Buyer's Guide to the Vibiemme Domobar Super - Page 7

[Jonas]

1. Maybe make the hose from the overpressure safety/expansion valve go to the drip tray, instead of just ending under the machine?

2. Make it possible to connect a direct drain from the drip tray with a drain kit?

3. Make the adjustment of the pump pressure more easy to reach? So you don't have to take the frame off.

Edit: It's not a problem after all. It's possible to reach and adjust the pump pressure from above, without taking the frame off.

4. Put in a Procon pump with an integral inlet strainer? Series 1 instead of series 2?

Then I can't think of more.

Just one more: Adding a "lip"/raised edge to the back of the drip tray cover, so splashing water can't get behind the drip tray.

[pauljolly65]

It's been awhile since there's been anything new on this thread about the test unit. What's the verdict so far? (By the way, if life's just gotten too busy, I can certainly understand that. I've got a Domobar Super due to arrive on Wednesday, and I cringe when I think of how long it will take me to get really familiar with it now that the school year has started up again.)

Paul

[cannonfodder]

The test machine is still happily pumping out espresso. My ScaceII arrived a few weeks ago but I have only been able to do some basic testing. When business slows down a bit, I plan on running a set of flush/rebound tests on the machine to get a baseline recovery model at a given P-stat setting.

I have greatly enjoyed using the machine over the past few months and put more than a few pounds of coffee through it. My observations still stand, it is a rock solid performer, and the thermosyphon restrictor does wonders for the cooling flush. It hardly needs any. While it is still an E61 machine I believe I get a slightly cleaner cup than most E61 boxes and she steams like a rocket.

I have actually cleaned and drained my Isomac and have the VBM running full time in my office.

If there are any specific requests, things I have not covered to date that you would like to know about please post your questions and I will try to answer them, or test them, to the best of my ability.

[ttriff]

I've got a Domobar Super due to arrive on Wednesday, and I cringe when I think of how long it will take me to get really familiar with it now that the school year has started up again.

I just received mine last week. Perhaps there should be a new thread 'n00bs learning to use the VBM Domobar Super', we can trade information and possibly shorten the learning curve...

Regards,
Thomas

[bobdc]

Thomas says,

Perhaps there should be a new thread 'n00bs learning to use the VBM Domobar Super', we can trade information and possibly shorten the learning curve

I've had my Vibiemme Super about 2 months and am surprised and delighted on several fronts. I am a senior with little coffee expertise, limited mechanical interest and feared I may have over-bought but, I was wrong. Within days I was turning out espresso and milk drinks better than I dared hope. For a couple of glitches I went to Jim and 1st Line Equipment and got on the right track right away. I cannot be more pleased with my machine, the purchase and the follow-up.

A NOTE: Jim's staff is working on a users' manual and I look forward to that pub. Meanwhile Thomas's suggestion of a new/separate thread would be useful and fun for me. So, here is my vote.

Also, to learn more, I am signed up for a 4-hour class at Murky Coffee in Arlington, Va this month. With this training under my belt I may never leave home or my Vibiemme.

[Randy G.]

I just received mine last week. Perhaps there should be a new thread 'n00bs learning to use the VBM Domobar Super', we can trade information and possibly shorten the learning curve...

Mine has been living here for three months now (THREE months!? Where does the time go?). I have a few tips that may help. I had been using Silvia/Rocky for over 6½ years and Silvia has been PID'd for about the last three years. I make cappas almost exclusively:

STEAMING: I now use a thermometer every time when stretching milk. Things happen in a hurry with Mr. V. Air it up until it hits about 100 F. Do so "gently." Then submerge the tip and stretch until it hits about 130 F. After stopping you will see that the temp reaches about 140. That's with Soy- you may be able to push a bit further with cow juice. The wand should be in the middle of the milk, pointed straight down, more or less. The two hole tip works fine once you adjust your technique to match it.

BREW TEMP: I just received Eric's adapter and thermometer/thermocouple complete kit for the VBM brewhead and it does help. I am still making adjustments. The boiler pressure gauge is not absolutely accurate, so I am still adjusting the pressurestat. Just turned it down to a range of about .8 to 1.1 this morning (was about .1 higher at both ends previously). I found I was having to do a very long flush to cool off the HX/brewhead using Eric's thermocouple and an Omega meter.

BREW PRESSURE: If you look back in this thread you will see my post concerning the OPV spring replacement. If you have the old style I HIGHLY recommend replacing it. The procedure is simple and it is worth the time to check to see which you have. It made a world of difference in my machine when I updated the spring.

