you get the adjustment dial back on correctly? I also just made the mistake of taking it off

@@g.dillonthompson9470 you really need to make sure that when you put the adjustment dial back on, that you place the adjustment dial on top of the 3 bearings, and that the adjustment dial is sitting on top the bearing totally level. When the adjustment dial is sitting straight, look at the bottom underside of the dial and you will see the 3 bearing just visible, if you cant see all three bearings, the adjustment dial is not level. At that point you can start to turn the dial and the threads will catch and it will start to screw back on. If you need to, you can push down the adjustment dial and apply a slight pressure. One thing to mention at this point, if the dial is not straight and sitting on the bearings properly when you try to turn the dial the threads wont catch and you could end up scratching the underside on the grinder. You dont need to worry about lining any numbers up on the adjustment dial, because when you turn the adjustment dial to tighten it and to turn it all the way to zero point (burrs fully closed) if the 0 number is not at the starting position, you can just calibrate the dial anyway, so its not a problem.

That helped a lot. Thank you!

@@g.dillonthompson9470 you are very welcome.

You are very welcome.

Thank you Mia. Hope that the video was helpful to you.

You are very welcome. Happy that it was helpful.

Thanks Adam, hope that it useful.

Never mind… while reassembling my Jmax I noticed the rubber ring that comes with the carrying case. This is apparently made for remaking removal of the outer burrs easier and it does a great job - I was able to get them off easily after sliding it on.

@@Dubya1886 You are very welcome, happy that the video helps. Yes the outer burrs can be pretty difficult to remove and they do become pretty tight over time and i am actually just about to make a video about this. I try to avoid this by maintaining the grinder as often as possible and removing them as often as possible to clean the burrs. I have tried several things to get the burrs off when they become tight. Anything rubber is a great help and allows you to get a decent grip, rubber gloves or rubber bands wrapped around the rim of the outer burrs can help. I also have used a belt that i use to keep my trousers up, its pretty thin and the material is quite rubbery, so it has enough grip to turn the burrs if you make a kind of Tourniquet with the belt. As you have also pointed out, the anti slip ring is also pretty good to help with that, i sometimes use two anti slip rings, one on the body and one one the outer burrs for better grip. At the moment i have a belt wrench and its the best way that i have found to get the outer burrs off. The belt wrench is pretty cheap and the rubber belt is also great to stop the body being damaged or getting scratches.

Yes its a very decent Espresso grinder. Its got 48mm coated burrs and 8.8 microns adjustments, so its got very fine adjustment steps for Espresso. It quite light to carry, so its pretty portable. It looks great and includes a cylinder hard case to carry the grinder around. Its very easy to calibrate, its very consistent and its pretty fast to grind. The only downsides for me are the magnetic catch cup. I prefer a normal screw on catch cup. Those very fine adjustments can create a little more fines at the Pour over level, but still well within the acceptable range. It can still take a little effort to grind at a very fine setting, light roasted or SHB beans. But this is the same for all manual grinder like this one. But overall its an excellent grinder.

Hi Paulo. Yes that's correct, the adjustment dial is not meant to be taken off, but don't worry too much about it. I also made this mistake when i first got my J-Max and its very important that you replace the adjustment dial properly. What you need to do is place the adjustment dial back onto the body of the grinder. make sure that the adjustment dial is sitting straight and is level. You will be able to see the 3 small metal ball baring's . Its important that your adjustment dial sits level on top of these 3 metal baring's, when this is correct, you will see the bottom of each metal baring just under the bottom of the adjustment dial. When the adjustment dial is straight and sitting on top of these 3 metal baring's, gently push down a little and start to turn the adjustment dial to tighten it. This is the only really important part to get right, because if the adjus5tment dial is not straight and level with the metal baring's, the dial wont tighten properly and you can damage the threads or make the dial get stuck. However if you have replaced the adjustment dial and it is turning properly, you wont have any issues with the grind adjustments or the settings and once you have calibrated the grinder, it will work perfectly.

My friend, Thank you very much for help me. You were fantastic in speed answers and helped me with so many details of information. This video here is a find and will be in my favorites!!! Have a great week and I send you a hug straight from Brazil! 👊💪

@@paulovitortq you are very welcome, thank you also for your positive comments. I actually just made this video showing how to replace the adjustment dial for the J-Max because of your question, so thank you for that. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QT6Lt62mV6k.html

@@mightymightyironhead, Yes my friend. I saw your last video and definitely you will help a lot of people that is throughing the same situation. Thank you very much!

33 for me. and zero is when I can't tighten calibration nut by hand anymore, so I can force dial ring to go to -3 clicks till full stop.

