erics wrote:Cheerfully, I would not cut or grind/file away any part of the OPV spring until I had a new replacement spring in my hands.

Hola,

My same thoughts when I was confronted with this.

What I did to overcome this was just simply place the spring in a vice and tighten it to make it smaller.( No cutting involve), this worked for me.
I placed it back in the OPV and was able to dial it down. I have it set at 9.5 for my taste but some times I change it to 10 or 11.

Luckily I never had a low temp problem on my Venus. But I do get the "earthquake shake", my cups shake when the pump start.

I did some research on the unit before I bought it and I notice that they did have problems on older units with steam power but that has been fix according to the Isomac rep by my area.

I would recommend getting in touch with Jim @ 1st-line.
they are very helpful and a great place to buy from.

http://www.1st-line.com/machines/home_m ... /venus.htm
"Now in stock and IMPROVED with a higher temperature steaming thermostat which will provide greater steaming power."


Hope this helps
Enjoy
Michael

Cutting the spring is very easy. Just remove one or two turns of the spring. No problem. The opv valve is an inexpensive part anyway

hello, newbie here with a new isomac venus and a new mazzer mini e type b. I've tried to read through all posts regarding the venus on this site and others. thank you all by the way for the countless, informative and dizzying posts! I'm still stuck, trying to decide whether to do any mods or not to the venus? opv valve, snip or compress spring, add pid kit etc.
I've had it for a week now and I'm certain my technique needs more modifications than the venus itself. I'm figuring I'll tough it out for a bit longer. my question for all isomac venus users is ... have you all modified the spring and lowered the pressure by adjusting the opv valve? mine seems to be consistently hitting in the 11 to 12 bar range. jim at 1st line said it would and others above mention not lowering the pressure beyond this point with concerns about low temp.
I don't want to go taking this thing apart until I'm sure it's not just me that's grinding, dosing, tamping etc. improperly. but then again I don't want to struggle in vain forever.

so, at what point and with what means can one determine whether or not a modification is necessary?

has anyone here actually put a pid kit on their venus?

I've tried to measure water temp with an "instant" read thermometer as it leaves the group and I'm getting 181 F tops ... can't imagine this is really the right way to know how hot the water temp is as it hits the coffee or is it?

any specific info on the venus is greatly appreciated! in the meantime I will keep searching the hb forums for relevant info and keep practicing my technique.

thanks!
vincent

habichuelas wrote:I've tried to measure water temp with an "instant" read thermometer as it leaves the group and I'm getting 181 F tops ... can't imagine this is really the right way to know how hot the water temp is as it hits the coffee or is it?

One way to attempt to measure the brew water temp on the cheap is to cut down a styrofoam cup so that you can fit it into the grouphead (where the portafilter would normally go), and poke your thermometer through the cup so that it can read the temp at the bottom of the cup. You might also poke another hole up a bit on the side for the water to run out when you've hit a certain volume. It isn't perfect, but it'll be close. (You could also check the thermometer in boiling water and adjust for elevation, barometric pressure to see how (in)accurate the thermometer may be, link).

It takes time to get the hang of a new machine. Don't be too quick to modify it. You say you are new here, but are you new to espresso making at home? Most new users take a good month just to start getting the basics down. Figure one month to get decent shots on a regular basis, six month to get consistently good shots. Espresso is not hard, but it does take a little time to get it down pat.

Word!
Those are some great advise, maybe not something one might want to hear.
But an honest advise at that.

The venus is capable of rewarding you with some great espresso.
I had many great shots from her.
Look here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kuban/1061 ... 326635101/

"so, at what point and with what means can one determine whether or not a modification is necessary?"

A great question.....this helped me out ...hope it will do the same.

https://www.coffeegeek.com./forums/espr ... ods/139192

HB, Sorry for breaking any rules by taking this from CG but I think Jim Schulman can explain it a thousand times better than I can.


Michael.
Enjoy

Kuban111 wrote:HB, Sorry for breaking any rules by taking this from CG but I think Jim Schulman can explain it a thousand times better than I can.

Michael-

No rules broken... referring someone to a thread on CG or another forum is not a problem, in fact it is to be encouraged, especially if it can add to the discussion on the other forum, or help someone find resources at other sites they may not be aware of.

Cross-posting is discouraged, except in a few cases. This is when someone asks the same question in 2 or more forums, hoping for a shotgun approach to getting answers. Some of the forum regulars will recognize the cross post and ignore all instances of it.

jesawdy

Thanks for setting the record straight for me.





Michael.

To IZappa, very late post but hope other will be helped too.

The way to safely adjust the OPV in Venus is to drill 5mm into the left OPV tube
that screws into the assembly retaining the spring. This way the spring
has more room, hence lower pressure. Use a drill press or you'll ruin it. This is
not the Venus OPV but close, the tube to the left is the one you need deepened:


I now extract at 9 bar, and with the steam switch on for 5 seconds prior to
extraction i get very decent shots.

Watch the little softener that came with the machine. It clogs real bad no matter
how often you salinate it, so you end up with poor water flow in about 2-3 years.
I removed it and replaced with a 1/4' inline fuel filter as the screw holding the rails
starting rusting (i steel wire Dremel-ed it and coated
it in primer so no more).

BTW my Isomac Millennium in getting replaced by a Vetrano, finally quiet 5 AM extraction
and happy wife/kids:)

Disclaimer: do the above only if you are a factory certified technician, yeah sure:)