My new Quickmill Silvano has wet pucks

by **innermusic** on Sun May 01, 2011 12:20 am

... just arrived and I finally got to fire it up today. Everything went well, with one notable exception: The pucks come out wet and sloppy. Even wetter than my old Gaggia which had no solenoid. In fact, so wet that when I try to dislodge the puck, some of it stays in the basket. What is up with that?

Other than that - all good. Big, solid machine. Looks great, PID does an awesome job. Pressure is good, and most important - the machine pulls consistently good shots.

by **geoffbeier** on Sun May 01, 2011 1:11 am

What coffee are you using? When was it roasted? I'm mainly asking because this morning I deliberately ran a couple shots with stale (but otherwise inoffensive) beans after I cleaned my machine to make sure there was no detergent left in there, and my pucks were very soupy. I didn't even taste those :-)

As soon as I switched back to fresh beans, the problem went away.

Beyond that, what happens if you coarsen the grind a little and use a bit more coffee for the shot?

by **innermusic** on Sun May 01, 2011 1:54 am

Tried the coffee that idrinkcoffee.com sent with the machine, as well as some beans from the local roaster which I know well. As for the grinds, they were a bit tight. Tomorrow I'll try grinding a bit coarser. I have no experience with a solenoid. Does it make a sound when it kicks in?

by HB on Sun May 01, 2011 2:28 am

innermusic wrote:The pucks come out wet and sloppy.

Dry pucks, wet pucks, sloppy pucks... makes no difference as long as (a) they're consistently the same firmness, and (b) the espresso tastes good. If you really want firmer pucks, try adding a couple grams more coffee.

by **innermusic** on Sun May 01, 2011 2:53 pm

I know. But I was looking forward to seeing what the solenoid did, and it seems to be doing less than nothing.

by **cafeIKE** on Sun May 01, 2011 4:24 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solenoid :roll:

Pucks are compost.
They tell as much about the espresso as the knuckle bones my dog eats do about the cow.

by HB on Sun May 01, 2011 4:58 pm

innermusic wrote:But I was looking forward to seeing what the solenoid did, and it seems to be doing less than nothing.

It should release pressure and thus avoid the "portafilter sneeze". A little water puddling is not unusual, especially at normal to lower doses.

by **zimberto** on Mon May 02, 2011 2:05 am

The pucks you get are a function of the coffee, the grind, and tamping pressure. But as others have said, taste is the important factor.

by **innermusic** on Mon May 02, 2011 6:56 am

How does tamp pressure affect the puck? Does a tamp higher pressure create a wetter or dryer puck?

by HB on Mon May 02, 2011 7:16 am

Tamp pressure may influence the initial wetting, but once the brew chamber is fully pressurized, I am skeptical that it matters. After all, the water exerts much more pressure than any tamp (more than 500 pounds over the surface of the puck, if my quick estimation is correct).


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