Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

you mean an opv safety valve - should that ever fire ? or an anti-vac valve ? I replace latter which had black carbon like deposits I never understood (but new one developed the same)

grinder burrs installed last month :
was trying to understand if misalignment was responsible for zero ( touching burrs ) having moved 10steps ~ 40 degrees,
marked surface of burrs but couldn't detect significant low point where they touch first;
nonetheless surprised that current espresso setting corresponds to about 45micron burr gap = 3 steps , 1 step = 1/90th of a rotation on a 0.9mm thread.
if I had shimmed with tin foil it seems to be about 15micron thickness.
 
jpaul said:
you mean an opv safety valve - should that ever fire ? or an anti-vac valve ? I replace latter which had black carbon like deposits I never understood (but new one developed the same)
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The valve on the top of the boiler. It always spits a bit when the boiler comes up to temperature (which is why it’s in a rubber boot). It’s a valve which opens when you press it.

Just kinda slightly hisses a bit most of the time now. Not enough to pool water, just evaporates off.
 
Ah it was the Anti-Vacuum Valve. Just ordered a replacement. Along with an IMS shower screen, decent size milk jug, and a replacement power LED which gave up a while back.

I mean I grumble that the connectors gave up, but it is nice having a big solid machine that will last forever as long as it's maintained and parts are available.....a little TLC after 5+ years of service isn't all that bad. At least it's all easily user-serviceable unlike most junk these days.
 
LuckyBenski said:
Ah yes, if it's meant to relieve a vacuum then I'd expect it to suck air in, so letting Steam out doesn't seem right.
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Well it lets a bit out as the boiler is coming to temperature (when the water is just starting to boil but there’s not quite enough pressure to close the valve). Still, 6 quid part.
 
Had never found out why my old and new anti-vac both look like they have carbon buildup (what seal is giving off fumes)




8rO7WFU.jpeg
 
Got a hand grinder, 1zpressp Q2 S Mini. One of those Far East only release for some reason. Apparently it is better than the replacement Q (I have no idea why the Q2 came out before the Q).

Very good built quality, it says it doesn't do espresso but I accidentally grind it too fine and it might do espresso but it was NOT easy to grind at that size, I almost gave myself a massive blister.

Anyway, very good quality, good size and will be perfect for pour over when I set my Niche for Espresso and I have a 2nd grinder for pour over and keep the settings for each. Nit picking about it. The wood accent on the body itself is not wood, it is rubber that looks like wood. The ball handle is wood though.

Also, the bag, it is too small to fit the grinder with the handle attached on (in folded position. Why? It's like half an inch too tight. I really don't want to store it with the handle detached as both parts will just scratch each other to bits.

Dr5I1G5.jpg
 
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Spoke too soon on my Mara being all good. Replaced the anti-vacuum valve....then realised it was actually one of the other pipe connections on top that was leaking....hard to tell where the noise was coming from. Easy enough, another 5 quid part.

My clean and lube of the E61 parts was not long lived, the sticking lever is back. The cam lobe had quite a bit of wear on it, so I've just ordered a full set of replacement valves and cams. Meant to be a 3-5 year replacement window on this stuff, and give mine is used literally every day for over 5 years now, figure it's due. Only £50 for the service kit.

Was nice to get the power LED fixed, had been bugging me for ages!

The IMS competition basket is a nice upgrade, can see a much more uniform distribution when pre-flushing....although it's no so dispersed it isn't contained withing my espresso cups like it used to be....ah well.
 
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I'd relegated my old Mignon to office duties after getting a new one for home but it's slowly been getting worse at grinding. I've been struggling to get it fine enough without the burrs touching and then last week it jammed, so I took it apart, cleaned it and it became even worse. I didn't think the burrs would need replacing as it's only about 9 years old and has probably had 150kg put through it so figured it was an alignment issue. After spending many hours faffing about with it and feeling like I was bashing my head against the wall, I bought new burrs.

New burrs arrived, fitted them and all my issues were solved instantly. The first shot was so fine it nearly choked the machine. After dialling it in, the coffee actually tastes good again. That was £30 well spent! Comparing the two sets, the old ones feel almost flat in comparison.
 