DOSE/TAMP/GRIND: I am using "Ken's" underdosing and have had excellent and consistent results. I am not weighing but simply dosing a bit less than full and tamping hard. It has allowed a one click finer grind iirc, and the flow is so think and dark and rich and delicious that it is bordering on espresso porn to watch the bottomless portafilter do its thing. It "glops" thickly into the cup and I get around a full 2 ounces before the espresso starts to Guinness into the bottom of the cup, and that's with my home roast. I don't care what they think-- it is great to watch as well as drink- fine food is a visual feast as well as one for the palate.

WATER RESERVOIR: I wish there was an opening in the case through which the reservoir could be seen. it is quite disconcerting to have the machine shut down in the middle of a pull (electronic ristretto). Keep an eye on the water level.

EDGES: Hopefully they are paying more attention to the edges of the sheet metal. Places like the edges of the top/cup-warmer, the face of the drip tray, and the inner divider panel (among other places) are micro-serrated and easily slice skin. I used a fine file to clean them up, round the edges over, and then a diamond sharpening stone to smooth them off. Rounding off any sharp corners also helps.

[stefano65]

In my own house it has been 2 years now in september that we are using one of the first Vibiemme domobar that arrived in this country,
the machine has been worries free
please don't take this as a sell pitch is just the simple true.
Stefano

[Randy G.]

I am getting fairly good dealing with the Vibiemme... IMO..
I really do like this machine, and I think it will be with me for some time to come. It certainly is all the machine I need...


I have been playing with a bottomless I made, and although it is not the correct PF for the machine it seems to work fine. I started using it to check distribution and look for sprites, but the view was so beautiful I have been using it for about a week. This morning I got this:


That's a full two ounces of crema from my home roast, and my own blend.

Not bad for an amateur!

[cafeIKE]

EDGES: Hopefully they are paying more attention to the edges of the sheet metal. Places like the edges of the top/cup-warmer, the face of the drip tray, and the inner divider panel (among other places) are micro-serrated and easily slice skin. I used a fine file to clean them up, round the edges over, and then a diamond sharpening stone to smooth them off. Rounding off any sharp corners also helps.

I've had my machine 15 months, disassembled it several times to measure temps, dimensions, adjust OPV, add PID and insulate boiler. Never a scratch. Tried running fingers along several edges this morning and nary a scratch.

The biggest mistake you can make with the Vibiemme is to over flush.
With a PID, you don't have to flush at all.

[Randy G.]

Your comment seems to indicate that there has been a change in production (or at least to say, mine was not done quite as carefully as it could have been):

I've had my machine 15 months, disassembled it several times to measure temps, dimensions, adjust OPV, add PID and insulate boiler. Never a scratch. Tried running fingers along several edges this morning on several edges and nary a scratch.

When trying to adjust the OPV I took a good chunk out of a knuckle on the edge of the misplaced "opening" in the back of the inner divider panel. The edges of the cup warming tray as well as the face of the drip tray had very saw-tooth edges that could easily cause a nasty cut-- like paper cut but deeper, if one weren't careful. Others have also mentioned the easy with which returning the cup warmer to the top of the machine scratches the black coating. If those edges were properly finished as one would expect on such an expensive machine, the scratching would not be such an issue. I had tried to be careful with mine, but after just two months the paint on the inner side of the rear cover is scratched quite a bit.

Your machine was made about one full year before mine and so I suspect production changes have taken place to cause this change. And maybe mine was made on a Monday after a Holiday week...

[stefano65]

[Jonas]

Great pictures! But what are you doing with my machine?

It must be the 110 V version with that big start capacitor. Is there any other major changes in the machines headed for the US market?

My machine didn't have a thermosyphon restrictor, so I have now ordered one. I was getting tired of the long, long cooling flushes. But as someone, "I can't recall who!" , pointed out: "The importer/distributor is responsible for the its installation as well as the size of the restrictor".

[cafeIKE]

Your machine was made about one full year before mine and so I suspect production changes have taken place to cause this change. And maybe mine was made on a Monday after a Holiday week...

Nah, they'd just read your a.c posts

BTW, a few months a back, I was experimenting with flow restrictors and got some from Espresso Care

[cannonfodder]

My test machine has the flow restrictor and the group idles at a nice 200F. After a long idle period, I flush around 5-6 ounces, prep my shot and pull. Subsequent pulls take no flush at all and the boiler is set at 1.1bar. My machine was shipped straight to me from the factory in Italy to my doorstep, talk about customer service.

