Coffee Appreciation

That's a serious order!

TFFT! Collection was booked from Yodel yesterday, no show so I took it to the depot myself. Pickup guy showed up this morning - yeah, sorry, couldnt make it yesterday... Didn't instill a lot of confidence.

I'll make sure some packing material goes in there in future - they looked lovely and neat when they went in. Anyhow, enjoy, and do let me know when its on sale :)

No worries at all Steve!

Everything arrived in 1 piece! (Well, 20 pieces)

I can't remember the roast date off hand, but we'll probably pop them on around next Wednesday/Thursday. Will keep you posted for sure! Looking forward to trying them!

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/196330/

Thanks, I'll give it a whirl.

Bought my Gaggia Classic back to life - replaced thermostats and thermo fuse. It seems to work. Fingers crossed.

Really unhappy with the way the thermofuse is connected - basic, shitty crimp connection - might have to re-wire the bastard at some point and solder it in.

Ah. Gotcha, thanks for the info!

Anyone with a Silvia had the rusty frame problem? I knew mine needed some TLC but I took it apart this afternoon and it's worse than I thought it was going to be :o

I was hoping it would just be a bit of sanding and hammerite, but it seems Rancilio powder coated the frame after they welded it together. So the water got into the gap between the horizontal base and the vertical part of the frame in the middle.

So, I think I need to cut the top part off with an axle grinder or similar and it'll be a slightly bigger job than I thought.

I'm going to refurb the group head while I'm at it, as the fake chrome is peeling off (another known weakness).

While I've got it apart, I'm also thinking about installing a meCoffee internal PID:
https://mecoffee.nl/mecoffee/

The aim of this being to reduce temperature swings, the need to 'temperature surf' and (hopefully) get more consistent milk steaming because I've always found that a little hit and miss.

The meCoffee PID is 129 euros though, is it worth spending this on Miss Silvia to improve her or would I be better putting that towards a new machine in due course?

Do you like hot-rodding machines or do you just want one that works well? Seems you like hot-rodding given the blurb so I'd spend the money on this one. I bought up and up and now my machine is too big and annoying to take apart and play with so I don't.

I want one of those shiny chrome dual boiler setups just for the sexy looks.

Don't bother with a PID on Silvia

The boiler is so small that each shot causes the boiler to refill with water. So the temperature will never be stable.

The Silvia boilers are ~350ml. Does it really pump every shot?

Pretty much. The boiler is 350ml but I think only half fills with water so there is room for steam.

As such 30 ml of water in a shot is approx 1/5 of the water in the boiler.

I had the PID on a Silvia and you could see the temp drop by approx 15C with each shot. All the PID does is help ensure the boiler doesn't overshoot and get too hot as it comes back up to temp.

Do you like hot-rodding machines or do you just want one that works well?

Just one that works well - I would rather have not taken it apart but even if I bought a replacement frame I'd need to do that. But replacement frames are pricey and I've found no evidence Rancilio have changed how they're made, so the same thing could easily happen again.

The appeal of a PID is to make it work better.

All the PID does is help ensure the boiler doesn't overshoot and get too hot as it comes back up to temp.

Would it help with steam though? The problem I have is getting the steam at the right temperature, so my morning flat white is very hit and miss. If a PID could make my steam temperature consistent (which this one can) presumably that would help?

The steam temp may be a bit better but after pulling a shot you still need to wait for the boiler to increase in temp for steaming.

I thought the point of a PID on a small boiler was to get the right temperature rather than trying to sustain the temperature through multiple shots

i.e it's better than a thermostat

Whoa, that doesn't look too good. Makes my annoyance at my machine having some alu bubbling under paint seem trivial. Tbh, re the PID thing - wouldn't it irritate you to not do it now if you're tearing the machine down to atoms anyway? I say go for it.

Morning coffee nerds. I'm selling my Ascaso iSteel electric grinder. I gave away my broken Silvia a while ago and kept the grinder thinking I would use it for my drip filters but I can't justify the kitchen counter real estate for two pour-overs a week...

I'd rather it found a new home with someone here than eBay, hoping for £80 ONO. DM me if you're interested!

http://www.ascaso.com/div-espresso-coffee-machines-grinders/i-steel-1.html

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The yellow bourbon espresso works wonderfully in in aeropress, topped up a bit with hot water and a dash of cow juice. Totally delicious.

^^ I really want that grinder but I absolutely don't need it.
@StevePeel I have just emailed you as I feel I've wrangled my rancilio to the point where I trust myself with some decent beans.
Also, you mentioned the grinder mod for my kitchenaid recently - do you have a link to a how to? My shabby google-fu is drawing a blank to find a fool-proof step by step..

I can live with it being single boiler - it doesn't take long after the steam switch has been flipped for it to get up to steam temperature.

My morning routine is make two espresso shots, top up one with hot water then turn on steam to do the milk for my flat white.

After much reading up it seems steaming would be improved as the default steam temperature is high (150ish, IIRC) and most people dial it down to 130-135 when they have a PID.

Working out the optimum temperature for a good shot and getting that dialled in is a big attraction too.

i.e it's better than a thermostat

Especially when your typical Silvia can have a temperature swing of over 30 degrees C!

The PID on my old Silvia helped the boiler stabilise but the temperature varied hugely when actually pulling a shot.

Putting in a good word for the following UK roasters, all consistently excellent:

James Gourmet
Campbell & Syme
Round Hill
Curve
Colonna & Smalls

Thanks for the email, I'll get back to you this evening.

The grinder mod I've just tried to find on google but cant find anything photographic. Its super easy - just remove the front bit by unscrewing the big flat-head screws either side of the adjuster knob. The front burr carrier comes off then there will be an allen screw on the back of it. Remove that and the spring and pin which engage the adjuster to give you the steps will drop out. Put the screw back in and reassemble and you're done, If the adjuster moves from vibration while grinding you can put some teflon tape round the adjuster thread - you'll see where when you've dismantled it.