Hi DeeDee thank you for your very kind comments. I totally agree with you, the description that 1Zpresso gives you is a little confusing, they actually updated their website a little while ago, it was even more confusing before that. If your thumb nut is too tight, i think that you did not push your burrs up hard enough and the thumb nut is over tightening. You really should not have to use any clamp to loosen any part of the grinder, Its quite easy to over tighten the parts when you assemble the grinder after cleaning, so be careful with that, especially the bottom burrs, they can be difficult to remove if they get too tight. When i adjust my thumb nut to calibrate the grinder, i also hold the bottom of the burrs and push up, this helps a little to let you move the thumb nut smoothly. I agree it can be difficult to push the burrs up from the bottom, but its really important that you do push the burrs all the way to allow them to fit into place when you screw on the thumb nut. There is a guy who made a RU-vid video and he has a small piece of wood that he made to place into the catch cup, the wood is just tall enough that when you place the body of the grinder on top of the catch cup with the wood inside, it pushes the burrs up from the bottom and let you easily screw the thumb nut back on. If you do try to use a piece of wood, please be careful that the wood does not scratch the grinder. Something to be aware of also. When you are grinding your beans, it will always take longer grind and take more effort to grind finer grind, so Turkish and Espresso will take longer and be more effort than Pour over. However this can also depend on what beans you are grinding. If you are grinding medium roasted beans for Espresso, this will be more difficult than grinding medium roasted beans for Pour over, because the lighter the roast, the harder the beans are to grind. If you are grinding darker roasted beans for Espresso it will be quite a bit more easy to grind than medium roasted beans, so its going to depend on what type of beans you grind and what brew type you are grinding for. There are a few things that will help you better understand the grinder. The J-Max has over 5 full rotations for all of its grind range. If you turn the adjustment dial all the way anti clockwise until it stops, that's called zeroing and when the burrs are fully closed that's zero point. Turning the adjustment dial clockwise will open the burrs and will allow you to turn to the number that you want for your brew type. If you calibrate your grinder and the 0 number is at the start, you have closed your burrs (zero point) the 0 is the very finest that your burrs can go. This is not even Turkish fine. If you want to grind for Turkish, you need to open your burrs about 6 or 7 numbers, that's the start of Turkish grind. Espresso starts at one full rotation, so from the burrs being closed, turn the dial one full rotation until it gets to the number 0 again. Aeropress, moka pot and Drip start at 2 full rotations. Pour over starts at about 2 full rotations and then continue turning to the number 4. French press starts at 4 full rotations.

Hi Sumat, I dont think its necessary to clean after every use, but i recommend that you completely dismantle and clean your grinder as often as possible. I dismantle my grinders and clean them once every two weeks. I used to do it once every week, but i found that there was not much difference in particle build up between one and two weeks. If you change your beans, you can purge the chamber by grinding a few beans through the grinder to get rid of any previous coffee particles left over in the burrs. I absolutely recommend that you don't use water anywhere near your burrs. Retention happens with every grinder, even the "zero retention" grinders have a small amount of retention and its something that we have to live with. Some types of beans and some roast levels with produce more or less fines than others, also the roast date of the beans will also impact this. I usually grind my beans and leave them in the grinder for a few minutes while i prepare my brew, then give the grinder a couple of slaps on the side and this usually loosens up most if the retention. Also i think that most people don't understand that some grinders are designed to have retention, this is designed so that the fines are collected and are not released into the catch cup and then end up in your brew, so in a way the fines in the bottom of the burrs are a good thing. Stainless steel burrs have very small imperfections on their surface and water can get into these small imperfections and cause spotting and rust over time. The amount of rust depends on the chromium content of the steel. The higher the chromium content, the less likely the metal will rust. Usually the burrs in these grinders are made from more basic stainless steel (16NiCr4 ect) or brushed carbon and not high quality material like Titanium or something like M340, which is a specific alloy made from carbon, nitrogen, and silicon. I would think that the better quality burrs and the coated burrs would be less likely to rust than the lesser quality burrs if you introduced water to the burrs. Some people argue that a little rust is ok and not a problem for the burrs or the taste of the coffee, they even argue that some grinder burrs arrive brand new with rust on them and that the coffee beans natural oils will help take care of the rust. However i personally never use the WDT method, it can help with retention, but i personally prefer not to have water anywhere near my burrs. I have had customers grinders in for service and they have used WDT on their grinders and the inside of the chamber was filthy with old coffee particles stuck to the surface and these were surprisingly difficult to remove, there was also spotting on the burrs and these are from grinders that are only 6 - 9 months old. The cleaning brush that you received with your grinder is usually enough for cleaning the grinder inside and outside, The brush does a good job of cleaning the burrs also. I also use a very slightly damp cloth on the out side body of my grinder if the grinder is looking a little dirty. However the cloth can not be too wet and i absolutely make sure that the grinder is 100% dry after i do that. When i dismantle my grinder, i use the brush and i also use some soft tissue paper to clean the stubborn parts, i also use the tissue paper to clean the blades of my burrs, i form the tissue into a pointy shape like a needle and use this to clean inside the edge of the burrs blades, it works very well to get rid of any hard coffee particles inside the blades. Ultimately its up to you how often you clean your grinder, what you use to clean the grinder, how you maintain the grinder and weather or not you choose to use the WDT method. But i do recommend that you do try to maintain your grinder as often as possible and it will serve you very well.

If your inner burrs dont move, it sounds like you have locked up the burrs. When this happens, you will not be able to turn the adjustment dial and you wont be able to take the burrs out. This can happen if you have over tightened the burrs or even tried to turn the adjustment dial while the burrs have been fully closed. To fix this take the magnetic catch cup off. Then you need to first take the thumb nut off, this might also be very tight, so you might need to use some hardware to unscrew the thumb nut, so be careful that you dont damage or scratch the thumb nut. Once the thumb nut is off, you need to place a towel of some cloth on a flat surface and place the J-Max on top of the cloth, make sure that its level. Get another piece of cloth and fold it, then place this cloth on the top of the grinder and over the top of the burrs shaft. You then need to use something like a small hammer and gently hit the top of the burr shaft a couple of times and this will release the burr shaft and the burrs will then come out. There is no other way to remove the burrs if this is what has happened to you. Even 1Zpresso advise this method to remove the burrs and it does work very well. I actually made this video where i am repairing a J-Max grinder where this has happened, so please watch this video and you can see how i do this. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oySuKyneaNw.html

@META Coffee & @mightymightyironhead -- Thanks that procedure got the J-Max inner shaft/burr loose. Now, my outer burr assembly will not twist open in the direction your video shows. The grinder is new. Hear others have the same problem. Almost looks to be some substance where the outer burr assembly joins the main body.

