Some help figuring out my barley crusher issue would be fantastic! I've had it for about 10 years, so it's not a newb issue on my end. The roller attached to my drill is turning fine, but the other roller keeps staying still when there is a significant amount of grain in the hopper. It's not too tight, I've loosened the screws as much as possible. I got through brew day grinding incredibly slowly by grinding a few handfulls of grain at a time. If there is more than 1/2 lb of grain in it the 2nd roller will stop turning, less and it will turn. I spent a lot of time readjusting the spacing today with no effect.
I've had a similar issue with my Monster Mill in the past. The second roller would not turn because grains would get stuck between the end of the roller and the housing. I adjusted the housing to be closer to the roller and that solved my problem, as grains could no longer find their way into the gap. It doesn't sound like this is your problem, but it might be worth checking out. Cheers!
I would recommend that you send an e-mail to the Barley Crusher folks. When I originally purchased my Barley Crusher I had a question and they responded promptly to my e-mail with an answer to my question. Cheers!
It might be. I was already suspicious of this. When I removed the hopper I did consistently see a few grains between the 2nd roller and the housing.
I had similar issues after ~5 yrs of use. As mentioned, it could be alignment or just a need to clean and oil the bearings. However, the grinders themselves do actually wear down to the point of no longer providing enough friction to catch the grain -- at which point you need to replace. There's a homebrewtalk thread on this.
This has happened to me by dumping a bunch of grain into the hopper all at once and then starting to grind - I've since put in a small amount and had someone else pouring small additional amounts into the hopper when the level gets low (haven't had a problem since starting this).
If I remember correctly, mine came from the factory with a rubber oring around the second roller. It rubs against the drive roller to keep both turning. It breaks rather quickly tho and I have replaced it once and it broke almost immediately after. Been using without for years and have had the same issues periodically
