I finally figured out the problem. It seems the problem was that the brew pressure had fallen to being too low. Of course, the Brewtus I has no brew pressure gauge, so I couldn't see that the pressure was low right off hand. Since the flow was too fast, I (and some others) assumed that this might be from pressure being too high. However, Jim Schulmann wrote something on HB.com (here http://www.home-barista.com/espresso-machines/chicago-area-help-replacing-brewtus-opv-t18797-10.html ) that helped trigger my thinking. It seems that, counterintuitive though it is, higher brew pressure actually results in less flow, not more. That gave me the idea that perhaps I needed to adjust the OPV to allow more pressure, thus slowing down the output. This worked like a charm. Problem fixed. Shots are pulling at correct length, with tiger striping, good crema, etc. Voila!
Now that leaves me with 2 questions: (1) Why did the brew pressure drop? Is this symptomatic of some other problem in the machine? Or is it just a basically ordinary kind of fluctuation that need not concern me once it is fixed? (2) What is the best brew pressure gauge to buy? I know WLL sells a portafilter with pressure gauge attached for around $50. But are there any better options out there? On Sep 1, 11:20 pm, Ira <[email protected]> wrote: > At 05:25 PM 9/1/2011, you wrote: > > >When you say "pressurestat," are you referring to the gauge on the > >front of the Brewtus I that tells me the pressure of the steam > >boiler? Or is it something else? Something internal? > > The pressure stat is the pressure switch that controls the > temperature/pressure of the steam boiler. > > On my machine it's at the left rear of the 2 boilers sticking up in > the air at the end of a length of copper tubing. I think it has 3 > wires connected to it. > > Ira -- 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.
