pepper grinder help

larry merlau

Member
Messages
18,741
Location
Delton, Michigan
ok i had a pepper grinder made for me and they used a ceramic innards, well its 5 yrs old and it has loosened up and wont grind any more any way ti adjust it ? they say that they are guranteed 25 yrs but not doing me any good like this any help would be appreciated.
 
I'd say send it to me and I'll rebuild it, but...
There should be a strap on the underside holding the guts in. Couple of small Philips screws usually holding it in. Remove that, pour out all the pepper from the top and clean out all the "sludge" from the working parts. Should be good after that....assuming there is no mechanical failure.
 
Bad news is that they do go bad and have to be replaced with a new mechanism there is a small knob on the bottom that changes the grind , but it probably won't help if it's loose and turning freely.
You can remove the top and get something down the inside to the bottom and press the old one out carefully. I have changed several , and found out that if you don't know where the innards came from they are impossible to get them to stand behind the warranty.
 
This is just my observation for what it's worth.
From the ones that I have replaced, I have found on all of them that there is a small spring clip on the aluminum shaft that holds part of the ceramic grind part in place and that slips on the shaft allowing the parts of the ceramic grinder to move apart. This created a large enough gap inside that keeps the pepper from getting ground. These things operate like miniature grist mill stones and if they separate there is no grinding taking place. The aluminum shaft is really soft and I think that is what lets the spring clip slip after a period of use. Also pulling the top off to fill the mill might also have an affect on the movement causing the shaft to be pulled up slightly.:huh:
 
From my experience the clip won't stay put after it slips. It will work for a very short time and than slip again. the shaft is very soft and I think that is the problem I might be wrong, but I found it easier to just replace them.
 
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