G P if you have not watched my other video's, i have one showing how to calibrate the J-Max ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vC9q1Wcu9V4.html When you calibrate the J-Max, you need to have the zero number in the staring position (above the pyramid) and the burrs fully closed (zero point). Its important that the bottom edge of the adjustment dial is level with the top of the first square at the top of the pyramid, there should not be any space above the top square. If you have reassembled your J-Max and then closed the burrs by turning the adjustment dial anti clockwise until the adjustment dial has resistance and feels like you can only turn it another click without forcing it, stop turning it and back off that one click. You should never force the adjustment dial to turn, because you can lock the burrs and damage them. The easiest way that i have found when you are calibrating the grinder, is to close the burrs and if the zero number goes past the starting position a little (1 click) either turn it back that one click and start from there or turn it back that one click and then adjust the thumb nut a click or two to calibrate the grinder. The J-Max has very fine microns and even if the grinder is not 100% at the starting position, it does not impact your grind settings. Also some people like to close their burrs, then open them slightly, because they want to avoid any burr rub. Also remember that you have 70 clicks before the start of the Turkish grind range that you dont use, so one or two clicks is not going to give you any issues. I think what might be happening you when you mention that the settings were the same but your brew tasted different, is perhaps down to your coffee beans. Its possible that the beans have had time to degas and the flavour has changed, or the beans have already degassed and they are a little older and again the beans have developed more and the flavour has changed, this is normal and happens all the time. Its also possible that its your brew, it could be the water temperature is not the correct temperature for your Pour over or Espresso shot and this is impacting the flavour. If you have not maintained the grinder for a while, its also possible that there is some old coffee particles inside the burrs and you either need to purge the burrs (grind a few fresh beans through the burrs) or dismantle the grinder and give it a good clean. A couple of other things to check is to make sure that when you are reassembling your grinder, never take the adjustment dial off, its not supposed to be removed and can be a challenge getting it back on straight and level And also make sure that when you are replacing your burrs, make sure that you push up the burrs from below so that you can screw the thumb nut on 100%, some people don't do this and the thumb nut will be set properly. I have personally sold a few thousand of these grinders and i have used my J-Max many many times and i can say 100% that the burrs don't drift, meaning that when you set the burrs to your setting, they don't move around after grinding, so i can say that its not an issue with the grinder being faulty and i am very confident that its down to one of the things i mentioned above.

Hi good morning, hope that you are having a great weekend. The 1Zpresso grinders that are able to grind for proper Espresso (JX-Pro, X-Pro and J-Max) have more than one full rotation that covers the full grind range for all the different brew types and the J-Max has 5 full rotations. So to start its important to calibrate the grinder and have the 0 number on the adjustment dial in the correct starting position. For Pour over the 1Zpresso grind reference chart recommends between 240 and 300 clicks. but obviously this number is only a quick guide to get you started, its quite accurate, but you might have to do a little adjusting depending on your beans. The J-Max has 10 clicks per number ( 0 . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . 3 ect) and 9 numbers on the adjustment dial ( 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 0 ) when you get to the number 8 the next number on the dial is the 0 again, this is your number 9 for the the full rotation. So for Pour over you are turning the adjustment dial from the zero point (calibrated) 2 full rotations and continue to the number 6. This is 240 clicks and the start of the Pour over grind range, with 300 ( 3 full rotations and continue to the number 3 for 300 clicks) being the recommended end of the Pour over grind range. Anyway i hope that helps you, please feel free to ask me any other questions.

@META Coffee Morning I'm having a good weekend thanks, hope you are too 😀. Thats brill thanks for the explanation it's a real help! I currently have a Comandante C40 MK4 and get great results from it, just wish they included numbers so you don't have to go back to zero each time you dial in. I know there are more concerning issues in the world right now but it just annoys me lol perhaps I'm being petty! 😆

Hi Adrian. I dont think that your problem with the outer burrs is because of the light roasted beans. Sometimes some coffee particles can get into the threads when you dismantle the grinder to clean and this can make the parts become a little stuck and harder to unscrew. To take the outer burrs off, you need to twist them where the line is right above the slanted lines ( the first line up from the bottom after you take the catch cup off. not the second line further up towards the hand grip). If you take your grinder and look down at the grinder, you need to turn the outer burrs anti clockwise (twist to the left) if you are turning to the right you are tightening the burrs and not loosening them. Make sure that you dismantle the grinder first. Take the thumb nut off and take the inner burrs out, then twist the outer burrs off. If you are turning the burrs the correct way they will come off. They can sometimes be a little hard to turn if you have over tightened them, but they will come off with a little effort.