As with anything, there are minor changes made over the year as parts run out or a design change is made. I am happy to see the rotary version. There nothing wrong with the vibe pump, but I like the convenience of a plumbed in machine and whisper quite operation. Other than that, I see no obvious changes under the covers.

Stefano, question for you. With the vibe pump the OPV fitting is under the water reservoir with a nice cutout for adjustment without removing the inner shroud. On the rotary, is there an inner shroud? I do not see the need for one since the water reservoir has been removed. To adjust the rotary pump, do you just take off the shell? From the photo, it looks like the adjustment is placed very conveniently pointing to the rear of the machine. No acrobatics or contortions would be needed to make an adjustment, I have stuck my arm against a hot boiler once or twice adjusting a rotary that was jammed into a frame.

[Jonas]

I'm not Stefano. But since I have the rotary model, I can answer your question about the adjustment of the pump pressure. You don't have to take the frame off. It's possible, with a little effort, to reach and adjust the pump pressure from above, without taking the frame off. And no inner shroud, actually there isn't room for it anyway.

Regarding the restrictor. Since your machine has one, and was shipped straight to you from the factory, maybe mine also has one? I'l have to send Vibiemme a mail or maybe phone them just to be certain.

Right now I'm flushing about 5-6 oz before the flash boil ends. So that would mean there's no restrictor, or...?

[cannonfodder]

Sounds like it does not have a restrictor. Unless my boiler gauge is off. I get next to no flash boil from my machine. I will have to see if I can botch together a steam wand mounted pressure gauge to check it.

[pauljolly65]

DOSE/TAMP/GRIND: I am using "Ken's" underdosing and have had excellent and consistent results. I am not weighing but simply dosing a bit less than full and tamping hard. It has allowed a one click finer grind iirc, and the flow is so think and dark and rich and delicious that it is bordering on espresso porn to watch the bottomless portafilter do its thing.

Randy,

Thanks for the scoop. I'll have to experiment more, as I'd gotten really used to weighing out the beans when I was using the Silvia. I'll try it ("dosing a bit less than full") and figure out how many grams it might be---though it sounds like 14 or so.

I agree--a users' thread for the VBM would be great. Despite my above problems, the espresso is pretty good after just three days with the machine. I really figured out how to pour great shots with my PID'd Silvia. The VBM has me on the steep learning curve again.

Cheers,
Paul

[HB]

DOSE/TAMP/GRIND: I am using "Ken's" underdosing and have had excellent and consistent results. I am not weighing but simply dosing a bit less than full and tamping hard.

For those following along, Randy refers to Ken's thread Basket Overdosing; time for a serious re-evaluation!

[cafeIKE]

The VBM has me on the steep learning curve again.

After years with a Solis SL-90, a machine of similar class to a Silvia, the Vibiemme is a doddle.

Two things to check:
Boiler should range from 0.9 to 1.1max. Adjust down if higher. If you don't steam a lot, 0.8 to 1.0 is ideal.
Brew pressure should hold steady. If the brew pressure varies more than ±1/2bar with the heater, it is likely the OPV has the wrong spring.

good coffee, 16g in 14g basket, side to side shake to distribute, light level tamp. Flush until steam stops, plus a second or two. Load and pull. Adjust grind to give 60ml in 30s. No need to flush again when pulling another shot within a few minutes.

Thursday, using the above, a fellow with his new Vibiemme pulled shot after shot of espresso porn.
Unremarkedly, tasty.

[Randy G.]

Randy,

Thanks for the scoop. I'll have to experiment more, as I'd gotten really used to weighing out the beans when I was using the Silvia. I'll try it ("dosing a bit less than full") and figure out how many grams it might be---though it sounds like 14 or so.

Just for fun I tare'd out the PF and under-dosed as I usually have been. 14g it was.. My scale only has resolution to whole grams. I just added a chapter to my website on under-dosing. it does work- or at least to say, it is a good starting place when tuning things in.

The VBM has me on the steep learning curve again.

It shouldn't be terribly difficult to get things working well.

It is difficult to watch all what is going on, but give the brew pressure gauge a good look during the next few pulls. I think it should be at about 9.5 to 10 max during a pull- that gives a PF pressure of about 9 to 9.5. If it above that, or seems to not be consistent during the pull or from pull to pull (needle jumping around, and going quite high at times- like to 12 or more), look earlier in this thread for my post about the Over Pressure Relief Valve springs. It is easy to check... easier than with Silvia, anyway.

Once I changed that spring (I had the wrong one from the factory) and began under-dosing, everything fell into place.