I’d be happy with 9 years of service but not sure how that compares to typical amount of Kg and how long the burrs should last…

I’ve found the Mignon does need an occasional clean beneath the lower burr or it can get jammed from time to time. Fortunately it’s easy to take apart and built like a tank.
 
2nd batch roasted.

This time I started at 180c instead of 200c and then raise it to 200c after 2 mins then 210c at 4min. Total roast time about 8min 20seconds before the drop.

Dehydration 13.46%, 150g in, 129.8g out, (last time was 14.8%). The look of it seems to be very similar but I think it is marginally smaller as indicated by the lower dehydration. This is probably on the light/medium whereas before was more medium.

I bite through one of them, still roasted through all the way. It's probably going to take about 10 days for it to degas due to the lower dehydration and higher density.

Batch 1 on the left, new batch on the right.

gs49pw7.jpg
 
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Street said:
That was £30 well spent! Comparing the two sets, the old ones feel almost flat in comparison.
Click to expand...


did you buy genuine eureka burrs - neither of my previous sets were rancilio, but the most recent £25 have reset/raised the zero point,
and I may yet email vendor, but cant see any obvious misalignment, real ones are ~£45

I'm considering dismantling my opv as either the pressure is too high or the grind not fine enough
I think the opv is not by-passing enough water with a blind filter installed



Raymond Lin said:
I bite through one of them, still roasted through all the way. It's probably going to take about 10 days for it to degas due to the lower dehydration and higher density.
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they are grinding in similar times to commercial ones, and pulling similar shots/crema, or the first batch are only just ready to use.

......



IMS competition ridgless/convex for the win
jpaul said:
LMexit decision .... espresso is better in IMS

Unhappy with LaMarzocco 17g ridged basket , extraction typically too fast & inconsistent with about 15g dose and also wet puck ( lot of space above coffee) so tried a change to the IMS Italian option 18g but ridgeless and also has slightly convex base.
So far getting better results, was concerned that the ridgeless might drop out, knocking out, but holds fine with pf spring and yes I guess it does help for puck ejection.

basket_zpslqjkgmm7.jpg~original
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alex24 said:
I’d be happy with 9 years of service but not sure how that compares to typical amount of Kg and how long the burrs should last…

I’ve found the Mignon does need an occasional clean beneath the lower burr or it can get jammed from time to time. Fortunately it’s easy to take apart and built like a tank.
Click to expand...

From reading around, Eureka rate them for about 300kg so I figured I was well below that. I've looked and it was just over 8 years ago that I bought it and I've put a kg through about every 2-3 weeks, less in the last 6 months since getting my Philos and moving the Mignon to work. I think that's roughly 160kg. Hopefully it'll give me another few years use, but at least next time I'll know what's wrong with it.

jpaul said:
did you buy genuine eureka burrs - neither of my previous sets were rancilio, but the most recent £25 have reset/raised the zero point,
and I may yet email vendor, but cant see any obvious misalignment, real ones are ~£45
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I went for genuine ones, I thought for £30 it wasn't worth looking around for others. No alignment needed, I just screwed them in and they worked perfectly.
 
Street said:
From reading around, Eureka rate them for about 300kg so I figured I was well below that. I've looked and it was just over 8 years ago that I bought it and I've put a kg through about every 2-3 weeks, less in the last 6 months since getting my Philos and moving the Mignon to work. I think that's roughly 160kg. Hopefully it'll give me another few years use, but at least next time I'll know what's wrong with it.


I went for genuine ones, I thought for £30 it wasn't worth looking around for others. No alignment needed, I just screwed them in and they worked perfectly.
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You just made me check mine, the Niche Zero uses Mezzer burr which is rated 750kg, but replacement is £120.

 
Just looked and my Philos burrs are £160! I can't seem to find how much they're rated for but hopefully they should last me a while.
 
Street said:
Just looked and my Philos burrs are £160! I can't seem to find how much they're rated for but hopefully they should last me a while.
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Actually, £120 one is cheap...the others i've seen are like £200 range. I swear last time I looked when i first bought the machine they were between £70-90 back during the pandemic.
 
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Roasted the last 150g of this bag of green beans, this time 14.4% dehydration. A little darker than last time, almost identical look and percentage to the first batch. 8 min 25 from start to finish.

I am getting the hang of this.
 
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