@@mightymightyironhead Thank you for your quick answer. I'm not trying to unscrew the part below the slanted lines, I'm just trying to do what you do at 7:10 in the video. I used to be able to do. I was disassembling and cleaning my grinder every day or every other day, but I then got told that it was too frequent disassembly and that I should do it every month or so, or whenever I change beans. So I tried that, didn't disassembled it for a week until I got new beans. But now it's so tight I can't unscrew. I have been trying for a month now, every day until my hand hurt 🙁It's too tight, I'm not strong enough and the grinder surface is very slippery, it doesn't offer a good grip. I think at this point, I need tools, like an adjustable wrench.

@@adrianoth1224 you are welcome, i am happy to help if i can. To be honest you can actually dismantle the grinder as often as you want, if you want to clean and maintain you grinder every day there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I usually dismantle and clean my grinder about once evert two weeks. I could actually leave it and dismantle once every four weeks if i wanted, this is still ok. I dismantle every two weeks for maintenance purposes only, because i feel that good maintenance will help the product last longer. If i change the beans that i was last using, or i have not used that particular grinder for a few days, i just grind a few fresh beans through to purge the burrs. It sounds like either your burrs have gotten some coffee particles in the threads, or maybe you have tightened them the wrong way. The burrs do sometimes get a little hard to twist off and it can take a little strength to get them off. If you do end up having to use some tools to try and remove the burrs, i highly recommend that you be careful that you cover the body of the grinder with some good material first, because you will really scratch the grinder and ruin it. Something like an adjustable wrench might actually be the best thing for the job, if it can open enough to grip the body. Also you will still need to have the grinder firmly gripped so that it does not turn when you try to twist the adjustable wrench. Maybe also use some rubber to cover the body and the area that you want to work on, this will help protect the body of the grinder and also give you some good traction to twist. Sorry i can not really recommend anything else that will help you to get the burrs off. I have had this problem with a few grinders and every time i have used something similar to this to remove the burrs, it does work. Just please be careful that you dont damage the grinder. Good luck.

Hi Pete. I assume that you are using the stock coffee basket for your Gaggia Pro machine? Just want to make sure that your numbers are correct for your grind size. Usually when i am grinding for the Picopresso using the J-Max i start with around 15 and adjust from there. So the burrs being at zero point (fully closed) and the 0 number being in the calibrated position to start. its one full rotation from from 0 to 0 and then continue to the number 5 (15 clicks) The Picopresso and the Gaggia Classic Pro stock baskets are not straight walled coffee baskets like regular coffee baskets or VST precision baskets. The reason that some companies use these stock baskets with this shape is because you can use a slightly more course grind with them. However because these baskets don't have the regular flat sides, this can kind of channel the extraction and effect the taste of the shots. Another problem with these type of stock baskets, is that its quite difficult to use lighter roasted beans, because generally lighter roasted beans need a finer grind size. So it could be that your grind size is just too fine for this type of coffee basket. The calibration can be a little confusing at first, but once you crack it, its pretty easy. 1) Take the knurled thumb nut off 2) Turn the adjustment dial all the way clockwise until the 0 number is right above the top little white square at the top of the little pyramid of squares (the bottom of the adjustment dial should be right above the top of this top square, there should be not any space at all between the bottom of the adjustment dial and the top of this square, if there is any space showing, you have not turned enough. **like in the two pictures from the calibration guide on this 1Zpresso page*** 1zpresso.coffee/calibration/ 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3) When you get the 0 number into that position above the top white square turn the adjustment dial back (clockwise) one number, so the number 1 in in that position. 4) Replace the knurled thumb nut while pushing up the burrs from below with your other hand. Make sure that the thumb nut is turned all the way. 5) Turn the adjustment anti clockwise again to see if the 0 number goes back to the position above the white square. It will probably not go all the way before the adjustment dial can not turn anymore. 6) Open the knurled thumb nut one click and turn the adjustment dial, if it still does not line up with the top of the small white square, open the thumb nut one more click and turn again until the 0 is in place and the adjustment dial is quite firm to turn (dont force the adjustment dial).

@@mightymightyironhead thanks for your excellent reply and advice. I will spend some of this weekend dialling in, and will look to get some straight walled vst baskets for both my devices 👍

@@petemaloney9295 you are very welcome. You should still get a decent shot from both your Gaggia and the Picopresso even with the stock coffee baskets, so i think that a little adjustment with your grind size is all you need. Gaggia do sell upgraded coffee baskets for their products, however for the Picopresso its not so easy to replace the 51mm stock basket with a better 51mm basket, i am doing some research at the moment to find some better vst 51mm baskets for the Picopresso. I have my eye on a few and when i have a little more solid information i will let you know if they are worth buying.

@@mightymightyironhead you're the most helpful RU-vid-r. Thank you. I've just spent 2 minutes calibrating my J-Max, so that's half the battle won. Off to make an espresso now 👍

@@mightymightyironhead last question (!) I changed the OPV spring in my Gaggia CP to 6.5 bar. Is this why I'm seeing water returning into the tank, rather than giving espresso?

Hi Miguel. Yes the outer burr ring can be a little difficult to unscrew. Because of the way that it is designed. When you are unscrewing the outer burrs they unscrew by turning counter clockwise (if you are looking down at the grinder from the top) some people are not sure what way to turn the burrs and actually turn them clockwise and tighten them instead of loosen them. There is a small ring right above the part that you need to turn, that also comes off to allow you to get to the screws that keep the burrs attached, this can sometimes be loose, so you might think that this is the burrs turning, but its just this ring, so gently turn that ring to make sure that its closed. The outer burrs can be a little stiff to turn and there is not a lot of space to get a good grip with your hand, but a little effort and it will turn. I use a rubber sleeve to give me more grip and this works very well. Even the anti slip ring around the part that you need to turn can also help to give you a better grip, if you dont have these things, just use a few elastic bands and they will do the same thing.

