[erockrph]

Please tell me that someone else has done this so I don't feel like too big of an idiot...

I started milling my grain and noticed a strange noise coming from my mill. Everything went through, but nothing was crushed. Tried again, same thing. I haven't checked the gap in years, so maybe it loosened up. Reset my gap to my normal setting. Nope, still no crush. So I crank the gap as tight as it will go. Still no crush.

That's when I realized that I had used my drill recently. Sure enough, I left it reverse. So I reset my gap to my normal setting. Now the grain won't go through at all when I start up the mill. After breaking down the whole mill yet again I see that the second roller won't spin at all. Apparently all those spins in reverse caked the other roller with grain dust and bound it up. I cleared the dust out and it started spinning like new. Finally, I got back to my normal crush the next time through.

Thankfully, the rest of the brewday went off without a hitch, but took about 45 unnecessary minutes longer. Had to share.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[hopfenundmalz]

I have had the drill in reverse. I saw the direction it was spinning, switched it, no problem.

[Stevie]

Not here. My drill is keyless, so I need it in forward to tighten the chuck. Keyless sucks for milling BTW, and any other high demand task, so I'm getting a proper keyed drill for milling at some point.

[pete b]

I have not done the exact same thing, but I do some version of that maybe once a week. A couple weeks ago I filled my chainsaw with fuel and bar and chain oil, put it in a wheelbarrow with a bunch of other stuff I needed and went over to my bee yard to cut down some brush and set up the electric fence for the season. I grabbed my work gloves and found them to be soaking wet for some reason and put them back without thinking of it. I went to start my chainsaw and after 15 minutes gave up, muttering and swearing about what a PIA two stroke engines are. I figured out later that the fuel cap wasn't threaded correctly and all the fuel leaked out. Hence the soaken wet gloves. I got a blister between my fingers from pulling the cord so many times without gloves.
I swear to God I'm a pretty smart guy!

[erockrph]

I have not done the exact same thing, but I do some version of that maybe once a week. A couple weeks ago I filled my chainsaw with fuel and bar and chain oil, put it in a wheelbarrow with a bunch of other stuff I needed and went over to my bee yard to cut down some brush and set up the electric fence for the season. I grabbed my work gloves and found them to be soaking wet for some reason and put them back without thinking of it. I went to start my chainsaw and after 15 minutes gave up, muttering and swearing about what a PIA two stroke engines are. I figured out later that the fuel cap wasn't threaded correctly and all the fuel leaked out. Hence the soaken wet gloves. I got a blister between my fingers from pulling the cord so many times without gloves.
I swear to God I'm a pretty smart guy!

This is exactly why I have a battery powered chainsaw. I'm a klutz and don't trust myself around gas...

[Ale Farmer]

And then there're those times I'm looking for something--say, a pen--that I'm holding in my hand....

Since I hand crank my mill, if I ever crank in reverse, it will be a sign that I have a gear loose somewhere else.

[Slowbrew]

I lost over an hour a week ago on new 3 roller mill that I had just assumed I had setup correctly.  Don't feel too bad.  I do this kind of stuff all the time. 

I now need to figure out my efficiency drop.  It has to be the crush but that beer was the easiest sparge I've had in years. 

Paul

[Visor]

Not here. My drill is keyless, so I need it in forward to tighten the chuck. Keyless sucks for milling BTW, and any other high demand task, so I'm getting a proper keyed drill for milling at some point.

   Keyless chucks suck - period.
   You should be able to tighten the chuck enough to prevent slippage if you use a couple pairs of water pump pliers [channellocks].