Cocoatown ECGC-12SLTA Issues
Posted in:
Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Hi Everyone.
I don't own any of these machines. However, with my knowledge of the origin of these machines and cocoa and grinding, maybe I can provide you some insight.
The grinders you are using were never originally designed for cocoa. They were designed to grind things like chickpeas and other soft seeds into meal. They were NOT designed to grind cocoa beans.
Cocoa beans are like little pieces of granite. Their shells are even worse. They are very abrasive - almost like a mild sand paper. Over time compounds like plastic will ALWAYS wear out if cocoa is applied to it with any type of pressure. In fact, as time passes so too will the shafts that hold your granite wheels.
I have machines in my shop that are specifically designed for chocolate making. They have sealed bearings, and even rubber seals in front of the bearings, but even those eventually fail and allow chocolate to pass through and destroy the bearings.
The question here will never be, "What can I do to prevent these parts from failing?" The question should be "If I'm serious about making chocolate, how often am I prepared to replace the parts that I know will fail?"
Fan belts as primary drivers, plastic bushings, plastic paddles..... These are all indicators that these machines were not designed for every day use to make chocolate.
I hope that brings some clarity to the reason you always will have trouble with these machines as long as "plastic" is used on any part.
Cheers
Brad