@@mightymightyironhead It has nothing to do with grip. It's not slippery, it just does not budge.

@@grabble7605 believe me its about grip. I have had quite a few grinders with the same issue where the outer burrs have become really tight and they are difficult to screw off. The problem is that the part that you need to twist is pretty small and its not easy to get a good solid grip. Also it does help if you can get someone to hold the other end of the grinder while you try to twist the burrs. I also have a G clamp that i use for very tight burrs and this works for me, i clamp the body to a table and screw the outer burrs of that way. But not everyone has a G clamp and it can scratch the grinder if you are not careful. Like i said above, i also use something like rubber, gloves, bands or a strap to give me more grip and most of the time this works (make sure that you are twisting the correct way obviously). The outer burrs seem to over tighten over time, so its a good idea to take them off regularly to clean them, including the threads, because small particles of coffee powder could get in there.

Sorry for the confusion, i think that i did not explain that very well. When you are calibrating your grinder, some people get a little confused about the point that the adjustment dial is in the correct position. I was kind of trying to explain that the adjustment dial is in the correct position when the bottom of the dial is level with the top of the very first square on the pyramid. Some people think that its calibrated when the adjustment dial is above the top square, so they need to turn the adjustment dial all the way around another full rotation until its level with the top.

Hi Jakob. I have had a few instances where i have repaired dropped grinders. All of these instances have been when the grinder has been dropped from a height and there has been visible damage damage to the grinder, also all of these has been when the grinder has landed on the adjustment dial end and jammed the adjustment dial. When this happens the adjustment dial jumps the threads on the inside of the dial and the dial wont turn at all, it should be easy to see if this is the case if you can not turn the adjustment dial. However if your adjustment dial does not have any visible damage, or the adjustment dial looks not straight. Try turning the dial until you have it in the starting position right above the top square on the pyramid and see if it looks not straight. If you have been able to turn the dial without any obvious sticking, or the dial just feels not right, then i would think that you did not damage the adjustment dial, but i would start by first checking that the adjustment dial is on straight and resting on all three bearings properly. Yes its true that coffee particles and residue inside the burrs can affect the grinding, however this will usually just affect the grind adjustment setting and can make it look like your previous settings have changed, but to my knowledge coffee residue will not prevent the adjustment dial from turning or the burrs from grinding beans. Its also important to understand that if you have changed your beans, you will need to slightly adjust your grind settings again, because all beans are different depending on the type of beans and the roast level and require a slightly different grind size adjustment. The only time that i have ever had an issue with the J-Max where the grinder was not actually grinding beans when i had some been in the hopper, was because my grind settings were wrong and my grind settings were too fine (under one full rotation). If your grind settings is too fine and the beans are too large, the beans wont be able to get into the space between the burrs and the grind handle will just keep turning and nothing will happen, i have done this three or four times and it really confused me until i realised what i had done wrong. Regarding the outer burrs, they can be pretty hard to get off. I have a few things that i use to get the outer burrs off. I use gardening cloves with the rubber on the fingers, these work very well and allow you to get a good grip of both ends of the grinder www.amazon.co.uk/Kingfisher-Rubber-Grip-Garden-Gloves/dp/B08466LJ5M I also use a rubber strap wrench, these can work very well but you kind of need two people to help because you need two hands for the wrench www.amazon.com.au/General-Tools-1566-Rubber-Wrench/dp/B001AMXRG6 My advise to you is to dismantle the grinder clean it inside the body and burrs and make sure that everything is reassembled properly. Check that the adjustment dial has not been damaged or pushed out of alignment and is sitting straight. If you have done all of these things properly, i honestly think that it can only be your grind settings are wrong and they are set too fine, so try opening the adjustment dial a little more and see if the beans grind .

@@mightymightyironhead Thank you very much for answering and giving me that insightful explanation. P S. & N B. Regarding opening the bottom stationary burrs, your video clearly shows you opening it by turning it clockwise, which is counterintuitive. Elsewhere you say that you should open it by turning it counterclockwise - exactly the opposite! I'm confused - which is it?

