Guido and John, Thanks for responding to my request for help. I was in the process of implimenting some of your suggestions when I suddenly lost all brew pressure and the temperature dropped rapidly. I can only assume that the machine has experienced some sort of electrical problem. I have contacted the vendor and am waiting for a response. I will let you know what the problem is once I find out.
jj On Apr 6, 3:13 am, John Brinkman <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi JJ > > There are a few things that I would guess it could be so here are a few > questions/suggestions. > > What coffee are you using? > My first guess would be that you are getting channeling when going to a > courser grind. Check out your puck after you pull the shot and check for > holes in it. Also, you have a bottomless PF so you should see the coffee > jetting through it, from your description however it does not sound like > you are. I have always found it easier to pull shots with fresh coffee > (less than a month old that is), it seems less prone to channeling and > usually tastes better :-). Perhaps try a different coffee on your next > attempts > > Is your machine a vibration or rotary pump machine? > Vibe pump machines do take slightly longer to ramp up the pressure, but you > should still get to 9 bar within (i would guess) 5 seconds. > > How long are the shots you are pulling, how many .ml? > > Good luck > > JohnB > > > > On Fri, Apr 6, 2012 at 3:14 AM, guido <[email protected]> wrote: > > hello jj, > > > i am only operating a brewtus iv for a couple of months, so i'm not > > exactly an expert. but since no-one else seems to be responding, here are > > my thoughts. > > > have you measured the pressure against a blind filter again, is it still > > at 10 bar? i think you should check this first. > > > have you tried to go finer in the grind again? you could just offer too > > little resistance with your coffee-bed for the pressure to build up. > > > all the best, > > guido. > > > Hi, I am new to this group and would love to hear some comments > >> regarding my problem. > > >> For starters I just recently purchased a new Brewtus IV, along with a > >> Baratza Vario W grinder and Espro (calibrated) tamper. > > >> I am relatively new to the espresso world and thought that this group > >> of equipment would minimize some of the variables that can have an > >> adverse effect on shot extraction. The temperature of the Brewtus is > >> at the factory setting 96 degrees C (approx 205 F) and I'm using a > >> naked portafilter (for assessment purposes) > > >> My goal was to attempt to achieve an 2oz pull in roughly 25 seconds. > >> I would use this as a baseline and then tweak from that point. > >> Ultimately, taste would be my guide. > > >> On the first day of pulling shots I will admit that I didn't really > >> have a plan nor did I keep track of times and volumes. Big mistake. > >> I ended up getting shots that where either took too long or too quick > >> to pull. The shots either looked like crude oil, 75% crema or > >> something in between. Taste ranged from almost undrinkable (crude > >> oil) to something that you would expect to get from one of those > >> roadside coffee kiosks (you'll drink it because it's the only place in > >> town). One thing I did notice that the brew gauge frequently > >> indicated 4 to 5 Bar during the extraction. > > >> The next day I decided that I would chart my pulls in an attempt to > >> resolve the problem. > > >> I started by adjusting the OPV by using a blindbasket on the > >> portafilter. The factory setting was at 12 Bar which I have been led > >> to believe is too high. I adjusted the setting to 10 Bar which now I > >> believe might still be a little too high (9.5 Bar). Anyways the > >> current setting seems to be better than the factory setting. > > >> My methodology was the following: I would start by setting my grinder > >> at a very fine setting, pull a shot, measure volume/time and adjust if > >> necessary. I ll spare you all the details (this is getting very > >> longwinded I know) but will provided a summary. Basically the first > >> shots (with a very fine setting) were very dark in colour and took > >> approx 60 seconds. Brew pressure measured at 9 Bar. I then made the > >> grind increasingly more coarse. The dose size (14 grams) would remain > >> the same. My hope was that I would be able to reduce the shot time > >> and maintain the brew pressure. What ended up happening was that the > >> shots times did decrease to a point and brew pressure remained > >> consistant. Then mysteriously brew pressures would only climb to 4 or > >> 5 Bar after pre infusion. Towards the end of the shot (at the point > >> where blonding has occurred and the fluid has changed to a clear > >> state) the brew pressure shoots up to 9 Bar (I realize that I am > >> allowing the shot to continue too long once it has reached this > >> stage). > > >> I then tried pulling shots with a 16 gram dose using the same > >> methods. Basically the same pattern occurred, full brew pressure with > >> the finest settings although very long shot times. Once the grinds > >> became more coarse, brew measure failed to reach more than 4 or 5 Bar > >> and only reached 9 Bar well after the shot should have ended. The > >> same pattern occurred at 18 and 20 grams. > > >> The naked portafilter suggests that tamping and ground consistency is > >> OK. The fluids tend to first appear around the perimeter and then > >> focus to the center. There is a 'barber pole' effect until blonding > >> occurs. Sometimes is does take a few more seconds before a single > >> funnel occurs but this doesn t seem to effect the shot times and > >> volumes that I have been getting. > > >> I ve run out of coffee for now and probably could use a break. > > >> Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. > > >> Thanks, > > >> JJ > > > -- > > 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 brewtus+unsubscribe@** > > googlegroups.com <brewtus%[email protected]>. > > For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/** > > group/brewtus?hl=en <http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en>. -- 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]. 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