I might add that when I did my investigation of the pressure gauge mounted on my Brewtus II, I found that the portafilter pressure gauge which was sent to me by WLL when I first bought the machine was accurate when compared to my expensive test gauge. It was the pressure gauge mounted on the machine that was 2 bar too high.
Allen From: Chris Bailey Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2009 7:33 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Adjusting pressure Ok, thanks Todd, good to know. I will dial it down a bit. Yes, 11.5 bar when with blind, and more like 10 I think when brewing, which is consistent with what you mentioned. I'll try it out with my next shot and see how it goes. On Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 8:25 AM, Todd Salzman <[email protected]> wrote: Hi guys, I don't think I said that the gauge does not read correctly. I was just trying to say that with a blind filter basket we set them at 10 bar. This means that when you brew with a proper grind and coffee at about 2oz in 25 seconds the brew pressure should read around 8.5 on the gauge. This means the other 1 to 1.5 bar of pressure is being diverted to the reservoir from the OPV, so that the gauge is actually reading the brew pressure accuratly. When we do our set up on the machine we actually don't use a blind basket, we use a portafilter with a gauge and the pressures are always very close. If you are at 11.5 with a blind portafilter you are to high put the blind basket in and dial it back to 10 bar. This is a good starting point. Todd Whole Latte Love This was one of my worries, was that the pressure gauge wasn't accurate, and then as per Todd's note that what the gauge reads isn't necessarily what the actual pressure is. That is pretty poor in my opinion - why bother putting a gauge on there if it's going to be wrong. But, alas, that's what we have. This is one reason I'm nervous to monkey with it, as it's hard to say whether it's really wrong or not, it just surprised me that mine consistently reads 11 bar (with blind PF or when pulling shots). I'll verify that in a few minutes, but pretty sure. I'm grinding, tamping, etc. as per standards AFAIK: 30lb tamp, grounds typically around 15g in the double basket, grind setting such that my shots are typically in the 25-30 second range from the time I pull the lever to when I've filled a cup approx 1.5oz by volume (I mostly pull shots by where it fills to on my cups, but have measured this and it's right about 1.5oz). I've read a fair bit, practiced a ton, use only fresh beans (3 to maybe at most 9 days after roast date), grind on a nice Macap grinder, etc. I've had a friend who's pulled a ton of shots use my machine as well. On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 7:05 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: Also be aware that the pressure gauge on the Brewtus II can be wrong. I went to considerable effort and expense to more or less establish (to the degree that the large pressure gauge that I bought is accurate. It was sold with the statement that it has an accuracy of 1%) that the pressure gauge on my machine is two bar off. I wrote about this at the time on this group, so you might be able to find it with a search. Allen From: Chris Bailey Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 4:56 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Adjusting pressure My screw looks like it's metal, and is located on the front of the machine, lower right corner, once you've removed the drip tray. Sound right? I do tamp to 30lbs. I'll use the blind PF to set the pressure, thanks for that info! On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 5:46 PM, BinBakinBeans <[email protected]> wrote: Which version of Brewtus? The first had a teflon screw on the opv valve that became problematic after adjusting the pressure. The first of the BII had teflon as well. They were later switched to an opv with a brass adjusting screw. I replaced mine with one of these after I had problems with my original teflon screw opv on my BII. Strangely enough, Expobar has again gone back to using an opv with a teflon screw on the new BIII machines. I would say go ahead and adjust it, especially if it is a brass screw. If it is teflon, be prepared to "possibly" have some future problems with it. Not a big deal to change it out if you do. Use the blind filter in the portafilter to get it down to about 8.5 to 9 on the guage. Check again when you actually pull a shot that it is around 8.5. I will assume that you will have properly tamped to about 30 pounds. On Jan 25, 12:27 pm, Chris Bailey <[email protected]> wrote: > I've seen a fair bit of talk on the list about adjusting pressure. Given > the fact that there's tape over the pressure adjust screw on my machine, and > all the warnings about don't touch it, only let the factory do it, etc, > etc., I'm leery of messing with it. Also, my understanding is that > supposedly the factory has pulled shots and checked the pressure and set it > properly. > But, I've just wondered about it. My pressure gauge typically reads about > 11 bar when I'm pulling shots. I'm unclear on whether it's supposed to read > the true 8.5-9 bar that an espresso should be done at, or whether the gauge > is a pressure at a different point in the system and thus the real pressure > at the PF is lower, or not. > > Can folks discuss this a bit? Other than taste, are there ways for me to > know whether my machine is set right or not, and/or if I'm going to adjust > it (and potentially void my warranty?) how can I know when I've set it to > the right spot? From the reading I've done I think I understand that too > much pressure can actually cause a build up and not get things flowing > properly (which seems a bit backwards, but I sort of understand). > > Anyway, let me know what folks think. > > -- > Chris Bailey > [email protected] -- Chris Bailey [email protected] -- Chris Bailey [email protected] -- Chris Bailey [email protected] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