Hi good morning. Yes unfortunately the grinders are not always calibrated out of the box, they do usually zero point (close the burrs) the grinder in the factory, so the user will usually need to calibrate. The pyramid is a visual guide to let you know how many rotations you have turned the adjustment dial, from the starting position with the burrs fully closed and the grinder calibrated (0 number at the start) the 0 number will sit on top of the top small square and if you keep turning the adjustment dial it does cover the next square below and if you keep turning all the way, the adjustment dial will stop turning because your burrs are fully open. You have four and a half full rotations for all your grind settings (450 is the last grind setting and the end of the French press grind range). The pyramid is also to help you when you are calibrating the grinder or when you dismantle the grinder to clean inside. If you turn the adjustment dial too far, it will come off and you will have to put the dial back on properly, this can be a bit of a pain and needs to be replaced straight or you can damage the threads. So the top of the pyramid indicates that you don't need to twist the adjustment dial any further. This is the grind reference numbers for the J-Max: 0 . . 30 . . 60 . . 1 . . 120 . . 150 . . 2 . . 210 . . 240 . . 3 . . 300 . . 330 . . 4 . . 390 . . 420 . . 5 The whole numbers (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) are all full rotations. So with your grinder at zero point (burrs fully closed) and calibrated with the 0 number at the start, turn clockwise from the 0 to the 0 that's one full rotation (90 clicks). The small dots between the numbers are 10's so each full rotation has 90 clicks and you have a total of 4 1/2 full rotations so that is just over 400 clicks with some in between that you don't need to worry about, like the clicks before Turkish from 0 - 70 because Turkish starts at 70. Turkish is from 70 - 110 Espresso is from 1 - 150 Aeropress/Moka pot/Drip is from 2 - 240 Syphon/Pour over is from 240 - 300 French press is from 4 - 420 This is the link to the actual grind reference chart: 1zpresso.coffee/grind-setting/ Just scroll down until you get to the picture for the J-Max reference chart. Anyway good luck, the J-Max is an excellent grinder and one of the very best that you can get for Espresso. If you need any more help, please feel free to message me and i will always do my best to help.

@@mightymightyironhead thank you so much!! This is really helpful!

Jakob it sounds like you did not calibrate the grinder properly and the burrs are not completely pushed up so that the thumb nut is not on properly. First thing i would do is dismantle the grinder. 1) Take out the thumb nut, upper bearing cap and upper bearing, then take out the burrs. 2) Take the burrs out. 3) Turn the adjustment dial anti clockwise until the 0 number is right above the top square of the pyramid (the bottom of the adjustment dial need to be level with the top of the square and should not have any space between the adjustment dial and the square) 4) put the burrs back in to the body and push them up with your free hand from the bottom (this is very important, because if you do not push the burr all the way up from the bottom, you will not be able to screw the thumb nut back on 100%) 5) while pushing the burrs up with your free hand, place the upper bearing, upper bearing cap and last the thumb nut back on. 6) If you have done this correctly, the thumb nut will make some clicking sounds and then it will tighten into place. 7) At this point your grinder is calibrated and is good to use. However you might still be able to turn the adjustment dial a little more so that the 0 number moves past the starting point. 8) If that happens, just open the adjustment dial a couple of numbers (enough that you can turn the burrs, you can check this by placing the grind handle on the grinder and tipping it on its side, if the handle falls freely, the burrs are open, if the handle stays in place the burrs are not open) after you have opened the adjustment dial a couple of numbers, open the thumb nut one or two clack (try one click at a time) and then turn the adjustment dial and the 0 number should move into the starting position properly. One other thing to check is that the adjustment dial is one the body properly. The adjustment dial is not meant to be taken off, but if you have not taken the adjustment dial off at any point, then just disregard this part.

@@mightymightyironhead Thanks for getting back to me so soon. I followed your instructions more or less in the video and what you just said. The grind adjustment dial when set to zero, does not allow the burrs to move at all. I suppose that means it's ready to go - right? P S. And what is the espresso range? The grinder did not come with any instruction set.

Before you can take the bottom burrs out, you need to take the inner burrs out, because when the inner burrs are assembled, they and the burrs shaft need to slide out from the bottom and while they are in, they stop your bottom burrs from coming out. So you will need to take the parts that are holding the inner burrs in place, then take the burrs with the burr shaft out, only then will you be able to unscrew the bottom burrs.

Same problem

Had the same issue. You just need to remove the cup, loose the adjusment ring a litte bit then press the flat part of the burr with your thumb to be able to rotate that inner ring

@@Alonsomario29 I don’t know why this video doesn’t say this since that is the instruction in the manual and every other guide

@@Alonsomario29 Man! Can you please explain it a bit further? Mine is just spinning and I don't understand what's happening. When I take it apart and put it back together, I tighten it really hard. It does seem to work, but I do some adjustments and voila it keeps spinning at all. Obviously can't grind with it. Is it possible that i messed it up somehow?

@@Alonsomario29 So I can tighten it up, set it up to 150 clicks, but then when i try to grind, it takes a significant resistant to move it and pops once and thats it...then it just keeps spinning. Is this broken? I tried it without any beans, just wild

I suspect that your adjustment dial is not attached to the body of your grinder properly. There are 3 small bearings at the top of the body of the grinder. The adjustment dial sits on these 3 bearings to stabilise the grinder. When you turn the adjustment dial, there are also some ridges in the inside of the adjustment dial and the bearings fit into these ridges and this is how your get your adjustment sizes (clicks) they also make a small clicking sound when you turn the adjustment dial and you can also feel the clicks when you turn the dial. If you have taken your adjustment dial off at any point, you need to replace the adjustment dial properly by lining up the bottom of the adjustment dial with the top of the bearings, make sure that the adjustment dial sits very straight on the bearings and gently push down and turn the adjustment dial. This will fix your adjustment dial back onto the body properly, then you need to turn the adjustment dial all the way to the closed position and then calibrate your grinder like usual.

