Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Bounce said:
Welcome to the Ninja Luxe Club :cool:

I have medium roast beans from Wonky coffee https://wonkycoffee.com/

Which beans do you use?
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I’ve had a couple from The Coffeeworks (Coffee Kev from youtube), they were good without much dialing in.
Most recent one was from Redber, i’ve followed the recommendations from the Ninja barista assist but it’s still very bitter.
 
jpaul said:
spent several hours dismantelling/debugging my HX bazerra
( coffee machine failure probably follows death/divorce/moving-house in terms of stress, I need an insurance policy that would provide a temp machine.)
main relay that would heat boiler, briefly came on, when turned on, but then disengaged, and it would not heat up
- shorted pressurestat, not that
- removed relay cleaned sparked/blackened contacts&tested not that (those contacts have a few years under their belt )
- checked boiler high/low & tank probes
- was concluding that one of the relays in gicar had gone (had replaced it's 12v transformer a couple of years back)

then thought ok I'll check it would refill boiler if it was low, siphoned out some water - hay presto it then started working.

seems to me like there is some corner case in the gicar/mcu programming, such that if I do something like turn off the machine whilst it is filling it can get confused ?
OR the relays are on their way out and it is just temperamental.
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figured out my issue - after problem recurred,
and realised that if low water probe was sending a false/faulty empty reading and high level was also saying it was full ie. contradiction. then gicar may be designed to shut down the machine;
after shorting the low water probe to ground/chassis machine seems to work so there is a fault in the probe - will disassemble at w/e
 
reverted back from non-oem poor performing burrs(unable to grind as fine) to predecessor oem - which seemed to have more&longer blades,
and will complain to company about them -
zero point is now correct versus dial, cleaned threads on reluctant burr screws, but otherwise, didn't apply any grease in reassembly ?

[wondered about changing worn machine boiler relay from mechanical to a silent SSR - new relays is £20, srr about £40 ]

OUOqCxx.jpeg
 
I'm currently using the Sage Bambino with the Sage Pro Grinder, i drink a fair amount of coffee with most of it being decaff with a few normal coffes during the day. I like strong coffee so either espresso, black coffee or cortado.

I've always been toying with replacing the machine...
Mrs won't use beyond the steam wand for making hot chocolates as the other bits are too difficult (aka can't be bothered to learn) so i have looked at superautos such as Jura machines but not sure if it'll be an improvement on what i've got
The Oracle Jet looks like it maybe a solution

Or get something for me like the Sage Dual Boiler and a cheap super auto for the mrs.

To be honest not really got an issue with my machine now but doesn't mean a better machine won't produce me nicer results/better workflow or whatever.
Also want some new scales and some cups, i currently have 2 of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07ST2F1XK?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1 so might get some more just in a different size.
 
Reading the last pages , another sage barista owner who’s machine has given up!

Has stoped pushing any water through but pump still turning on so blocked up somewhere . Shame repairs are so expensive
 
I want to get a coffee machine at Christmas, probably up to £200 (maybe more, but I also need a grinder).

I want to be able to get quite involved in the process, but I still want nice coffee without me having to work too hard.

I like the idea of something a bit robust, made of stainless steel perhaps.

I want to be able to make a flat white.

Has anyone got any suggestions?
 
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Has anyone tried installing or even seen the Gaggimate yet?

It looks like a nice alternative to the Gagguino, which has maybe a more complex install. It’s also open source unlike Gagguino now, so I like that for longevity and ethos.

I’m feeling as though the next frontier for my coffee making is introducing a slightly more repeatable workflow, which I believe is mostly down to temperature control on the Gaggia Classic I use. Without a PID it’s just a bit of a faff to get really consistent results. But I can make a good shot most times so it’s not terrible. Even the shades of coffee PID and necessary extras and flow control are in the £200 range so it seems like this new solution could be good value. Or just get a better machine with that built in…

I realise the contrast of this to the above post looking for a grinder and machine for the same money. Let this be a warning that like many things on these forums, coffee stuff is also a potentially expensive hobby…
 
alex24 said:
Has anyone tried installing or even seen the Gaggimate yet?

It looks like a nice alternative to the Gagguino, which has maybe a more complex install. It’s also open source unlike Gagguino now, so I like that for longevity and ethos.

I’m feeling as though the next frontier for my coffee making is introducing a slightly more repeatable workflow, which I believe is mostly down to temperature control on the Gaggia Classic I use. Without a PID it’s just a bit of a faff to get really consistent results. But I can make a good shot most times so it’s not terrible. Even the shades of coffee PID and necessary extras and flow control are in the £200 range so it seems like this new solution could be good value. Or just get a better machine with that built in…

I realise the contrast of this to the above post looking for a grinder and machine for the same money. Let this be a warning that like many things on these forums, coffee stuff is also a potentially expensive hobby…
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I paid £80 for my gaggia so even with this upgrade, it doesn't come close to the cost a machine with those functions. Quite tempting, as I'll probably keep the gaggia forever.
 
Other than a more stable temperature, the only thing which bothers me with the Gaggia is the rare occasion when I went to make two milk drinks and it doesn’t have enough puff to do a good job of it (this may also be my lack of skill)
 
The 9 bar OPV mod made my machine more compliant and forgiving but I think the next limitation you hit is temperature control imo.

It’s easy to run out of steam too. The mods will also fix that.
 
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I just looked at the instruction photos....it seems a lot more complicated than plug and play, there are a lot of wires involved....after killing a Gameboy colour kit, twice....I don't think i will be even want to attempt doing this.
 
dirtychinchilla said:
I want to get a coffee machine at Christmas, probably up to £200 (maybe more, but I also need a grinder).

I want to be able to get quite involved in the process, but I still want nice coffee without me having to work too hard.

I like the idea of something a bit robust, made of stainless steel perhaps.

I want to be able to make a flat white.

Has anyone got any suggestions?
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Is this £200 excluding or including the grinder?

I got a refurbed Duo Temp Pro recently for about £200 (pretty certain it was unused), and it's excellent.

If you're looking at £200 including a grinder that's a challenge!
 
Raymond Lin said:
I just looked at the instruction photos....it seems a lot more complicated than plug and play, there are a lot of wires involved....after killing a Gameboy colour kit, twice....I don't think i will be even want to attempt doing this.
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None of the kits are plug and play. Gaggimate seems to come with everything you need though. The Gagguino kits pretty much require you to make your own wires and connections etc. so are a bit more challenging.

I figure if you get another brew method going you can take it apart and take your time, it should be ok. The Classic is easy to work on and most parts still readily available if you really messed up.
 
@dirtychinchilla or dedica £149 https://www.amazon.co.uk/DeLonghi-EC685BK-Traditional-Espresso-Machine/dp/B06X3Z9MF3 & ebay sage grinder,

not sure if I understand the proliferation of Breville versus Sage lines now, if the brevilles are re-branded older generation sages, then they could be a good deal.

alex24 said:
The 9 bar OPV mod made my machine more compliant and forgiving but I think the next limitation you hit is temperature control imo.

It’s easy to run out of steam too. The mods will also fix that.
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for gaggiamate -I'd want to know whether pressure modulation(voltage dimming) of the pump is very accurate with it's pressure monitor at the output of vibrating(pulsing) pump
pump, as a means of tracking head pressure .(can't see a video on this) versus pro machines that have a servo'd opv , I thought.

if the pressure control nonetheless enables you control better or worse, that's good too.
 
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