Hi,
Does anybody knows what this is, what is its purpose? It is part of a two group E61 ECM espresso machine I have just bought. It is not to put the machine on or off, some kind of numerical code appears which I have no idea what they are, or supposed to represent.

April 17 !?

just a guess here----

left most button is an i/o - on off.
the next two are up and down, most likely for moving through settings.
the stack of paper most likely enters the list of options or something similar.
the thumbs up is an "ok" or "enter" button.

The little symbol under the LCD looks like the electrical symbol for a resistor... leading me to believe the display would be showing a reading of resistance... which would be relative to the heating element.

Annnnnyway- I'd fuss with it. Try holding down various buttons when powering it on. Most manufacturers use this to enter setup mode.

Alain,
It looks suspiciously like a Gicar keypad. If you see a label on the electronics box inside and it says Gicar (a company in Italy that produces the electronics for about 60% of the market) I may have some advice.

Of course the easiest would be to get the owner's manual. However if this is not possible then try this. Typically in Gicar electronics you hold a button down for 5-10 seconds to enter programming mode. I presume the stack of papers if for this. Try it but give it up to 20 seconds. Then the rest I think is self explanatory (up down, enter to confirm). Hope this works.


Bill C

Thanks,

I have been able to get into the programming mode, So far from what I can see, you can program the machine to start at a specific hour and close at another. There is also the total count of coffee per group, I think we can set the temperature separately for each group, there are further sub-program which I do not understand yet and do not want to play around until I know what they are for. I have just find out that there is a real preinfusion chamber with this machine which was never activated, I will try to activate it and see the difference in coffee extraction and taste. Here is a picture of the machine.

Alain,
It sounds like the box was made by Gicar by your descriptions. If you post a list of the menu items I should be able to decode them for you. I have been working with Gicar for about 10 years and know their stuff pretty well.


Bill C

Thanks Bill,

I will take some pictures and post later on today. In the meantime I found Gicar website and it is call "control d''; Electronic device for coffee consumption survey that allows the following functions through RS232 serial connection:
-Clock control
-dispensation accounting system control
-temperature visualizing by external probe
-dispensation counting until credit exhausting and consequent machine stop
-serial transmission with Gicar accounting devices

alain

Cool,
Clock control - I think this is what it is.
Dispensation accounting system - This is a system in most of their software that allows the ability to track how many times a specific button was pressed and how many overall activations have been done. Dispensation is their translation for dispensing (they do alot of vending machine stuff also).

Temperature Visualization by external probe - Gicar offered this some time ago. It was the ability to connect a probe (only one of theirs - it is 3K3 NTC Thermistor) and use it as a probe to measure temperature anywhere you like.

Dispensation credit.............Stop. This is a feature in their electronics that allows the roaster to program a specific amount of shots the bar is allowed to activate. After this number the machine stops. The bar is forced to purchase more credits or hack the software. This is mostly for Europe where some of the smaller bars lease the machine on a per use basis. It is also used by roasters to control their customers (they usually let the customer use the machine for free if they purchase their coffee). Interesting side note.... that's why you do not see too many La Marzocco's in Italy. They are a bit too expensive for the roasters to purchase and just let their customers use.

Bill C