This past season I chose to expand the new small business production and got 2 premier wonder grinders. And I'm having problems with both.
When I went to make some white chocolate, it came out a very sickly grey. No off flavors, but just sickly grey. After the first batch like that, I pulled the hub assembly out and saw there is a lot of black lube in the wheel; more specifically it seemed to have hidden/stored in the gap between the two-piece axle shaft assmbly that is epoxied to the wheels.
After trying to clean that out the best I could, I got a less grey, but still sickly looking white chocolate. After cleaning hard again - difficult because of the small opening I had to work with. and yet again another batch (third one) that is unusable because of it's sickly color.
Thus far, it looks and tastes like it's a food-grade lubricant of some sort, which I dont mind, just want it gone so it doesnt discolor my chocolate. I eventually went through both with a dip tube brush from my beer keg cleaning gear, which was the only small scrub brush that I have that would fit in there.
I *think* I've gotten it all out, but now I'm having issues with both assemblies with the wheels seizing. They "float" across the bottom, but do not spin. When I first saw this, I pulled the assembly and took it apart. There appeared to be plastic or string kinda twined in there. Pulled that out and inspected the wheels but I'm not seeing any damage at all. I put the other assembly in (2nd machine not in use) to finish the batch, and this one also seized up.
Anyone else having these issues? I've attatched the grey vs fresh add to the grinder for color comparisons. This is getting a little frustrating at this point.
I'm currently in the process of emptying the grinder that currently has the siezed wheels. As they get cleaned I'll post pics. I'm really hoping this isnt due to something stupid on my part. I've been careful to disassemble and reassemble exactly as they were. Seemed to be working fine with the lube in there other than tainting the chocolate. But now that it's cleaned, not seeming to work right.
updated by @timwilde: 02/10/16 01:39:38