Hi Jules. If you have calibrated the adjustment dial and the 0 number is in correct starting position (right above the very top square on the pyramid) the burrs are fully closed at that point closed and wont spin. That's your starting point and from there you need to then turn the adjustment dial to open the burrs again to start to dial in your preferred grind size. You turn the adjustment dial anti clockwise to close the burrs and clockwise to open the burrs. An easy way to see if the burrs are fully closed is to place the grind handle on the body of the grinder and turn the grinder on its side, if the handle falls, the burrs are still open, if it does not fall, the burrs are closed. When you are calibrating the adjustment dial, do not over tighten the dial, just feel for the resistance when you are tightening the dial and it should be "finger tight" if you over tighten the dial it can be pretty difficult to get back off.

@@mightymightyironhead hey thanks for the reply. The problem was I had just unboxed it and the burrs were stuck in the closed position, so I had to disassemble and reassemble, then calibrate and set the grind size

Hi Jakob. Yes the outer burrs can become very tight and be really difficult to get off, i think that over time there can be some small coffee particles that get into the threads. First thing is to make sure that you are turning the outer burrs the correct way to loosen them, you need to turn them anti clockwise, not clockwise. It really helps if you have two people to do this, one person to hold the body of the grinder and the other to twist the outer burrs. I use something made from rubber to get a good grip on the small area where the burrs attach to the body, rubber gloves are good, or even some rubber bands wrapped around the area between the space in the middle of the burr ring. This will help you to get a good grip, but it can still be a bit difficult to turn, so the second person really help. I also have a belt wrench that i often use. This tool has a rubber strap that gets a really good grip and the rubber prevents me from damaging the surface. I have another video where i mention the rubber strap wrench, you can see it here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sMs0m8vz_4A.html I recommend that you try the other methods first before you go and buy the wrench, because usually a the burrs will come off with a bit of force and a good hard twist.

@@mightymightyironhead Thanks for your advice. I DID manage to finally get the bottom burr OFF just twisting it the right way - as you showed. BTW, my JMax came WITHOUT any instructions. Is that NORMAL? And what is the ESPRESSO range?

Well why did you give the WRONG instructions in your video where you suggested people turn the bottom ring clockwise to open it up?

Hi Adam. Its very unusual for the thumb nut to just turn freely. I suspect that the thumb nut might not have been screwed on properly and is loose. I would start by dismantling the grinder and starting again. Make sure that you calibrate the adjustment dial first by turning anti clockwise until the 0 number is right above the top square of the triangle (the bottom of the adjustment dial should be in line with the top of the top square). Then you need to make sure that you have pushed the burrs from the bottom all the way, because if you did not do that the thumb nut might not have screwed onto the threads properly. There should be about 15 noticeable small clicking sounds when you are tightening the thumb nut, so you can use them as a kind of guide to know that you have the burrs pushed up far enough and the thumb nut is screwing on properly. I would also check the thumb nut and the burr shaft threads for any noticeable damage that might prevent the thumb nut from screwing on properly, but i honestly suspect that you dont have the burrs pushed in enough, so please check that.

@@mightymightyironhead must the thumb nut click like that in order to grind? In any case the adjustment dial seems to have detached and no longer stops at the furthest counter clockwise point (zero point). I guess that means it's broken. Will return it and try one more time. BTW when you grind, do you turn the wooden grind knob clockwise?

@@mightymightyironhead Also, while the video is helpful, nowhere do you demonstrate or state that one has to push up on the burs. I’m not completely sure what this means or how to do this (with only two fingers?) while simultaneously using my other hand to turn the thumb nut. I actually encountered a fair amount of resistance in trying to push up these burs while turning the thumb nut. Also, when do you push up on the burs? Before you turn the nut? During the turning of the nut? Do I have to push up on the burs (and hold it up) for each thumb nut adjustment click or do i press up on the burs once to set something or other in place so that the thumb nut performs counter clockwise “clicks” without pushing up. Can you clarify all this? I’ll have a replacement J Max tomorrow to try again… Thx.

@@adamdrexler2398 yes the thumb nut needs to be tightened all the way, because it is important for the grind adjustments. Also by pushing the burrs all the way up from the bottom and then tightening the thumb nut, you are zeroing the burrs. The adjustment dial is not meant to be taken off, if you turn the adjustment dial too far (after taking the thumb nut off) the adjustment dial will detach from the body and you will need to attach it again properly. When you attach the adjustment dial again, make sure that it is sitting on top of the three small bearings and is completely level, then gently push the dial down and turn to tighten it again, it’s important that the dial is totally level, or it won’t screw back on properly. If the dial is screwed on properly you should be able to calibrate the adjustment dial like I explained earlier. If the thumb nut is screwed on properly also, by pushing the bottom of the burrs up firmly from bottom, the adjustment dial should not just keep turning, it will only turn a little and then be too tight to turn. Yes when you are grinding you turn the handle clockwise to grind.

@@adamdrexler2398 you can also use this link to the calibration page for the J-Max 1zpresso.coffee/calibration/

Yes the outer burrs can be pretty difficult to open if they have been over tightened. Make sure that you are turning the burrs the correct way to open ( its the ring with the ///////////), also there is a small cover that is right above the burrs that turns freely, so obviously don't hold that when you turn the burrs. What i usually do when mine are a little tight to twist, is use rubber gloves, or some thick rubber bands around the part where you hold the burrs, this give you some grip and can really help to turn the burrs.

@@mightymightyironhead thank you for the reply i will try again when i cleaning the grinder.

@@mightymightyironhead i'm give up open the part of the burr it's still hard to open. and try to set 1.3 ( 1 circle and 3) to get the espresso grind but the result is still coarse that it should be. is there something wrong with my grinder? the texture like little bit fine than salt and still feel the coarse.

