I don't know how I missed this at the Seattle SCAA show, but Mark Prince reports today on LM's upcoming GS/3 customization and retrofit program: https://www.coffeegeek.com/opinions/sho ... 05-03-2014.

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Marshal,
Thanks for the link. Very cool, and it's about time! I still think my custom glass panels look better than the ones in the pics. I'll send the pictures.
Rob

This looks really cool! Look forward to see what they come up with.

Very interesting.

I hope they learn to harvest the knowledge and experience of people on these forums as well. Not just replacing side panels and wood handles. But motor outboarding, line pressure preinfusion, adding Strade EP like profiling, etc. Anything that people here try and find very useful.

Sort of converting the GS/3 from an endlessly hackable product to a unique home espresso platform.

Thanks for the heads up, Marshall.

AssafL wrote:Very interesting.

I hope they learn to harvest the knowledge and experience of people on these forums as well. Not just replacing side panels and wood handles. But motor outboarding, line pressure preinfusion, adding Strade EP like profiling, etc. Anything that people here try and find very useful.

Sort of converting the GS/3 from an endlessly hackable product to a unique home espresso platform.

Assaf,

I highly doubt they'll do anything with outboarding a pump. Yes, some people have done it, but that was to incorporate a pump that allows pressure profiling. With the Strada mod you get the same capability without having to touch the pump and you maintain the machine's portability. As for noise, my machine's (manufactured 3/14) pump is super quiet, with the sound of the espresso hitting the cup being about equal to the hum of the pump. To be honest, I think the microswitch's click when triggering the pump is the loudest part.

As for line pressure preinfuson; not sure what you meant there as the machine has had this from the start.

A factory built GS/3 Strada MP or even EP is something I can see them coming out with at some point. The MP seems like a no-brainer as it's a very simple substitution on their part when building the machine. The EP will be more involved and will probably add quite a bit to the cost.

uscfroadie wrote: As for line pressure preinfuson; not sure what you meant there as the machine has had this from the start.

My machine is a volumetric version. No MP, no EP. Hence the need to wire a timer on the motor circuit.

Did they add this after your machine was built? Page 28 of the software guide (April 2012) goes into detail of how to enable and program the preinfusion for each of the dosing buttons (1-4).

GS/3 Software Guide April 2012

That is not line pressure preinfusion. That is pump pressure preinfusion. It pulses the pump (ON sec) and then turns it off for a few seconds (OFF sec) before turning the pump back on to do the main brewing. This is quite different from line pressure preinfusion; It's more like double pulling a lever, and most people that I have seen don't really use the feature.

Agree. Using that ON OFF pump pulse "preinfusion" never helped my pours gain consistency.

Line pressure preinfusion (meaning: open up 3 way valve but leave pump off; wait X seconds as water at 3 bar impregnates puck; turn on pump at full 8-9 bar) results in much steadier pours, allows a finer grind and overall seems to improve the pull.

La Marzocco should have had this as an option preprogrammed in the 3d5 controller.