![DF54 Help [Bambino Plus/DF54]](https://www.diningandcooking.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/8xntp2qx1nlg1-scaled.jpeg "DF54 Help [Bambino Plus/DF54]")
We recently bought the DF54 and Bambino Plus. We're struggling with dialing in the DF54. I know people say the dial can be off so I manually turned the dial very slowly until I could hear the burs touch and then went up just a little bit. After doing that, what I would assume is the finest setting, the grind size is still too big. Attached is the photo of the puck. Any tips on how to fix this issue would be greatly appreciated!
by Necessary-Rice5236
33 Comments
That looks *severely* misaligned if this is just above chirp. Means the burrs are not parallel.
That’s nowhere near fine enough for espresso.
Suggests your burrs need shimming (make sure they are square to each other) so you can grind more finely before they touch
Plenty of YouTube vids on the basics.
If that’s the finest your grinder will go you’ve got a faulty unit. Should be able to go way finer. Are you 100% sure you’re not at the coarsest setting instead?
Not an expert on DF54 but either the internals are not clean or you accidentally dialed a bit too much than the burrs touching. Best way to know is open up and see for yourself, consider it a general cleaning routine. Look for any burr damages.
Even if the unit is bought new, it could be a returned unit repacked or uncleaned post-quality-checked factory unit with some pre-existing residue.
Are you sure you have the espresso burrs and not the brew burrs?
Df54 owner here, I float around the 15-17 marks for espresso and it’s a super fine powder there. You sure you didn’t twist the dial the wrong way and found the most coarse setting by accident?
That looks like something chopped by axe. Send that grinder back to the store if possible.
Try going to the coarsest setting and switching the grinder on – it’s possible some coffee bean shards are stuck in the grinder.
Whilst keeping it running , slowly turn finer and finer until chirp
Then …. Start afresh and try putting a dose through.
Report back to us with the results.
Good luck !!
As others are saying, that is not right. Either burrs are misaligned if they’re chirping and that’s the grind you’re getting, or something else is horribly wrong.
That’s filter coffee grinds, hell, I’d use that in a French press..
This is the coarse side, not fine…it gets more fine as the number decreases, not increase…if you’re grinding in the 0-20 range and getting that, you need to open the machine up and check the burrs…it could be a screw came loose and they’re not evenly lined up or it could just need a cleaning because there’s grounds logged in between the burrs. Just be careful when you disassemble and be gentle with the DF grinders.
Is that Hills Bros or Folgers?
G
Find grinder?
something i’m not seeing others suggest are you sure your at burr touch. the grinder makes a high pitched “grinding” noise if there are little bits of coffee in the burrs. go 5-10 ticks courser and then with the unit running adjust back and forth 5ish ticks in each direction a few times then bellows repeat 2-3 times and then try to get to burr touch again i bet you go further burr touch on most units is past 0 where are you sitting right now
I think you’re turning the grind dial in the wrong direction…
This is 100% bait
So I’ve found that it’s possible to trick yourself about burr chatter with my DF54. I’m not sure how, but it seems like sometimes I can hear a little bit of chatter at high settings, possibly from bits of grounds, possibly from the burrs getting slightly skewed at first. I recommend double checking the zero point by first cleaning the burrs really well and then doing the check, you should have the confidence to go until it’s a solid sound not just the hint of one. You won’t damage the burrs by doing it for just a second.
If you have the true zero identified correctly, then you have misaligned burrs. Absolutely something you *can* fix yourself, but if it’s a brand new unit I’d just return it and get a new one. I can promise you that this is no where near as fine as it should be able to go. That looks like if I had mine set to 90.
Good lord. I bet you could chew them finer than this. I’d be showing customer service this pic.
Holy mother of mulch.
Try whole beans
I like some tea leaves with hot water from time to time as well.
Consistency of cat litter
My guy those look like wood chips.
I can put those beans back together with some glue.
You accidentally set your grinder to cornflakes grind.
Folgers crystals
You’ve ground for french press
Are you sure it’s the burrs touching and maybe not a bean that’s stuck or some grind buildup? Mine makes a lot of noise for these reasons sometimes, especially if I’m working with lighter roasts.
It looks like you’re on the coarsest setting of the df54, not the finest.
All is not lost. If you have a French press, you’re set. Or you can re-grind this on a much finer setting.
Easy solution is get a French press.
Looks like it’s a bit too fine. Grind coarser
Lol