Wahoo! I made microfoam tonight! Hurrah!

I really, really heart this machine. Not to mention the many videos available here to allow me to learn so quickly.

Boy Bex, what a rough start! Esp coming from someone without a lot of experiences messing with some of the nuances of more complex machines. I hope you get that spring easily replaced and it does the trick.

Good Luck!

It hasn't been too rough - the machine combo is pretty noob-proof.

The main impact of the wandering brew pressure is that the pulls vary between ristrettos, normales and lungos whether I want them to or not. Yesterday a pull hit 10 bar and gave a lot of volume; this morning the pulls were closer to 6 bar and not a lot of volume. Stopped each pull when they were blonding, and each tasted fine (to my pedestrian palate).

Edit: and the new spring from 1st-line just arrived! I will try to install it tonight. I still have some trepidation about that part, but what can you do.

Surgery complete. The patient is heating up.

Like Randy's post in the VBM buyers guide, the spring in my machine was thinner and springy-er, the replacement thicker and stiffer. It was a chore to unscrew the OPV with the old screw inside. Had to remove the panel that separates the boiler from the reservoir (and which also supports the reservoir). Even after that, it was hard to turn the screw. Once the new spring was installed, the OPV screw turned easily.

Plugged it in and started dialing in the brew pressure. No wild fluctuations this time; just a simple process of turning the screw until I found the point I wanted (going with 9.75 to start, since Jim says the pressure at the puck is about 1 bar less than the pressure shown on the gauge).

I am a bit freaked out at the moment - worried that I may have inadvertently damaged something without knowing it. I heard something rattle in the case when I first rotated it to open the OPV, but I couldn't see anything loose, and never heard the sound again. All appears to be working. In a few minutes, it will be ready to pull shots and we'll see how it goes.

I think you will find your results much more satisfying with the new OPV. Please post back your results.

Bex wrote:I am a bit freaked out at the moment - worried that I may have inadvertently damaged something without knowing it. I heard something rattle in the case when I first rotated it to open the OPV, but I couldn't see anything loose, and never heard the sound again.

If you just undid the OPV and replaced the spring, there is not much chance of any damage. It's always a good idea to run the machine with the side cover removed after any 'surgery' just to make sure there is nothing amiss.

I'll probably panic at any odd noise it makes for the next week.

But the brew pressure issues are done! The machine is nailing the brew pressure every time now - no variation - so I can focus on dialing in the grind.

Thanks everyone for your help & to 1st-line for getting the spring out to me so quickly.

Now that the brew pressure is a rock solid 9.75, it was time for the fun to really begin.

I have read so many posts here where people talk about varying the dose and achieving different flavor profiles, but have never had the machines to try it myself. That's changed. My typical routine for the past week, while waiting for the new OPV spring, has been to grind into the PF, sweep my fingers over the top, tamp, and pull the shot. It is not, I confess, in my nature to buy a scale to see what that dosage weighs, but I suspect it's underdosed, as there is never any visible indentation from the screw left behind on the puck.

Tonight, I decided to play with upping the dose. The first attempt, instead of sweeping my fingers over the top, I tried to compact it all into the PF. It was a tighter fit to lock in the PF, and I expected disaster. I got it. Choked the machine, and there was a serious impression left on the puck by the screw. (Note to the horrified onlooker - this is how I prefer to learn and to cook, by look, feel, and eye rather than by precise measurement, modifying the routine to suit my taste, and as you might suspect, I am no baker.) On the second attempt, I did not have as much coffee in the PF - it was still over the top of the PF, but not by as much (more like a "heaping PF" full). I compressed the grounds with my finger, tamped, and locked in (no unusual resistance). The shot pulled normally. And my lord, what a difference in the taste. It was completely different than the normal shot. I caught a few fruity notes, which surprised me.

This is serious fun. I am now looking forward to all the variations I can try with this machine.

As to microfoam, I haven't duplicated the epiphany moment mentioned above. I am getting close, though. Right now my pitchers end up with a thicker consistency foam on the top, and then the expected consistency through the rest of it. Got to figure out this bit so that I can eliminate that overly thick stuff (I want to try latte art rather than pour a traditional cappa), but I'm learning.

In the minor annoyance department, I have experienced two of the issues Randy noted in the bench thread - water does get behind the drip tray (very minor issue), and the drip screen is coming loose on the cover of my drip tray. The latter is more of an issue because my heavier cappa cups (NP tulip) cause the screen to bend into the tray and then they begin to slide away. I fixed this temporarily with electrical tape, and will likely use some CA glue soon to see if that's a more permanent solution.

Glad to hear you seem to have solved your brew pressure problem. As you say, now the real fun begins. Getting the dose just right is a bit tedious, but once you get it dialed in, you should be able to get great results pretty much every time.

With regard to getting good microfoam, have you seen this thread yet?

how-to-steam-milk-for-cappuccinos-and-lattes-t5258.html

There's a video there that Cannonfodder made of steaming with the VBM. You might want to mimick his technique and see if that works for you.

Bex wrote:In the minor annoyance department, I have experienced two of the issues Randy noted in the bench thread - water does get behind the drip tray (very minor issue), and the drip screen is coming loose on the cover of my drip tray. The latter is more of an issue because my heavier cappa cups (NP tulip) cause the screen to bend into the tray and then they begin to slide away. I fixed this temporarily with electrical tape, and will likely use some CA glue soon to see if that's a more permanent solution.

Put a very thin sponge under the drip tray. Soaks up all the water.

The drip tray screen was a problem with the first iteration. Should be a warranty replacement.