Hi all!

Another Rancilio Silvia user here. I'm having trouble with the water flow.

I'm trying to get my shot pulling working right. For some reason, the water keeps pouring through too quickly. Way too quickly.

17g at 25 sec gives me a whopping 155g of espresso! It get quicker by the end, obviously there is no resistance left by then. I would say my tamps are as they should be, level and about 20kg of weight. But then again, maybe not.

To get 26-27g of espresso, I need to stop at around 7-9 seconds. Usually I go by the weight, and don't care about the time. But everywhere people say 25 sec, so I'm trying to work it out.

I've tamped really carefully, tried different fine grinds (can't really go any finer on my Rocky doserless), tried different beans, adjusted the waterflow from the Silvias inner overflow valve so it gives a backflow of 130ml/30 sec (read somewhere that that is around 8bar with Silvias pump), switched portafilter to a deeper one. But still too much water, too fast. There is a bit of crema, but not enough I would say.

The resulting coffee isn't always horrible, but obviously a bit bitter at times.

I just can't figure out what is wrong.

BTW, is the time supposed to always be 25 sec, no matter if you're pulling a single, double or triple? In other words, should you always pull for 25 sec, or until you get the double amount of liquid (56-60g of espresso) - in case you are doing a double shot?

Cheers
Ben

If the grind setting is ultra fine, the dose is reasonable, and it still gushes, the coffee is stale or the grinder is defective. The Rocky thread slop and the teflon tape fix may help.

oceanwalker wrote:I've tamped really carefully, tried different fine grinds (can't really go any finer on my Rocky doserless), tried different beans..

Two things come to mind:

As Dan said, it could be the coffee. What exactly have you tried? The brand and source and age of the coffee would help us know what is going on.

Why can't you go any finer with Rocky? If you can't grind fine enough to stop all flow for at least twenty seconds then there is a problem.

Are you using a "proper" 58mm tamper or the one that came with the Silvia?

Thanks for the tips!

Sounds like there is still room to do something about the grind & tamp. I'm a noob after all. Sad to hear that an all new grinder would need a tape mod. Why don't they just put tape on it at the factory if that's what it takes. Grrr.

About the tamping. I started with a metal 57 mm tamper that the shop included, thought maybe that was the problem, that the tamp wasn't tight towards the edges, and got myself a new 58 mm. I can't say it did any difference to the result though. It's easier to tamp and it feels great. But coffee still gushes through.

I guess I can go a step finer. I have tried everything down to zero before, but will try again with the new tamper. Will do some experiments and report back. I've done the zero calibration thing, and the burrs start to touch if I go under the zero point set at the factory. I'm not sure I understand how to go about applying tape though. Anybody have any pictures?

Try google and type 'rocky grinder mods' should give you plenty of material.

The first one I found was http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1230021938 which has some decent pictures.

oceanwalker wrote:I guess I can go a step finer. I have tried everything down to zero before, but will try again with the new tamper.

The tape mod is done by removing the upper burr carrier and wrapping the threads with one or two wraps of plumbers teflon tape.

Finding the zero point is worthless. If you can't keep adjusting down one step at a time until you get the proper extraction (and really, you should be able to stop the flow for AT LEAST the first ten seconds), the grinder is faulty and should be returned. There are better grinders, but this one should still at least work.

Ok, thanks guys! I appreciate it. Will get some tape and do the mod. I'll let you know how it went.

oceanwalker wrote:17g at 25 sec gives me a whopping 155g of espresso! It get quicker by the end, obviously there is no resistance left by then. I would say my tamps are as they should be, level and about 20kg of weight. But then again, maybe not.

Hardly an expert here, but maybe try tamping lighter? I find that when I try to tamp too hard, I end up ruining the puck. Especially if you press down and rotate at the same time - I quickly discovered when I got my bottomless portafilter that that was causing it all to gush out around the edges.

Do you have a bottomless portafilter? Seems to be what everyone recommends around here, but it sure does work!

Ok, thanks guys! I appreciate it. Will get some tape and do the mod. I'll let you know how it went.

That would be a mistake to do things in that order. Firstly, if you are using the doubles basket that came with Silvia, 17 grams of coffee is waaaaay too much. Yes, different coffees have different densities but still . . .

So, if you are positive about the 17 grams, put those 17 grams in the basket and insert the portafilter in the machine. Now simply remove the portafilter and see whether or not the dispersion screen screw and/or screen itself has messed up your preparation royally. Me thinks it is time to lower the dose and grind finer or find a basket(s) much more suitable for 17 grams.

The teflon tape mod to the grinders adjustment threads simply reduces the already small clearances between the threads on the grinder and has been reported to make grinder adjustments more consistent. But, in the event your grinder is, in fact, defective, what do you think the dealer is going to say when you return a grinder full of teflon tape? Its a reasonable mod but fix the basics first.

Good news, now it works!
This is how it went down.

Solution: a finer grind.
I rotated the Rocky one more step, down to zero, but didn't let go of the coffee container but kept it at the extreme position while I pressed to grind button. And what do you know, the extraction I got from that was perfect. You guys were right! (I've had it down to zero before but that wasn't enough, apparently)

Erics, I did note earlier that the screen screw left a mark, and tried lowering the dose, but in my case that wasn't enough. I went on to buy a naked/bottomless portafilter (Synesso, that came with a deeper basket) but that didn't help either.

But the finer grind fixed it.

Now I'm happy to have the bottomless, deeper portafilter as well. It's fun to see the coffee run through, and the deeper basket seems easier to tamp. But now that I've solved the problem, I will go back and try the original portafilter and different tampings, just to see how they affect the outcome.

I'm not sure if I should do the tape mod. As you say Erics, it would make it harder to return. However, since so many people seem to need it, getting a new grinder might not fix the problem. I'll have to think about it.

Thanks all, I owe you a shot!