Thanks for the reply John. I agree about the element power, it seems strange that other 230/240V countries ship with the low 1300W element of the American model. However, I've noted even on some Australian forums people have mentioned the worse steaming performance of the Brewtus/Minore compared to other dual boilers (R58/Alex Duetto/GS3). However at the time I purchased my Brewtus all other dual boiler machines were an extra AUD$1000, which I can't justify to myself. I can put up with a vibratory pump and more functional aesthetic for those savings.
The joystick upgrade would be really nice, how easy was it to to change over the valves? At the moment I've got my steam boiler sitting around 1.3 bar and get maybe 1 degree overshoot when pulling a lot of water through the group. This is most noticeable if the temperature has just drifted under the set point and so the PID pulses the heater at the same time as running the pump. I noted the new Ambient&spresso Vesuvius has the option to bypass the steam boiler heat exchanger allowing much higher steam boiler pressure (1.5-1.6 bar). This seemed like a mechanically simple modification providing I could get everything to fit. Probably would be worth doing at the same time I did a rotary pump conversion. Group head lighting would be nice, but I think it would be quite difficult to fit in very nicely with the e61 group. The best place would probably be just under the top attach point of the group. Cheers On Friday, September 26, 2014 3:53:44 PM UTC+10, sc00bs wrote: > > 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] > <javascript:>> 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] <javascript:>. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> <javascript:>. >> 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.
