La San Marco 85-12 pump problem
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j1ggy
- Posts: 2
- Joined: 9 years ago
First time poster, long time reader here.
I'd just like to say that I appreciate everything I've read here and all the info I've gathered over the years, however, I haven't been able to find an answer to an enigma I'm having right now.
So, let's begin.
I've bought a La San Marco 85-12-2 off the ads and have done a little TLC. I'm just having a problem with making any coffee.
No matter how I adjust the grinder the coffee always begins to pour in about 2 sec. It just runs thru in the first 2-3 seconds, but then slows down and starts to go slower (little faster then it should, still).
So I've checked the pressure and adjusted the Procon pump to read 9 bar at the gauge. And still no joy.
Then I've checked the amount of water coming thru the brew group with no portafilter attached and it runs like crazy! I get 200ml in 6 seconds!
As I know that this is the culprit, I'll write you a list of all the things I've tried to do:
- By lowering the water mains supply (which shows 4-5 bar at the gauge) by closing the valve BEFORE the pump (INLET), I've managed to slow it down to 200ml in 9 seconds but I need to make it around 60-90ml in 10 seconds, right? If so, then this is just too much.
- I've tried adding a valve AFTER the pump (outlet), but it just makes the pump hum in an uneasy way and raises the pressure after I shut down the brew group to 12 bar and beyond, which I relieve by turning on the other brew group (which is not connected to the pump).
- By turning on both brew groups at the same time I've managed to decrease the water flow, but this is not a solution as it brings down pump pressure to 6 bar, and it's just not practical for day-to-day use.
I'd like to add that the pump is not the one that comes with the the machine, but one from a Bezzera Ellisse, which I had laying around. Don't know if that's a problem?!
I've searched far and wide, but I've hit a brick wall here. Some help would be very appreciated...
I'd just like to say that I appreciate everything I've read here and all the info I've gathered over the years, however, I haven't been able to find an answer to an enigma I'm having right now.
So, let's begin.
I've bought a La San Marco 85-12-2 off the ads and have done a little TLC. I'm just having a problem with making any coffee.
No matter how I adjust the grinder the coffee always begins to pour in about 2 sec. It just runs thru in the first 2-3 seconds, but then slows down and starts to go slower (little faster then it should, still).
So I've checked the pressure and adjusted the Procon pump to read 9 bar at the gauge. And still no joy.
Then I've checked the amount of water coming thru the brew group with no portafilter attached and it runs like crazy! I get 200ml in 6 seconds!
As I know that this is the culprit, I'll write you a list of all the things I've tried to do:
- By lowering the water mains supply (which shows 4-5 bar at the gauge) by closing the valve BEFORE the pump (INLET), I've managed to slow it down to 200ml in 9 seconds but I need to make it around 60-90ml in 10 seconds, right? If so, then this is just too much.
- I've tried adding a valve AFTER the pump (outlet), but it just makes the pump hum in an uneasy way and raises the pressure after I shut down the brew group to 12 bar and beyond, which I relieve by turning on the other brew group (which is not connected to the pump).
- By turning on both brew groups at the same time I've managed to decrease the water flow, but this is not a solution as it brings down pump pressure to 6 bar, and it's just not practical for day-to-day use.
I'd like to add that the pump is not the one that comes with the the machine, but one from a Bezzera Ellisse, which I had laying around. Don't know if that's a problem?!
I've searched far and wide, but I've hit a brick wall here. Some help would be very appreciated...
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j1ggy (original poster)
- Posts: 2
- Joined: 9 years ago
update:
I've been able to perfectly adjust the amount of coffee + crema to 25-30 seconds. All I did was grind much finer and adjust temper pressure and from there I've gotten the satisfactory results.
However, my pour still starts soon (after about 3-4 seconds). When I tried to grind even finer and temper a bit harder just to see if it'll change anything, I've still gotten the same pour start at 3-4 sec mark, but my extraction lasted around 40 seconds.
All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the end result, although I can't begin the extraction at preferable 6 seconds in. Everything else is there, pour looks consistent, coffee (Hausbrandt and Lilly) tastes really good, machine is cleaned and descaled, everything is running smoothly...
I've been able to perfectly adjust the amount of coffee + crema to 25-30 seconds. All I did was grind much finer and adjust temper pressure and from there I've gotten the satisfactory results.
However, my pour still starts soon (after about 3-4 seconds). When I tried to grind even finer and temper a bit harder just to see if it'll change anything, I've still gotten the same pour start at 3-4 sec mark, but my extraction lasted around 40 seconds.
All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the end result, although I can't begin the extraction at preferable 6 seconds in. Everything else is there, pour looks consistent, coffee (Hausbrandt and Lilly) tastes really good, machine is cleaned and descaled, everything is running smoothly...
