New Slayer espresso machine - Page 8

#71: Post by **AndyS** » May 10th, 2009, 9:27 pm

Marshall wrote:There has been steady pressure (no pun intended) over the years to move Home-barista.com toward the model of a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Gee, I thought lately the pressure has been declining.

Marshall wrote:This has the unwelcome side effect of silencing people who can back up their reports with a reasonable level of personal experience and personal observation, but who have not subjected their observations to double-blind, triangulated testing in statistically significant numbers.

I say "screw it." If someone has spent a great deal of time developing a machine that allows a tapered increase or reduction in pressure and tells the poster at their booth that their second cup, which the poster saw come out of the same grinder, has been pressure-reduced at the end of the shot, the poster should feel free to report their experience, without qualifying it as to all of its experimental control shortcomings.

The readers are free to give as little or great weight to the report as they choose, based on the depth (or lack of depth) of the testing.

I agree 100%. Posters should feel free to report their experiences whether or not they are the result of a controlled experiment. As you correctly point out, this is not a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

But...whenever someone posts on a forum such as this, it is understood that other posters are free to comment, refute, argue, etc, in any fashion as long as the site guidelines for productive discussion are followed.*

And, since the Slayer guys have been pursuing a really adept viral marketing strategy on their blog, yet are extremely guarded when it comes to answering even polite questions about their product, I think a higher-than-usual level of skepticism is appropriate.

*Which, by the way, I can't seem to find. Where are the guidelines?

#72: Post by HB » May 10th, 2009, 9:43 pm

AndyS wrote:Which, by the way, I can't seem to find. Where are the guidelines?

Right here.

#73: Post by **networkcrasher** » May 10th, 2009, 10:04 pm

Along the subject of the title of this thread, here's the first time I've seen inside a Slayer. Not quite the clearest picture, but it was posted on their website, so fair game!

#74: Post by **AndyS** » May 10th, 2009, 10:06 pm

gyro wrote:Run the pump up to full pressure, then switch back to line pressure and the gicleur will slow the ramp down a little on the way back to 5 bar before ending the shot.

The only thing I thought could mess things up could be a little backflow through the gicluer into the brew boiler as the pressure ramps down, but I figured the tubing to the gicluer was long enough that this was unlikely to happen.

Hi Chris:

Sure, this will work, in fact I think this is similar to the degree of control that the Slayer offers.

Only thing is, having just tried it on the Speedster, I think the ramp back down to 5 bar is a rapid, un-leverlike 3-4 seconds. That still may accomplish what you want to accomplish (in terms of shot quality), however.

As far as the backflow is concerned, that's an interesting question. I tend to think that the 9 bar pressure in the portafilter will be relieved faster into your cup than it will be relieved through backflow. It may depend on how much flex there is in your supply line; how much does it expand when the pump is on? Putting in a "water hammer eliminator" (like McMaster-Carr part number 2522K16) right after the pump would help minimize backflow.

#75: Post by **AndyS** » May 10th, 2009, 10:14 pm

HB wrote:Right here.

Thanks. Aside from the occasions when Dan Kehn magically pops up with a link, how does one normally find them?

I fruitlessly looked around for ~10 minutes.

May 10th, 2009, 10:33 pm

I've sometimes wondered why they are sort of hidden in the News and Suggestions forum. Maybe they should be stickied in all forums, or pop up first 10 posts or something. Of course popping up when new to the site wouldn't help long time posters like Andy (or me) find them.

Even using the search function for 'guidelines' doesn't help, at least the first 20 hits ain't them. Search 'site guidelines' and goes to zero hits. Same zero search hits for 'forum guidelines' or 'posting guidelines'. Not that it's any big deal.

#77: Post by **shadowfax** » May 10th, 2009, 10:38 pm

AndyS wrote:Thanks. Aside from the occasions when Dan Kehn magically pops up with a link, how does one normally find them?

I fruitlessly looked around for ~10 minutes.

It is an 'announcement' in the top of the News & Suggestion Box sub-forum, the location of most of the forum 'meta-topics' (how to post pics, why you can't quote the last reply in a topic, etc.).

#78: Post by **gyro** » May 10th, 2009, 10:53 pm

AndyS wrote:Sure, this will work, in fact I think this is similar to the degree of control that the Slayer offers.

Cool, thought that might be the case. It'll gimme something else to experiment with over the coming weeks!

Thanks

#79: Post by **gyro** » May 10th, 2009, 10:59 pm

AndyS wrote:As far as the backflow is concerned, that's an interesting question. I tend to think that the 9 bar pressure in the portafilter will be relieved faster into your cup than it will be relieved through backflow.

Yeah, I figured that if there was any small backflow, the pressure difference would only allow a small volume which should be contained in the relatively long tubing to the gicluer before the pressure equalized and normal flow continued at 5 bar.

#80: Post by **Bluecold** » May 11th, 2009, 8:32 am

AndyS wrote:Thanks. Aside from the occasions when Dan Kehn magically pops up with a link, how does one normally find them?

I fruitlessly looked around for ~10 minutes.

Use google.
http://www.google.com/search?q=guidelin ... arista.com
I never use the built-in search function here. I just google with "site:www.home-barista.com".