Zottel Adjustable Fruit Mill and DD Bladder Press

[Justin Student]

I am wondering if anyone has any experience with Zottel brand mill and press? They are from Slovenia?

Here is a video of them both in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tChDDX1696A

Zottel Mill (650 kg/hr)

All stainless and they show their mill can be adjusted for apples, stone fruit, and vegetables.
http://www.zottel.si/en/product/powered-fruit-mill

Zottel Press (35L, 100L, 160L, or 250L)

All stainless, tilting etc. etc.

They even share a video of them making them in the factory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOXL_fD-MoU

They seem high quality to me, but I would love to hear from someone with first hand experience.

The price for buying the Mill (1430 EUR) and 100L Press (1060 EUR) seems very reasonable for the quality. Mind you, the freight forwarding/shipping from Slovenia to Canada might change that...

Justin Student

[Remo Trovato]

Justin
It all looks good, just remember that they have 50Hz motors and in Canada we have 60Hz

[Royal Magnell]

Justin, 

Did you get the Zottel press and grinder? I'm looking at getting a set up. I'd love to hear how it worked out for you. 

[Justin Student]

Not yet. I am waiting to hear back about shipping and duty. If it is a go, I will update for sure.

The other mill I am looking at is Zambelli 2hp and it is all stainless steel. It seems hard to beat the Speidel mill for value though, although my first choice is a stainless steel unit.

[Royal Magnell]

Same here. They responded initially very quickly but haven't given me a quote yet. The build quality looks impressive. I like that the mill has several settings / attachments. 

[Justin Student]

Remo - 

Do you think that the 50 Hz vs. 60 Hz motor will have an impact on the life of the mill? From what I read up, the 50Hz motor will work 20% faster in our 60Hz power supplies. I am not an engineer, but it sounds like the motor working harder could potentially lead to problems if not designed for 60Hz power sources.

[Remo Trovato]

I dont know the mill, but if there are motor protection switches, breakers, VFDs, overload relais or fuses, they might not like the 20% increase in Hz.
Best to ask the manufacturer about it.
We build our machines to North American specs for several reasons.
Would be interesting to know the price.

Also, you might or might not worry about UL certification (for insurance purposes).

Jst make sure to find all of this out before you purchase.

[Remo Trovato]

Another thing to look at is if its single or 3 phase. Most european machines run on 3 phase.

[Dick Dunn]

On Fri, Mar 03, 2017 at 12:09:43AM -0800, Justin Student wrote:
> Do you think that the 50 Hz vs. 60 Hz motor will have an impact on the life
> of the mill? From what I read up, the 50Hz motor will work 20% faster in
> our 60Hz power supplies. I am not an engineer, but it sounds like the motor
> working harder could potentially lead to problems if not designed for 60Hz
> power sources.

There's other equipment around which was designed for 50 Hz but being run
on 60 Hz. The Speidel mill, for example, is sold in the US with no change
other than a cord with a US-style plug.

The motor isn't particularly "working harder"; it's just turning faster.
If you really load it down, it might be easier to overload it. BUT there
is a mitigating factor, that an electric motor is more efficient operated
at a higher frequency.
--
Dick Dunn rc...@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA

[Claude Jolicoeur]

Le vendredi 3 mars 2017 13:06:06 UTC-5, Dick a écrit :

The Speidel mill, for example, is sold in the US with no change
other than a cord with a US-style plug.

Are you sure of this Dick?
There also is the voltage difference - in Europe, motors run on 220V 50Hz, vs 120V 60Hz in N. America.
Or maybe the Speidel uses a 240V circuit - in that case, it wouldn't have the standard US-style plug, but rather a special 240V plug similar to that on a drying machine for example.

Claude

[Dick Dunn]

On Fri, Mar 03, 2017 at 10:31:56AM -0800, Claude Jolicoeur wrote:
> Le vendredi 3 mars 2017 13:06:06 UTC-5, Dick a écrit :
> > The Speidel mill, for example, is sold in the US with no change
> > other than a cord with a US-style plug.
>
> Are you sure of this Dick?

Well...I've got one! I see what the nameplate says.

> There also is the voltage difference - in Europe, motors run on 220V 50Hz,
> vs 120V 60Hz in N. America.
> Or maybe the Speidel uses a 240V circuit - in that case, it wouldn't have
> the standard US-style plug, but rather a special 240V plug similar to that
> on a drying machine for example.

Yes, it runs on 220 here. (or perhaps it's 240 or 234...there's a bit of
fiction about US mains voltages:)
No, it's not a dryer type plug; it doesn't need that sort of current. But
I didn't say "standard", only US-style. The plug looks like a standard US
120V, same form-factor and such, except that one of the blades is horizontal
to indicate the different voltage. It's for a 20A circuit. NEMA 6-20 if
you want to be precise.
(I don't know why it isn't a 15A plug; it certainly doesn't need anywhere
close to 20A.)

[Claude Jolicoeur]

Le vendredi 3 mars 2017 14:06:05 UTC-5, Dick a écrit :

It's for a 20A circuit.  NEMA 6-20 if
you want to be precise.
(I don't know why it isn't a 15A plug; it certainly doesn't need anywhere
close to 20A.)

OK, that makes sense. The 20A is simply the rating of the plug.
Since most 240V circuits would have a 20A fuse/breaker and 12 Ga wire, the plugs are also normally rated at 20A.
Similarely, all 120V appliances have a plug rated for 15A even if they need 1A or less.

[Royal Magnell]

Justin, how are you inquires going? They got back to me with a quote for shipping the grinder and the 35 liter press. I stupidly assumed that the 35 liter press was the press in the video. When I asked for a shipping quote on the grinder alone and one on the grinder / 100 liter press then failed to get back to me. That was 9 days ago. If they don't get back to me I'll have to go with the speidel grinder. Too bad, their design looks superior to the speidel. 

[Patrick Mann]

Reviving this old thread ... did anybody end up getting a Zottel bladder press or mill and care to comment? 

On Friday, February 24, 2017 at 1:46:03 AM UTC-8, Justin Student wrote:

[Royal Magnell]

I did, yes. I bought the grinder - apparently I was the first American customer. I wanted a press as well, but couldn't quite afford it. They gave me a good price and shipping wasn't crazy, something like 350 euros to ship to San Francisco, which is about an hour and a half south of me. They set up the shipping and didn't give me any options with it. I later found out that it was sea freight, which as it turns out, makes importation expensive and complex. There are all sorts of extra fees, mostly relating to Government security checks, bonds, and unloading etc etc. These fees more than doubled the shipping cost and added significant work and stress to the purchase. Supposedly, air freight is more straightforward and in the long run cheaper, though the initial price may seem high. They also shipped the grinder in a very bulky fashion on a full size pallet, which was totally unnecessary and probably added to the expense. 

The grinder works well, I have the single phase model, it runs on 60 HZ fine. I usually use the mid range grinding screen, the smaller one tends to clog with apple skins and such. I've never used the stone fruit screen, but I imagine it would work well. I find I can dump probably 10-20 apples in at once without jamming the grinder. To few apples and they tend to launch out of the grinder. Too many and it'll jam. Jamming is rare, but of course annoying. Pears seem to jam far more readily than apples (softer fruit gums things up). The rubber gasket that helps seal the spindle is cracking after just one season of light use. I'd ask for a few extras. I doubt it's totally necessary, but that's a little annoying.