@@vanputu9719 It does sound like you have over tightened your burrs, so i am not really sure what to recommend, you would just need to use some strength to loosen them again. Its difficult or me to know what the problem is with your grind size without seeing the actual grinder and the ground coffee. I think that you might have been over tightening the adjustment dial and damaged the internal spring. This happens and can cause a few problems. Maybe you can like my Facebook page and send me some pictures there so i can have a better understanding of what's going on. facebook.com/metacoffee178

@@mightymightyironhead thank you for your reply, i bought it not new it is used one and the seller was not using it much just one or twice a day. so i just try to open it all like in your video to understand the grinder but it doesn't work :D. i will try to catch up at you FB page for the pickture.

Exactly lol why in the world did he go all the way around then at the end of the video he shows just tightening to get to zero lol makes no sense

Hi Ali, i have personally never had this happen to me. I am trying to get my head around how grinding faster could make the grind inconsistent. When i use my grinder i usually grind at a normal speed, i dont try to grind too fast, so i have never really noticed any problems shots running faster (under extraction?) apart from what you would expect from the usual things, like bean type, roast level, water temperature, tamping ect. The burrs in the J-Max are really well fitted and designed, the adjustment dial also has three bearings for stabilisation, so i would be very surprised if there was any inconsistency issues caused by grinding a little faster. One thing that i will say is that the J-Max can produce a little more fines at the Pour over level, but this is totally within the acceptable level. Any inconsistency could indicate a problem with the burrs and the burr shaft alignment, so its worth keeping an eye on that, maybe ask your dealer about it. I will pass this onto 1Zpresso and see if they have had any feedback about this and get back to you if they have any useful feedback.

I think I have experienced the same. My theory (not verified) is that grinding at higher RPM results in more static in the ground coffee and somehow affect the extraction even after tamping. Could that be it?

@@adrianoth1224 in my experience static is only a problem with retention inside the grinder. All grinders have some retention issues and there is no real solution for retention. There are a few things that can help with retention, like using a couple of drops of water (RDT method) on your beans before grinding, this can help with retention, but not get rid of it. Some types of beans and some roast levels with produce more or less retention than others (dark roasted beans tend to produce less retention than medium or light roasted beans) so its worth noting that. When i grind my beans i just give the catch cup a few tamps to make the coffee come away from the burrs and the sides of the catch cup, then i leave the grinder alone for a couple of minutes and this usually fixes 90% of the retention inside the grinder and catch cup. As i pointed out to Ali above, inconsistency has nothing to do with retention. If your shots are not running right, i would recommend that you look at your tamping first, usually a bad extraction is caused by channeling and channeling can be fixed with a little practice with your technique. The first thing to do is ensure that you are using a solid recipe. If your coffee is too fine it can result in an increased rate of channeling, due to the strong resistance of the denser areas of the puck. Try a ratio between 1:1 and 1:2.5 and in a timeframe between 20-35 seconds, you can ensure you’re not making things harder on yourself. Maybe invest in a distribution tool and a better calibrated tamp, this will really help with your tamping and cut down on any channeling.

@@mightymightyironhead I used the RDT method a few months ago, and it did make a big difference, nearly zero static. However this techniques leads to a lot of residue on the burrs that don't go away even when using the blower, because they are a bit humid. So it requires to disassemble the grinder after every use. I stopped using this technique, now I just give a few taps below the catch cup and on the side of it, and that solves 95% of the static issue. It's good enough and less work :)

@@adrianoth1224 yes i totally agree with you about the RDT method. I personally would never use water anywhere near the burrs on any of my grinders. I just think that retention is a small problem and something that does not bother me at all. A couple of small taps and a minute or two waiting and most of the retention has gone, then a quick brush up with the cleaning brush and thats it.

Are you saying that the adjustment dial (dial with the numbers on) wont turn at all? When you first take the grinder out of the cylinder case, the grinder will have been set to zero point at the factory. The Zero point is basically the burrs are fully closed. So you will only be able to turn the adjustment dial clockwise to open the burrs and you will not be able to turn the burrs anti clockwise, because they are closed already and wont turn any more. If you can not turn the adjustment dial at all, this is not normal and its possible that your grinder has either not been assembled correctly, this is highly unlikely, or the grinder has been dropped, again its highly because you would notice any damage to the outside box and also the cylinder case is pretty touch and is designed to prevent this. The adjustment dial for the J-Max does come off, but is not supposed to be removed, if the adjustment dial is not straight or it has been dropped and the adjustment dial damaged, the dial will not turn. So start by checking for any damage to the outside cartons and cylinder case. If there is not damage, check the actual grinder for any damage or marks. Personally i would dismantle the grinder and calibrate the grinder anyway, so you can do that next, maybe this will let you see any problems with the grinders adjustment dial and fix it. If there is still a problem, i would contact the dealer and return the grinder to them.

@@mightymightyironhead Thanks for your reply. Yes! it didn't turn at all. With a little hit on the bur with a hammer it came out. Now it works great..

@@htwjunior Happy to hear that you got the grinder working. I am really surprised that the burrs were stuck.

I got mine yesterday and the burrs came stocked too . I have been avoiding using some force to un stock it but seems thats the way to go .

@@yoelrc88 it was just a little hit with a hammer that released it… there was no other way for me to get it loosened. It still works great! No problems afterwards