I upgraded my 220V steam boiler from 1200W to 2000W after seeing that the Australian versions come with the 2000W element as standard. Beats me why they even come with a 1200w element unless they are trying to make some maximum power restriction with the smaller element. Is a different machine and a lot more temperature stable when you need to pull several shots in a row as the steam boiler recovery is much faster giving it more time on the brew group boiler.
Other upgrades I have done are to change the steam control from a tap to joystick, much prefer the joystick control and always found the tap a pain as it was always leaking, Joystick is a definite improvement imo. Changed the steam tip to a .8mm 5-hole tip, could only do this after the element upgrade but can now be driven without any problems. Regarding the heat exchange, not sure that a bypass is required, I run my boiler at 1.4 bar without any overheating issues. I am however in Johannesburg, South Africa so at reasonably high altitude (1750mtr/s above sea level) so steam boiler will be at lower temp than when at sea level. Have you tried running it at higher pressure to see what happends? Enjoy the upgrades, I wouldn't mind putting some lighting around the group head at some stage, still looking for a neat way to do it. JohnB On Fri, Sep 26, 2014 at 3:12 AM, eleventysix <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi all, > > Just found this group after having my Australian spec Brewtus IV (Vibe > pump) for about a year now. I've had some ideas for mods that haven't been > discussed before, which might be for a good reason! I'm a bit perplexed > that the general consensus is the steam production is quite poor compared > to other dual boiler machines. Especially since the Australian spec > Brewtus/Minore has 2000W heating elements compared to around 1300/1400 on > competing machines. Admittedly the steam boiler is on the smaller side at > 1.5L but this should only impact initial steam pressure. I haven't had the > opportunity to test this out in person however. > > Anyway that aside: > > 1. I've been thinking of installing a normally open relay on the steam > boiler auto fill probe, such that when the brew lever is engaged (micro > switch powers pump), the relay will energise and short the water level > sensor wires. This would ensure the steam boiler does not refill mid shot. > This seems like it would be quite a simple mod, but I can't seem to find > anyone who has done it before. > > 2. Another idea is to install additional plumbing and a solenoid valve > such that the steam boiler heat exchanger could be mechanically bypassed. > This would allow higher steam boiler pressures without overheating the brew > boiler. Or alternatively leave out the relay, and install a restrictor such > that water splits roughly equally between the heat exchanger and non-heat > exchanger paths to the brew boiler. > > > I'm sure there are a number of things I am not considering, so any input > would be much appreciated. > > Cheers > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Brewtus" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
